CVE-2018-25341: Smartshop 1 SQL Injection Vulnerability

CVE-2018-25341 Overview

CVE-2018-25341 is a SQL injection vulnerability [CWE-89] affecting Smartshop 1, an open-source e-commerce application. Unauthenticated attackers can inject arbitrary SQL into the id parameter of product.php through GET requests. Union-based payloads allow extraction of sensitive database content, including usernames and database schema information.

The flaw requires no authentication, no user interaction, and is exploitable over the network. A public exploit has been documented in Exploit-DB entry 44823, providing a reproducible attack path against vulnerable deployments.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated remote attackers can exfiltrate database contents, including credentials and schema metadata, by sending crafted GET requests to product.php.

Affected Products

• Smartshop 1 (open-source e-commerce application by smakosh)
• Deployments hosting product.php with the vulnerable id parameter
• Forks and derivatives of the Smartshop codebase that retain the unsanitized query logic

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-05-23 - CVE-2018-25341 published to NVD
• 2026-05-26 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2018-25341

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in product.php, where the id GET parameter is concatenated directly into a SQL query without parameterization or input validation. Smartshop 1 passes attacker-controlled input to the database engine, allowing the query structure to be altered at runtime.

Because the application is a public-facing storefront, the vulnerable endpoint is reachable by any unauthenticated visitor. Attackers can append UNION SELECT statements to retrieve data from arbitrary tables, including user records. The exploitation pattern aligns with classic [CWE-89] SQL Injection.

Root Cause

The application fails to sanitize or parameterize user input before incorporating it into SQL statements. The PHP code constructs queries through string concatenation, treating the id value as trusted data. No prepared statements, type casting, or input whitelisting are applied before query execution.

Attack Vector

An attacker issues a GET request to product.php?id=<payload> containing a UNION-based SQL injection string. The payload terminates the original query and appends a secondary SELECT statement targeting tables such as users or system metadata views like information_schema. The database returns the injected result set within the product page response, enabling extraction of usernames, database names, and other stored content.

No credentials, session tokens, or prior reconnaissance are required. The attack succeeds against any reachable instance running the vulnerable codebase. Public proof-of-concept payloads are available in the Exploit-DB #44823 advisory.

Detection Methods for CVE-2018-25341

Indicators of Compromise

• HTTP GET requests to product.php containing SQL keywords such as UNION, SELECT, INFORMATION_SCHEMA, or CONCAT in the id parameter
• URL-encoded SQL metacharacters (%27, %20OR%20, --) appended to the id value
• Anomalously long query strings targeting product.php from a single source IP
• Database error messages or unexpected result fragments returned in product page responses

Detection Strategies

• Inspect web server access logs for requests to product.php with suspicious id parameter content, focusing on SQL syntax patterns
• Deploy web application firewall (WAF) rules targeting union-based SQL injection signatures
• Monitor database query logs for UNION SELECT statements originating from the web application user
• Correlate repeated 200-OK responses to product.php with abnormal response sizes that may indicate data exfiltration

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable verbose logging on the web tier and forward logs to a centralized analytics platform for query-string inspection
• Alert on outbound database traffic spikes from the web server, which may indicate enumeration of information_schema
• Track repeat offenders by source IP and apply rate limiting on the product.php endpoint

How to Mitigate CVE-2018-25341

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict public access to vulnerable Smartshop 1 instances pending remediation, or take affected deployments offline
• Rewrite the product.php database access logic to use prepared statements with parameterized queries
• Cast the id parameter to an integer using intval() or equivalent before incorporating it into any SQL statement
• Rotate database credentials and audit user tables for evidence of unauthorized access

Patch Information

No official vendor patch is referenced in the CVE data. Smartshop 1 is distributed as an open-source project via the GitHub Smartshop Repository. Administrators must apply source-level fixes manually or migrate to a supported e-commerce platform. Review the VulnCheck Smartshop SQL Injection Advisory for additional remediation context.

Workarounds

• Deploy a WAF in front of Smartshop with rules blocking SQL metacharacters in the id parameter
• Enforce strict input validation at the application layer, rejecting any id value that is not a positive integer
• Apply least-privilege principles to the database account used by Smartshop, removing access to sensitive tables and information_schema where feasible

# Example WAF rule (ModSecurity) blocking SQLi in the id parameter
SecRule ARGS:id "@rx (?i)(union(\s|/\*.*\*/)+select|information_schema|--|;)" \
    "id:1002018,phase:2,deny,status:403,msg:'CVE-2018-25341 SQLi attempt on product.php id parameter'"