CVE-2019-25543: Real Estate Portal 5.0 SQLi Vulnerability

CVE-2019-25543 Overview

Netartmedia Real Estate Portal 5.0 contains an SQL injection vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to manipulate database queries by injecting SQL code through the page parameter. Attackers can submit POST requests to index.php with malicious SQL payloads in the page field to bypass authentication, extract sensitive data, or modify database contents.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this SQL injection vulnerability to compromise the entire database, potentially extracting sensitive user credentials, property listings, and financial information while bypassing all authentication controls.

Affected Products

• Netartmedia Real Estate Portal 5.0

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-03-12 - CVE CVE-2019-25543 published to NVD
• 2026-03-12 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2019-25543

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-89 (SQL Injection), one of the most critical web application security flaws. The Netartmedia Real Estate Portal fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input in the page parameter before incorporating it into SQL queries. This lack of input validation creates a direct injection point that attackers can exploit without any authentication.

The attack surface is accessible over the network, requiring no user interaction and no prior authentication. This makes it trivially exploitable by remote attackers who can craft malicious HTTP POST requests targeting the vulnerable endpoint.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2019-25543 lies in the improper input validation within the index.php file. The application directly concatenates user-supplied input from the page POST parameter into SQL queries without using parameterized queries, prepared statements, or adequate input sanitization. This architectural flaw allows attackers to inject arbitrary SQL syntax that gets executed by the database engine with the application's privileges.

Attack Vector

The attack is executed via network-based HTTP POST requests to the index.php endpoint. An attacker crafts a malicious payload within the page parameter, which can include SQL commands designed to:

1. Extract sensitive data - Using UNION-based or blind SQL injection techniques to retrieve database contents including user credentials, personal information, and property records
2. Bypass authentication - Manipulating authentication queries to gain unauthorized administrative access
3. Modify database contents - Inserting, updating, or deleting records to manipulate property listings or user accounts
4. Escalate privileges - Potentially leveraging database functions to execute system commands depending on database configuration

The vulnerability allows POST-based injection through the page parameter in requests to index.php. An attacker can submit specially crafted SQL payloads that manipulate the underlying database query logic, potentially using techniques such as UNION SELECT statements, boolean-based blind injection, or time-based blind injection to exfiltrate data. For technical details and proof-of-concept information, see the Exploit-DB #46563 advisory.

Detection Methods for CVE-2019-25543

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual POST requests to index.php containing SQL syntax in the page parameter
• Database logs showing unexpected UNION SELECT, OR 1=1, or other SQL injection patterns
• Abnormal database query response times indicating time-based blind injection attempts
• Evidence of unauthorized data access or extraction in application logs

Detection Strategies

• Deploy Web Application Firewalls (WAF) with SQL injection detection rules specifically monitoring POST parameters
• Implement database activity monitoring to detect anomalous query patterns targeting the Real Estate Portal database
• Configure application-level logging to capture all POST requests to index.php for forensic analysis
• Use intrusion detection systems with signatures for common SQL injection patterns

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable detailed logging on the database server to capture all queries from the Real Estate Portal application
• Monitor for spikes in database errors or unusual query execution times that may indicate injection attempts
• Set up alerting for authentication events that bypass normal login workflows
• Review web server access logs for repeated POST requests to index.php from suspicious IP addresses

How to Mitigate CVE-2019-25543

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict network access to the Real Estate Portal application to trusted IP ranges only
• Implement a Web Application Firewall with strict SQL injection protection rules
• Disable the vulnerable application until a patch can be applied
• Conduct a database integrity check to identify any evidence of previous exploitation

Patch Information

No vendor patch information is currently available for this vulnerability. Organizations should consult the VulnCheck Advisory for the latest remediation guidance. Given the age of this software (version 5.0), consider migrating to an actively maintained real estate portal solution.

Workarounds

• Deploy a reverse proxy or WAF to filter all POST requests containing SQL metacharacters in the page parameter
• Implement input validation at the web server level using ModSecurity or similar tools to block malicious payloads
• Apply network segmentation to isolate the database server from direct internet access
• If source code access is available, implement prepared statements and parameterized queries for all database interactions

# Example ModSecurity rule to block SQL injection in the page parameter
SecRule ARGS:page "@detectSQLi" \
    "id:100001,\
    phase:2,\
    deny,\
    status:403,\
    msg:'SQL Injection attempt blocked in page parameter',\
    log,\
    auditlog"