CVE-2018-25417: AiOPMSD Final SQL Injection Vulnerability

CVE-2018-25417 Overview

CVE-2018-25417 is an SQL injection vulnerability [CWE-89] in AiOPMSD Final 1.0.0, an open-source PHP application distributed via SourceForge. The flaw resides in quality.php, which passes the quality GET parameter directly into a backend SQL query without sanitization. Unauthenticated remote attackers can inject arbitrary SQL through crafted HTTP requests to extract database contents, including usernames, database names, and DBMS version information. A public proof-of-concept is published as Exploit-DB entry 45690, and the issue is tracked by VulnCheck as an SQL injection advisory affecting quality.php.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated attackers can read arbitrary database content over the network by injecting SQL through the quality parameter of quality.php.

Affected Products

• AiOPMSD Final 1.0.0
• quality.php endpoint (vulnerable script)
• Deployments sourced from the AiOPMSD SourceForge project

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-05-30 - CVE-2018-25417 published to NVD
• 2026-06-01 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2018-25417

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is a classic in-band SQL injection in the AiOPMSD Final 1.0.0 web component. The quality.php script accepts a quality query parameter from the client and concatenates it into a SQL statement executed against the application database. Because the parameter is neither validated nor parameterized, an attacker can break out of the intended SQL context and append arbitrary clauses such as UNION SELECT to read data from other tables and system functions. The endpoint requires no authentication, which removes any prerequisite for an attacker beyond network reachability. Public exploit material demonstrates extraction of user(), database(), and version() values, confirming end-to-end exploitability.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper neutralization of special elements used in an SQL command [CWE-89]. The application builds queries through string concatenation with untrusted GET input instead of using prepared statements or parameter binding. No allowlist, type coercion, or escaping is applied to the quality parameter before it reaches the database driver.

Attack Vector

Exploitation occurs over the network through a single HTTP GET request to quality.php with a malicious payload in the quality parameter. No credentials, user interaction, or special privileges are required. A typical payload appends a UNION SELECT clause to retrieve database metadata or rows from sensitive tables. See the Exploit-DB #45690 entry and the VulnCheck SQL Injection Advisory for the documented request structure and example payloads.

Detection Methods for CVE-2018-25417

Indicators of Compromise

• HTTP GET requests to /quality.php containing SQL keywords such as UNION, SELECT, information_schema, or comment sequences (--, /*) in the quality parameter.
• Database error messages or unexpected HTTP 500 responses returned from quality.php.
• Web server access logs showing repeated requests to quality.php from a single source with varying quality values.
• Outbound database queries referencing user(), database(), or version() originating from the AiOPMSD application user.

Detection Strategies

• Deploy WAF or reverse-proxy rules that flag SQL metacharacters and UNION SELECT patterns on requests to quality.php.
• Enable database query logging and alert on queries containing concatenated metadata functions issued by the web application account.
• Correlate web access logs with database audit logs to identify request-to-query patterns consistent with injection.

Monitoring Recommendations

• Monitor the AiOPMSD host for new processes, file writes under the web root, or outbound connections following suspicious quality.php traffic.
• Track authentication anomalies on accounts whose credentials could be exposed through the application database.
• Forward web, application, and database logs to a centralized analytics platform and retain them for retrospective hunting.

How to Mitigate CVE-2018-25417

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict access to quality.php at the web server or firewall layer until the application can be remediated.
• Rotate any credentials and secrets that may be stored in the AiOPMSD database, since unauthenticated read access must be assumed.
• Inspect web and database logs for prior exploitation attempts referencing the quality parameter.

Patch Information

No vendor patch is referenced in the NVD record or linked advisories for AiOPMSD Final 1.0.0. The project is distributed through the AioPMSD Project Homepage and AioPMSD Latest Download; operators should monitor those locations for updated releases and review the VulnCheck SQL Injection Advisory for current remediation guidance.

Workarounds

• Replace string-concatenated queries in quality.php with prepared statements using bound parameters (for example, PDO with ? placeholders or mysqli_prep are).
• Enforce strict server-side input validation on the quality parameter, accepting only the expected data type and character set.
• Run the application database account with least privilege, removing access to information_schema and unrelated tables where feasible.
• Place the application behind a WAF with signatures for SQL injection until source-level fixes are applied.

# Example Apache rule to block obvious SQL injection patterns on quality.php
<Location "/quality.php">
    SetEnvIfNoCase Query_String "(?i)(union[\s/*]+select|information_schema|--|/\*)" block_sqli
    Require all granted
    Require not env block_sqli
</Location>