CVE-2019-25529: Placeto CMS Alpha SQL Injection Flaw

CVE-2019-25529 Overview

CVE-2019-25529 is a SQL injection vulnerability affecting Placeto CMS Alpha rv.4, a content management system. The vulnerability allows authenticated attackers to manipulate database queries by injecting SQL code through the page parameter in GET requests to the admin/edit.php endpoint. Attackers can leverage boolean-based blind, time-based blind, or union-based SQL injection techniques to extract sensitive database information.

Critical Impact

Authenticated attackers can exploit this SQL injection vulnerability to extract sensitive database contents, potentially including user credentials, configuration data, and other confidential information stored in the backend database.

Affected Products

• Placeto CMS Alpha rv.4

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-03-12 - CVE-2019-25529 published to NVD
• 2026-03-12 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2019-25529

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-89 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command), commonly known as SQL Injection. The flaw exists in the administrative interface of Placeto CMS, specifically within the page editing functionality.

The vulnerable endpoint admin/edit.php accepts a page parameter via HTTP GET requests. Due to insufficient input validation and lack of parameterized queries, user-supplied input is directly concatenated into SQL statements, allowing attackers to inject arbitrary SQL commands.

The attack requires prior authentication to the administrative interface, which somewhat limits the attack surface. However, once authenticated (even with low-privileged admin access), an attacker can fully exploit this vulnerability to compromise database confidentiality and potentially modify data integrity.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is the failure to properly sanitize or parameterize user input before incorporating it into SQL queries. The page parameter value is directly embedded into database queries without adequate escaping or the use of prepared statements, enabling SQL injection attacks.

Attack Vector

The attack is conducted over the network and requires low complexity to execute. An authenticated attacker sends crafted GET requests to the admin/edit.php endpoint with malicious SQL payloads embedded in the page parameter.

Three distinct exploitation techniques are possible:

Boolean-based Blind SQL Injection: The attacker infers database information by observing differences in application responses based on true/false conditions injected into the query.

Time-based Blind SQL Injection: The attacker uses SQL commands that cause deliberate time delays, measuring response times to extract data one bit at a time.

Union-based SQL Injection: The attacker appends UNION SELECT statements to retrieve data from other database tables directly in the response.

For detailed exploitation information, refer to the Exploit-DB #46588 public disclosure.

Detection Methods for CVE-2019-25529

Indicators of Compromise

• HTTP GET requests to admin/edit.php containing unusual characters in the page parameter such as single quotes, double dashes, UNION keywords, or SQL function calls
• Database error messages appearing in web server logs indicating malformed SQL queries
• Abnormally long response times from the application that may indicate time-based blind SQL injection attempts
• Unusual database query patterns or access to tables beyond normal application behavior

Detection Strategies

• Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block SQL injection patterns in the page parameter
• Monitor web server access logs for requests to admin/edit.php containing SQL injection signatures
• Enable database query logging and alert on queries with suspicious patterns such as UNION SELECT, SLEEP(), or BENCHMARK() functions
• Deploy intrusion detection systems (IDS) with SQL injection detection signatures

Monitoring Recommendations

• Configure real-time alerting for any requests to the administrative interface containing SQL injection indicators
• Establish baseline database query patterns and alert on deviations
• Monitor for unusual database access patterns, especially queries accessing user credential tables
• Review authentication logs for compromised admin accounts that may be used to launch this attack

How to Mitigate CVE-2019-25529

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict access to the Placeto CMS administrative interface to trusted IP addresses only
• Implement additional authentication controls such as multi-factor authentication for admin access
• Deploy a Web Application Firewall configured to block SQL injection attempts
• Consider taking the application offline if it processes sensitive data until proper remediation can be implemented

Patch Information

Placeto CMS Alpha rv.4 is an alpha release and no official vendor patch information is currently available. Organizations using this software should check the SourceForge Project for any updates or security fixes. Given the alpha status and age of this software, migrating to a more actively maintained CMS solution is strongly recommended.

For additional vulnerability details, refer to the VulnCheck Advisory.

Workarounds

• Implement input validation at the web server level to reject requests containing SQL metacharacters in the page parameter
• Use a reverse proxy with ModSecurity or similar WAF capabilities to filter malicious requests
• Restrict administrative interface access to localhost only and use SSH tunneling for remote administration
• If source code access is available, modify the vulnerable code to use parameterized queries or prepared statements

# Example: Restricting admin access via Apache .htaccess
# Place in the admin directory
<Files "edit.php">
    Order Deny,Allow
    Deny from all
    Allow from 192.168.1.0/24
    Allow from 10.0.0.0/8
</Files>