Joomla! eWriting Component "cat" SQL Injection

SECUNIA ADVISORY ID:
SA29292

VERIFY ADVISORY:
http://secunia.com/advisories/29292/

CRITICAL:
Moderately critical

IMPACT:
Manipulation of data, Exposure of sensitive information

WHERE:
>From remote

SOFTWARE:
eWriting 1.x (component for Joomla)
http://secunia.com/product/17919/

DESCRIPTION:
breaker_unit & Don have discovered a vulnerability in the eWriting
component for Joomla!, which can be exploited by malicious people to
conduct SQL injection attacks.

Input passed to the "cat" parameter in the Joomla! installation's
index.php script (when "option" is set to "com_ewriting" and "func"
to "selectcat") is not properly sanitised before being used in SQL
queries. This can be exploited to manipulate SQL queries by injecting
arbitrary SQL code.

Successful exploitation allows e.g. retrieving administrator
usernames and password hashes, but requires knowledge of the database
table prefix.

The vulnerability is confirmed in version 1.2.1. Other versions may
also be affected.

SOLUTION:
Edit the source code to ensure that input is properly sanitised.

PROVIDED AND/OR DISCOVERED BY:
breaker_unit & Don

ORIGINAL ADVISORY:
http://milw0rm.com/exploits/5226