CVE-2019-25703: ImpressCMS SQL Injection Vulnerability

CVE-2019-25703 Overview

ImpressCMS 1.3.11 contains a time-based blind SQL injection vulnerability that allows authenticated attackers to manipulate database queries by injecting SQL code through the bid parameter. Attackers can send POST requests to the admin.php endpoint with malicious bid values containing SQL commands to extract sensitive database information.

Critical Impact

Authenticated attackers can exploit this SQL injection vulnerability to extract sensitive database contents including user credentials, session tokens, and other confidential information stored in the ImpressCMS database.

Affected Products

• ImpressCMS version 1.3.11

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-04-12 - CVE CVE-2019-25703 published to NVD
• 2026-04-13 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2019-25703

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified as CWE-89 (SQL Injection), a critical web application security flaw that occurs when user-supplied input is incorporated into SQL queries without proper sanitization. In ImpressCMS 1.3.11, the bid parameter accepts user input that is directly concatenated into database queries, enabling attackers to manipulate the query logic.

The time-based blind SQL injection technique works by injecting conditional SQL statements that cause deliberate delays in database responses. By measuring response times, attackers can infer information about the database structure and contents one bit at a time, even when the application does not directly display query results.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is improper input validation and lack of parameterized queries in the ImpressCMS admin.php endpoint. The bid parameter is not properly sanitized before being used in SQL queries, allowing attackers to inject arbitrary SQL commands. This represents a fundamental failure to implement secure coding practices such as prepared statements or input validation.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based, requiring the attacker to have authenticated access to the ImpressCMS administrative interface. Once authenticated, an attacker can craft malicious POST requests to the admin.php endpoint with specially crafted bid parameter values. The injected SQL code leverages time-based techniques (such as SLEEP() or BENCHMARK() functions in MySQL) to extract database information character by character based on response timing differences.

The vulnerability mechanism involves sending POST requests to admin.php with a malicious bid parameter containing time-based SQL injection payloads. Attackers can use conditional statements combined with time delay functions to infer database contents. For technical details and proof-of-concept examples, see the Exploit-DB #46239 advisory.

Detection Methods for CVE-2019-25703

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual POST requests to admin.php containing SQL syntax in the bid parameter
• Database query logs showing time-delay functions such as SLEEP(), BENCHMARK(), or WAITFOR DELAY
• Abnormally long response times from the administrative interface
• Multiple sequential requests to admin.php with incrementally modified bid values

Detection Strategies

• Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect SQL injection patterns in POST parameters
• Monitor application logs for requests containing suspicious SQL keywords such as UNION, SELECT, SLEEP, and BENCHMARK
• Deploy database activity monitoring to detect unusual query patterns or time-based operations
• Enable verbose logging for the ImpressCMS admin.php endpoint to capture all parameter values

Monitoring Recommendations

• Set up alerts for abnormal response time patterns from the ImpressCMS admin interface
• Monitor database connection activity for queries with unusually long execution times
• Implement rate limiting on administrative endpoints to slow down automated SQL injection attacks
• Review authentication logs for suspicious admin account activity preceding injection attempts

How to Mitigate CVE-2019-25703

Immediate Actions Required

• Upgrade ImpressCMS to a patched version if available
• Implement input validation on the bid parameter to accept only numeric values
• Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with SQL injection protection rules
• Restrict administrative panel access to trusted IP addresses only

Patch Information

Review the ImpressCMS Official Website and VulnCheck SQL Injection Advisory for the latest security updates and patched versions. If no official patch is available, consider implementing the workarounds below or migrating to a more actively maintained CMS platform.

Workarounds

• Implement prepared statements or parameterized queries for all database operations involving the bid parameter
• Add server-side input validation to ensure the bid parameter contains only expected numeric values
• Deploy ModSecurity or similar WAF with OWASP Core Rule Set to block SQL injection attempts
• Limit database user privileges for the ImpressCMS application to minimize impact of successful exploitation

# ModSecurity WAF rule to block SQL injection in bid parameter
SecRule ARGS:bid "@detectSQLi" \
    "id:100001,\
    phase:2,\
    deny,\
    status:403,\
    log,\
    msg:'SQL Injection attempt detected in bid parameter',\
    tag:'CVE-2019-25703'"