CVE-2019-25540: Netartmedia PHP Mall SQLi Vulnerability

CVE-2019-25540 Overview

Netartmedia PHP Mall 4.1 contains multiple SQL injection vulnerabilities (CWE-89) that allow unauthenticated attackers to manipulate database queries by injecting SQL code through various parameters. Attackers can craft malicious requests with SQL payloads to extract sensitive database information including user credentials and system data.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated attackers can exploit these SQL injection flaws to extract sensitive data from the database, potentially compromising user credentials, payment information, and administrative access to the e-commerce platform.

Affected Products

• Netartmedia PHP Mall version 4.1

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-03-12 - CVE-2019-25540 published to NVD
• 2026-03-12 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2019-25540

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability involves multiple SQL injection points within Netartmedia PHP Mall 4.1, a PHP-based e-commerce platform. The application fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input before incorporating it into SQL queries, allowing attackers to inject arbitrary SQL commands. Because the attack can be executed remotely over the network without requiring authentication, the exploitability is significantly elevated. Successful exploitation enables attackers to read, modify, or delete database contents, potentially leading to complete compromise of the e-commerce platform's data integrity.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is improper input validation and lack of parameterized queries in the PHP Mall application. User-controlled input is directly concatenated into SQL query strings without proper sanitization or the use of prepared statements. This classic SQL injection pattern allows attackers to break out of the intended query structure and execute arbitrary SQL commands against the backend database.

Attack Vector

The vulnerability is exploitable via network-based attacks where an unauthenticated attacker sends specially crafted HTTP requests containing malicious SQL payloads. Multiple parameters throughout the application are vulnerable, allowing attackers to target various entry points. The attacker constructs input containing SQL syntax that, when processed by the application, alters the query logic to perform unauthorized database operations such as data extraction using UNION-based injection or boolean-based blind injection techniques.

The exploitation mechanism involves injecting SQL metacharacters and commands into vulnerable parameters. For example, an attacker might inject a single quote followed by SQL commands to terminate the original query and append malicious statements. Technical details and proof-of-concept examples are available at the Exploit-DB #46562 and the VulnCheck Advisory for SQL Injection.

Detection Methods for CVE-2019-25540

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual SQL error messages in application logs indicating syntax errors from malformed queries
• HTTP request logs containing SQL keywords such as UNION, SELECT, INSERT, DROP, or comment sequences (--, /**/)
• Database query logs showing unexpected or unauthorized queries attempting to access sensitive tables
• Abnormal patterns of data extraction or multiple failed authentication attempts

Detection Strategies

• Deploy Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block common SQL injection patterns in HTTP parameters
• Implement database activity monitoring to alert on suspicious query patterns or unauthorized table access
• Configure intrusion detection systems (IDS) with SQL injection signature rules
• Enable detailed logging on web servers to capture full request parameters for forensic analysis

Monitoring Recommendations

• Monitor database logs for queries containing suspicious SQL syntax or targeting system tables
• Set up alerts for application errors related to SQL syntax failures that may indicate injection attempts
• Track unusual data access patterns, particularly bulk data retrieval from sensitive tables
• Review web server access logs for requests with encoded SQL payloads or suspicious parameter values

How to Mitigate CVE-2019-25540

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict network access to the PHP Mall application to trusted IP ranges until patches or mitigations are applied
• Implement a Web Application Firewall with SQL injection blocking rules as an immediate protective measure
• Audit database permissions to ensure the application uses least-privilege database accounts
• Back up all database contents before implementing mitigations to preserve data integrity

Patch Information

No official vendor patch information is available in the CVE data. Organizations should contact Netartmedia directly for updated software versions or consider migrating to a maintained e-commerce platform. Review the VulnCheck Advisory for SQL Injection for additional remediation guidance.

Workarounds

• Deploy input validation at the application level using allowlists for expected parameter formats
• Implement prepared statements or parameterized queries if modifying the application source code is feasible
• Use a reverse proxy with SQL injection filtering capabilities to sanitize incoming requests
• Isolate the database server from direct internet access and restrict connections to the application server only

# Example WAF rule for ModSecurity to block common SQL injection patterns
SecRule ARGS "@detectSQLi" \
    "id:1001,\
    phase:2,\
    block,\
    msg:'SQL Injection Attack Detected',\
    log,\
    severity:'CRITICAL'"