CVE-2026-26980: Ghost CMS SQL Injection Exploitation — ClickFix Attack Detection & Remediation

---
title: Potential SQLi Exploitation of Ghost CMS API
id: 8a4d2f10-9b3c-4e1d-8a5f-1c2b3d4e5f6g
status: experimental
description: Detects potential SQL injection attempts targeting Ghost CMS API endpoints, indicative of CVE-2026-26980 exploitation attempts.
references:
 - https://bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/ghost-cms-sql-injection-flaw-exploited-in-large-scale-clickfix-campaign/
author: Security Arsenal
date: 2025/12/01
tags:
 - attack.initial_access
 - attack.t1190
 - attack.sqli
logsource:
 category: webserver
 product: apache
 # or nginx/iis
detection:
 selection_uri:
 cs_uri_query|contains:
   - '/ghost/api/'
 selection_sqli:
 cs_uri_query|contains:
   - 'UNION SELECT'
   - 'OR 1=1'
   - 'SLEEP('
   - 'WAITFOR DELAY'
   - 'benchmark('
   - 'information_schema'
 condition: selection_uri and selection_sqli
falsepositives:
 - Penetration testing activity
level: high
---
title: ClickFix PowerShell Execution via Command Line
id: 9b5e3g21-0c4d-5f2e-9b6a-2d3c4e5f6g7h
status: experimental
description: Detects PowerShell execution often seen in ClickFix campaigns where users are tricked into running "repair" commands involving encoded scripts or web requests.
references:
 - https://bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/ghost-cms-sql-injection-flaw-exploited-in-large-scale-clickfix-campaign/
author: Security Arsenal
date: 2025/12/01
tags:
 - attack.execution
 - attack.t1059.001
 - attack.t1204
logsource:
 category: process_creation
 product: windows
detection:
 selection_img:
   Image|endswith: '\powershell.exe'
 selection_cli:
   CommandLine|contains:
     - 'Invoke-Expression'
     - 'IEX'
     - 'DownloadString'
     - 'FromBase64String'
   CommandLine|contains:
     - 'http://'
     - 'https://'
 filter_legit:
   ParentImage|contains: '\Program Files\'
 condition: selection_img and selection_cli and not filter_legit
falsepositives:
 - Administrative scripting (rare with IEX + URL)
level: high

// Hunt for Ghost CMS SQLi attempts in WAF/Web Logs
Syslog
| where Facility in ("nginx", "apache", "httpd")
| extend Message = iff(isnull(Message), "", Message)
| where Message has_all ("/ghost/api/", "UNION SELECT", "OR 1=1")
| project TimeGenerated, ComputerIP, Message, ProcessName
| extend IoC = "Ghost CMS SQLi Attempt"
;

// Hunt for ClickFix PowerShell Payloads
DeviceProcessEvents
| where Timestamp > ago(7d)
| where FileName == "powershell.exe"
| where ProcessCommandLine has_any ("Invoke-Expression", "IEX", "DownloadString", "FromBase64String") and ProcessCommandLine has_any ("http://", "https://")
| where InitiatingProcessFileName !in ("explorer.exe", "cmd.exe", "powershell.exe") // ClickFix is often manual copy-paste, but parentage helps filter automation
| project Timestamp, DeviceName, AccountName, ProcessCommandLine, InitiatingProcessFileName, FolderPath
| order by Timestamp desc

-- Hunt for PowerShell processes with common ClickFix indicators (IEX, WebRequests)
SELECT Pid, Name, CommandLine, Exe, Username, CreateTime
FROM pslist()
WHERE Name =~ 'powershell'
  AND (CommandLine =~ 'IEX' 
       OR CommandLine =~ 'Invoke-Expression' 
       OR CommandLine =~ 'DownloadString'
       OR CommandLine =~ 'FromBase64String')
  AND (CommandLine =~ 'http://' OR CommandLine =~ 'https://')

#!/bin/bash

# Ghost CMS Remediation Script for CVE-2026-26980
# Checks version and recommends updates

echo "[*] Checking for Ghost CMS installation..."

# Check if ghost-cli is installed
if ! command -v ghost &> /dev/null; then
    echo "[!] Ghost CLI not found. Please ensure you are on the Ghost server."
    exit 1
fi

echo "[*] Detecting Ghost version..."
# Try to get version from package. or ghost ls
GHOST_DIR=$(pwd)
VERSION_FILE="package."

if [ -f "$VERSION_FILE" ]; then
    CURRENT_VERSION=$(grep '"version"' "$VERSION_FILE" | head -n 1 | awk -F: '{ print $2 }' | sed 's/[", ]//g')
    echo "[+] Detected Ghost Version: $CURRENT_VERSION"
else
    echo "[!] Could not find package. in current directory."
fi

echo "[*] Checking for known vulnerable patterns in DB configuration..."
# Placeholder check: In a real scenario, you might grep logs for SQLi patterns
echo "[+] Recommendation: Update Ghost CMS to the latest version immediately to patch CVE-2026-26980."
echo "    Run: 'ghost update'"

echo "[*] Searching for recently modified PHP/JS files (potential webshells)..."
find . -type f -name "*.js" -mtime -1 -ls

echo "[*] Remediation steps:"
echo "1. Backup database."
echo "2. Run 'ghost update' to apply security patches."
echo "3. Rotate database credentials."
echo "4. Review admin logs for unauthorized access."