CVE-2018-25163: BitZoom 1.0 SQL Injection Vulnerability

CVE-2018-25163 Overview

CVE-2018-25163 is a SQL injection vulnerability affecting BitZoom 1.0, a web application that fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input. The vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary SQL queries by injecting malicious code through the rollno and username parameters in forgot.php and login.php. Attackers can submit crafted POST requests with SQL UNION statements to extract database schema information and table contents from the application database.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this SQL injection vulnerability to extract sensitive database contents, potentially compromising user credentials, personal information, and other confidential data stored in the application database.

Affected Products

• BitZoom 1.0

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-03-06 - CVE CVE-2018-25163 published to NVD
• 2026-03-09 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2018-25163

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified as CWE-89: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command (SQL Injection). The BitZoom application fails to implement proper input validation and parameterized queries when processing user-supplied data in authentication-related endpoints. When a user submits login credentials or initiates password recovery, the application directly concatenates user input into SQL queries without sanitization, creating an exploitable injection point.

The network-accessible nature of this vulnerability combined with no authentication requirements makes it particularly dangerous. Attackers can exploit this remotely without any prior access to the system, and no user interaction is required for successful exploitation. The primary impact is on data confidentiality, allowing attackers to read sensitive database contents, with a secondary impact on data integrity through potential database manipulation.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2018-25163 is the direct concatenation of user-controlled input into SQL statements without proper sanitization or the use of parameterized queries. The forgot.php and login.php scripts accept the rollno and username parameters via POST requests and incorporate these values directly into database queries. This classic SQL injection pattern violates secure coding principles by trusting user input without validation.

Attack Vector

The attack vector for this vulnerability is network-based, requiring an attacker to send specially crafted HTTP POST requests to the vulnerable endpoints. The exploitation involves injecting SQL UNION statements through the rollno or username parameters to manipulate the backend database queries.

An attacker would typically craft a malicious payload containing SQL syntax that modifies the intended query logic. By using UNION-based injection techniques, the attacker can append additional SELECT statements to retrieve data from other tables within the database. This allows enumeration of the database schema and extraction of sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and other stored data.

For technical details on the exploitation methodology, refer to the Exploit-DB #45862 entry and the VulnCheck Advisory.

Detection Methods for CVE-2018-25163

Indicators of Compromise

• HTTP POST requests to /forgot.php or /login.php containing SQL keywords such as UNION, SELECT, FROM, WHERE, or comment sequences (--, /*)
• Unusual database query patterns or errors in application logs indicating malformed SQL syntax
• Unexpected database access patterns showing enumeration of schema information or bulk data retrieval
• Failed login attempts with abnormally long or syntactically unusual rollno or username values

Detection Strategies

• Deploy Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block SQL injection patterns in POST parameters targeting rollno and username fields
• Implement application-layer monitoring to flag requests containing common SQL injection payloads such as ' OR 1=1--, UNION statements, or encoded variants
• Enable database query logging and configure alerts for unexpected query structures or error conditions
• Monitor for reconnaissance activity including database schema enumeration attempts

Monitoring Recommendations

• Configure IDS/IPS signatures to detect SQL injection attempts against BitZoom endpoints
• Implement centralized logging for all authentication-related requests with anomaly detection
• Set up alerts for database errors that may indicate failed injection attempts
• Monitor outbound data transfers for signs of data exfiltration following successful exploitation

How to Mitigate CVE-2018-25163

Immediate Actions Required

• Take the vulnerable BitZoom 1.0 application offline if possible until remediation is complete
• Implement network-level access controls to restrict access to the vulnerable endpoints
• Deploy WAF rules specifically targeting SQL injection patterns in the rollno and username parameters
• Audit database access logs for signs of prior exploitation and potential data exposure

Patch Information

No vendor patch information is currently available for this vulnerability. Organizations using BitZoom 1.0 should contact the vendor for remediation guidance or consider alternative solutions. Until a patch is released, implementing the workarounds below is strongly recommended.

For additional technical details, consult the Exploit-DB #45862 entry and the VulnCheck Advisory.

Workarounds

• Implement input validation at the application level to reject requests containing SQL metacharacters in the rollno and username parameters
• Deploy a reverse proxy or WAF with SQL injection protection enabled in front of the application
• Restrict database user permissions to limit the impact of successful injection attacks
• Consider disabling the forgot.php endpoint temporarily if password recovery functionality is not critical

# Example WAF rule for ModSecurity to block SQL injection attempts
SecRule ARGS:rollno|ARGS:username "@detectSQLi" \
    "id:100001,phase:2,deny,status:403,log,msg:'SQL Injection attempt blocked on BitZoom parameter'"