CVE-2019-25516: Jettweb PHP Script SQLi Vulnerability

CVE-2019-25516 Overview

CVE-2019-25516 is a SQL injection vulnerability affecting Jettweb PHP Hazir Haber Sitesi Scripti V1, a Turkish news site script. The vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to manipulate database queries by injecting SQL code through the gallery_id parameter in gallery.php. Attackers can send malicious GET requests using UNION-based SQL injection techniques to extract sensitive database information, including user credentials, administrative data, and other confidential content stored in the database.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this SQL injection vulnerability to extract sensitive database information, potentially compromising the entire application's data integrity and confidentiality without requiring any authentication.

Affected Products

• Jettweb PHP Hazir Haber Sitesi Scripti V1

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-03-12 - CVE CVE-2019-25516 published to NVD
• 2026-03-12 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2019-25516

Vulnerability Analysis

This SQL injection vulnerability (CWE-89) exists in the gallery.php file of Jettweb PHP Hazir Haber Sitesi Scripti V1. The application fails to properly sanitize or validate the gallery_id parameter before incorporating it into SQL queries. This allows attackers to inject arbitrary SQL statements that are executed against the backend database with the same privileges as the application's database user.

The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it requires no authentication to exploit. Any remote attacker with network access to the vulnerable web application can craft malicious requests to extract data from the database. The UNION-based SQL injection technique allows attackers to append additional SELECT statements to the original query, enabling them to retrieve data from other tables in the database.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is improper input validation and the lack of parameterized queries or prepared statements in the gallery.php script. The gallery_id parameter is directly concatenated into the SQL query string without any sanitization, escaping, or type validation. This classic SQL injection pattern occurs when user-controlled input is trusted and incorporated directly into database queries.

Attack Vector

The attack is executed via network-based HTTP GET requests to the gallery.php endpoint. An attacker constructs a malicious URL containing SQL injection payloads in the gallery_id parameter. By using UNION-based injection techniques, the attacker can determine the number of columns in the original query and then craft UNION SELECT statements to retrieve data from arbitrary tables, such as user credentials, administrative accounts, or configuration data.

The attack does not require any user interaction or authentication, making it trivially exploitable by any attacker who can reach the web application over the network. Successful exploitation can lead to complete database compromise, including data theft, data modification, and potentially further system compromise if database credentials are reused elsewhere.

Detection Methods for CVE-2019-25516

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual HTTP GET requests to gallery.php containing SQL syntax in the gallery_id parameter
• Database query logs showing UNION SELECT statements or SQL syntax errors originating from application queries
• Web server access logs with URL-encoded SQL injection patterns (e.g., %27, %20UNION%20, --, /*)
• Error messages in application logs indicating SQL syntax errors or unexpected query results

Detection Strategies

• Deploy web application firewalls (WAF) configured to detect and block SQL injection patterns in request parameters
• Implement intrusion detection systems (IDS) rules to identify SQL injection attempt signatures in HTTP traffic
• Enable detailed database query logging and monitor for anomalous queries containing UNION, SELECT, or comment syntax
• Configure SIEM alerts for multiple failed SQL queries or database errors from the same source IP

Monitoring Recommendations

• Continuously monitor web server access logs for requests to gallery.php with suspicious parameter values
• Set up alerting for database error rates that exceed normal baseline thresholds
• Track and correlate unusual data access patterns that may indicate successful data exfiltration
• Implement rate limiting on the gallery.php endpoint to slow automated exploitation attempts

How to Mitigate CVE-2019-25516

Immediate Actions Required

• Remove or disable the gallery.php file if the gallery functionality is not required
• Deploy a web application firewall (WAF) with SQL injection protection rules in blocking mode
• Implement network-level access controls to restrict access to the vulnerable application
• Review database access logs for signs of prior exploitation and assess potential data exposure

Patch Information

No official vendor patch information is available for Jettweb PHP Hazir Haber Sitesi Scripti V1. The software appears to be unsupported legacy code. Organizations using this script should consider migrating to a maintained alternative or implementing manual code fixes.

For technical details about this vulnerability, refer to the Exploit-DB #46597 entry and the VulnCheck Advisory.

Workarounds

• Modify the gallery.php source code to use parameterized queries or prepared statements instead of string concatenation
• Implement input validation to ensure the gallery_id parameter contains only numeric values before processing
• Use PHP's mysqli_real_escape_string() or PDO prepared statements as interim protection measures
• Restrict database user privileges to minimum required permissions to limit impact of successful exploitation
• Consider placing the vulnerable application behind a reverse proxy with request filtering capabilities

# Example: Apache ModSecurity rule to block SQL injection attempts
SecRule ARGS:gallery_id "@detectSQLi" \
  "id:1001,phase:2,block,msg:'SQL Injection Attempt Detected in gallery_id'"