CVE-2019-25524: XooGallery SQL Injection Vulnerability

CVE-2019-25524 Overview

XooGallery Latest contains a critical SQL injection vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to manipulate database queries by injecting SQL code through the p parameter. Attackers can send GET requests to results.php with malicious p values to bypass authentication, extract sensitive data, or modify database contents. This vulnerability requires no authentication and can be exploited remotely over the network.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated SQL injection enabling complete database compromise, including data exfiltration, authentication bypass, and potential database modification.

Affected Products

• XooGallery Latest (all versions)

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-03-12 - CVE-2019-25524 published to NVD
• 2026-03-12 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2019-25524

Vulnerability Analysis

This SQL injection vulnerability (CWE-89) exists in the XooGallery Latest application's results.php file. The application fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input in the p parameter before incorporating it into SQL queries. This lack of input validation allows attackers to inject arbitrary SQL statements that are executed with the privileges of the database user configured for the application.

The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it requires no authentication to exploit. An attacker can simply craft a malicious HTTP GET request to the results.php endpoint with a specially crafted p parameter value. The injected SQL code is then executed directly against the backend database, potentially allowing full compromise of the database contents.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is improper input validation and lack of parameterized queries in the results.php file. The application directly concatenates user-supplied input from the p GET parameter into SQL queries without sanitization, escaping, or the use of prepared statements. This violates secure coding practices for handling user input in database operations.

Attack Vector

The attack is network-based and requires no user interaction or authentication. An attacker sends a crafted HTTP GET request to the vulnerable results.php endpoint with a malicious SQL payload in the p parameter. The vulnerability can be exploited to:

• Extract sensitive information from the database through UNION-based or error-based SQL injection
• Bypass authentication mechanisms
• Modify or delete database records
• Potentially execute operating system commands if database permissions allow

The attack surface is accessible to any network-level attacker who can reach the vulnerable application. For technical details on the exploitation mechanism, see the Exploit-DB #46609 entry and the VulnCheck SQL Injection Advisory.

Detection Methods for CVE-2019-25524

Indicators of Compromise

• HTTP GET requests to results.php containing SQL keywords such as UNION, SELECT, OR, AND, --, or ' in the p parameter
• Unusual database query patterns or errors in application logs
• Unexpected database modifications or data exfiltration
• Web application firewall alerts for SQL injection attempts targeting results.php

Detection Strategies

• Deploy web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block SQL injection patterns in requests to results.php
• Monitor web server access logs for requests containing SQL injection signatures in the p parameter
• Implement database activity monitoring to detect anomalous query patterns or unauthorized data access
• Configure intrusion detection systems (IDS) with signatures for common SQL injection payloads

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable detailed logging for all requests to results.php and analyze for malicious patterns
• Set up alerting for database errors that may indicate SQL injection attempts
• Monitor for unusual outbound data transfers that could indicate data exfiltration
• Review database audit logs for unauthorized queries or privilege escalation attempts

How to Mitigate CVE-2019-25524

Immediate Actions Required

• Immediately disable or restrict access to results.php if the functionality is not critical
• Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block SQL injection attempts targeting the p parameter
• Review and audit all user input handling in the XooGallery application
• Consider taking the affected application offline until a permanent fix can be applied

Patch Information

No official vendor patch information is currently available for this vulnerability. Organizations should contact the XooGallery vendor for security updates or consider migrating to an alternative gallery solution that is actively maintained. For additional context, refer to the VulnCheck SQL Injection Advisory.

Workarounds

• Implement input validation and sanitization for the p parameter in results.php to reject SQL injection payloads
• Deploy a web application firewall (WAF) with SQL injection detection capabilities in front of the application
• Restrict database user privileges to minimum required permissions to limit impact of successful exploitation
• Use network segmentation to limit access to the vulnerable application from untrusted networks
• Consider replacing XooGallery with an actively maintained gallery solution that uses prepared statements

# Example: ModSecurity WAF rule to block SQL injection in p parameter
SecRule ARGS:p "@detectSQLi" \
    "id:1001,\
    phase:2,\
    block,\
    log,\
    msg:'SQL Injection attempt detected in p parameter',\
    logdata:'Matched Data: %{MATCHED_VAR}'"