CVE-2019-25537: Netartmedia Event Portal SQLi Flaw

CVE-2019-25537 Overview

Netartmedia Event Portal 2.0 contains a time-based blind SQL injection vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to manipulate database queries by injecting SQL code through the Email parameter. Attackers can send POST requests to loginaction.php with malicious SQL payloads in the Email field to extract sensitive database information.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this SQL injection vulnerability to extract sensitive data from the database, potentially compromising user credentials, administrative accounts, and other confidential information stored within the application.

Affected Products

• Netartmedia Event Portal 2.0

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-03-12 - CVE CVE-2019-25537 published to NVD
• 2026-03-12 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2019-25537

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified as CWE-89 (SQL Injection), representing a critical flaw in input validation within the authentication mechanism of Netartmedia Event Portal 2.0. The application fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input in the Email parameter before incorporating it into SQL queries executed against the backend database.

The time-based blind SQL injection technique allows attackers to infer database information by observing response time variations. When the injected SQL condition evaluates to true, the database delays its response through sleep functions or heavy computational queries, enabling attackers to extract data character by character without requiring direct output in the application response.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability stems from the improper handling of user input in the loginaction.php authentication endpoint. The Email parameter value is directly concatenated or interpolated into SQL queries without adequate input validation, parameterization, or use of prepared statements. This lack of proper input sanitization allows attackers to break out of the intended SQL query structure and inject arbitrary SQL commands.

Attack Vector

The attack is network-accessible and requires no authentication or user interaction. An attacker can craft malicious POST requests targeting the loginaction.php endpoint, embedding SQL injection payloads within the Email parameter. The time-based blind technique involves injecting conditional statements combined with time-delay functions (such as SLEEP() in MySQL) to infer database contents based on the server's response timing.

For example, an attacker could systematically extract database schema information, table names, column names, and ultimately sensitive data including user credentials by iterating through character positions and ASCII values while monitoring response delays.

Technical details and proof-of-concept information are available in the Exploit-DB #46560 entry and the VulnCheck SQL Injection Advisory.

Detection Methods for CVE-2019-25537

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual POST requests to loginaction.php containing SQL syntax patterns in the Email parameter
• Database query execution times showing abnormal delays or patterns consistent with time-based exploitation
• Multiple failed authentication attempts from single IP addresses with varying Email field payloads
• Web application logs showing requests with SQL keywords such as SLEEP, WAITFOR, BENCHMARK, or UNION SELECT

Detection Strategies

• Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block common SQL injection patterns in POST parameters
• Monitor authentication endpoints for requests containing suspicious characters like single quotes, semicolons, and SQL keywords
• Deploy database activity monitoring to identify queries with unusual execution patterns or timing anomalies
• Configure intrusion detection systems (IDS) with signatures for time-based blind SQL injection attack patterns

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable detailed logging for the loginaction.php endpoint including full request bodies
• Set up alerting for authentication attempts containing non-standard characters in email fields
• Monitor database server CPU and query execution metrics for anomalies indicative of blind SQL injection probing
• Implement rate limiting on authentication endpoints to slow down automated exploitation attempts

How to Mitigate CVE-2019-25537

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict access to the loginaction.php endpoint using IP whitelisting or VPN requirements where feasible
• Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with SQL injection prevention rules in front of the affected application
• Implement strict input validation for the Email parameter, rejecting inputs containing SQL metacharacters
• Consider temporarily disabling the affected login functionality until a permanent fix is applied

Patch Information

No vendor patch information is currently available in the CVE data. Organizations using Netartmedia Event Portal 2.0 should contact the vendor directly for remediation guidance or consider migrating to an alternative event portal solution that is actively maintained.

Additional technical details can be found in the VulnCheck Advisory.

Workarounds

• Implement parameterized queries or prepared statements in the authentication code to prevent SQL injection
• Deploy a reverse proxy or WAF with SQL injection filtering capabilities
• Add server-side input validation to reject Email parameter values containing SQL-related characters or keywords
• Implement connection timeouts and query limits at the database level to reduce the effectiveness of time-based attacks

# Example WAF rule configuration (ModSecurity)
SecRule ARGS:Email "@detectSQLi" \
    "id:1001,\
    phase:2,\
    deny,\
    status:403,\
    msg:'SQL Injection attempt detected in Email parameter',\
    log,\
    auditlog"