CVE-2019-25699: Gurkanuzunca Newsbull SQLi Vulnerability

CVE-2019-25699 Overview

CVE-2019-25699 affects Newsbull Haber Script 1.0.0, a PHP-based news content management system maintained by gurkanuzunca. The vulnerability consists of multiple SQL injection flaws in the search parameter across several administrative endpoints. Authenticated attackers can inject malicious SQL through /admin/comment/records, /admin/category/records, /admin/news/records, and /admin/menu/childs to manipulate backend queries. Exploitation techniques include time-based, blind, and boolean-based injection. The weakness maps to [CWE-89] Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command.

Critical Impact

Authenticated attackers can extract sensitive database contents — including user credentials, content records, and configuration data — through unsanitized input in administrative search endpoints.

Affected Products

• Gurkanuzunca Newsbull Haber Script 1.0.0
• CPE: cpe:2.3:a:gurkanuzunca:newsbull:1.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• Component: gurkanuzunca:newsbull

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-04-12 - CVE-2019-25699 published to NVD
• 2026-04-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2019-25699

Vulnerability Analysis

Newsbull Haber Script 1.0.0 fails to sanitize user-supplied input passed to the search parameter on multiple admin endpoints. The application concatenates the raw parameter value into SQL statements executed against the backend database. This allows an authenticated attacker — any user holding a valid admin session — to break out of the intended query context and append arbitrary SQL clauses.

Three exploitation classes are reported:

• Time-based blind injection using delay primitives such as SLEEP() to infer data byte-by-byte from response latency.
• Boolean-based blind injection using conditional expressions that alter the result set without producing direct output.
• Standard blind injection through UNION-style or stacked clauses where applicable.

The impacted routes — /admin/comment/records, /admin/category/records, /admin/news/records, and /admin/menu/childs — all process the same vulnerable parameter, indicating a shared query-building helper rather than isolated code defects.

Root Cause

The root cause is the absence of parameterized queries and input validation when handling the search parameter. User input is interpolated directly into SQL strings instead of being bound via prepared statements. No allow-list filtering, type coercion, or escaping is applied before query execution.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based and requires low-privilege authentication to the admin panel. An attacker submits a crafted search value through standard HTTP requests to any of the four vulnerable endpoints. Successful exploitation yields confidentiality impact through database content extraction. See the VulnCheck Advisory for NewsBull and Exploit-DB #46266 for technical details.

No verified proof-of-concept code is reproduced here. The vulnerability mechanism is straightforward string concatenation of attacker-controlled input into SQL queries on the listed admin endpoints.

Detection Methods for CVE-2019-25699

Indicators of Compromise

• HTTP requests to /admin/comment/records, /admin/category/records, /admin/news/records, or /admin/menu/childs containing SQL syntax fragments such as SLEEP(, SELECT, UNION, AND 1=1, or ' OR .
• Unusually long response times on the listed admin endpoints, indicative of time-based blind injection.
• High request volume to admin search endpoints from a single authenticated session.

Detection Strategies

• Deploy web application firewall (WAF) rules to flag SQL meta-characters in the search parameter of Newsbull admin routes.
• Enable database query logging and alert on queries containing SLEEP, BENCHMARK, or stacked statement separators originating from the Newsbull application user.
• Correlate admin session activity with anomalous query patterns through SIEM analytics.

Monitoring Recommendations

• Monitor PHP and web server access logs for repeated requests against the four vulnerable endpoints.
• Track failed and successful admin authentications to detect credential abuse preceding exploitation.
• Alert on database error messages returned to the application that reference SQL syntax exceptions.

How to Mitigate CVE-2019-25699

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict access to the /admin/ path via IP allow-listing or VPN until a fix is in place.
• Rotate all admin credentials and enforce strong, unique passwords on the Newsbull admin panel.
• Audit the Newsbull database for unauthorized read activity and credential exfiltration.

Patch Information

No vendor patch is referenced in the available advisories. Review the GitHub Repository for NewsBull for any community fixes and consider migrating off the 1.0.0 release. Until an official update is published, apply the workarounds below.

Workarounds

• Refactor the affected query builders to use prepared statements with bound parameters (PDO or mysqli_prepare).
• Apply server-side input validation on the search parameter, rejecting non-alphanumeric characters where feasible.
• Deploy WAF signatures targeting SQL injection patterns on the four admin endpoints.
• Run the database service account with least-privilege rights to limit the impact of successful injection.

# Example ModSecurity rule to block SQL meta-characters in the search parameter
SecRule ARGS:search "@rx (?i)(union(\s)+select|sleep\(|benchmark\(|--|;|/\*)" \
    "id:1002569,phase:2,deny,status:403,log,msg:'CVE-2019-25699 Newsbull SQLi attempt'"