CVE-2024-10738: Farm Management System SQL Injection Flaw

CVE-2024-10738 Overview

CVE-2024-10738 is a SQL injection vulnerability in itsourcecode Farm Management System 1.0. The flaw resides in the manage-breed.php file, where the breed parameter is passed to a database query without proper sanitization. An authenticated remote attacker can manipulate this parameter to inject arbitrary SQL statements. The exploit details have been disclosed publicly, increasing the risk of opportunistic attacks against exposed installations. The weakness is tracked under [CWE-89] (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command).

Critical Impact

Remote attackers with low-privilege access can read, modify, or destroy database records through SQL injection against manage-breed.php.

Affected Products

• itsourcecode Farm Management System 1.0
• Vendor: angeljudesuarez
• Component: manage-breed.php (breed parameter)

Discovery Timeline

• 2024-11-03 - CVE-2024-10738 published to NVD
• 2024-11-05 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-10738

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability stems from the unsafe handling of the breed HTTP parameter inside manage-breed.php. The application concatenates user-supplied input directly into a SQL query without parameterization or input validation. This allows an attacker to break out of the intended query context and append arbitrary SQL syntax. Successful exploitation can expose data confidentiality, integrity, and availability within the backend database. The EPSS score of 0.096% suggests low current exploitation likelihood, but public disclosure of the exploit raises operational risk. Discussion of the issue is available in the GitHub CVE Issue Discussion.

Root Cause

The root cause is a failure to neutralize special characters in SQL query construction, classified as [CWE-89]. The breed parameter flows from an HTTP request into a database statement without prepared statements or escaping. PHP applications using direct string concatenation with mysqli_query() or equivalent functions are typical examples of this pattern.

Attack Vector

The attack is remote and network-accessible. An attacker requires low-level authenticated access to submit a crafted request targeting manage-breed.php. By injecting SQL payloads such as UNION SELECT clauses or boolean-based conditions through the breed argument, the attacker can extract data, bypass authentication checks, or alter records. Additional details are catalogued at VulDB #282907.

No verified exploit code is published in the referenced advisories.
See the GitHub issue and VulDB entries linked above for technical context.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-10738

Indicators of Compromise

• HTTP requests to manage-breed.php containing SQL metacharacters such as ', --, UNION, or SLEEP( in the breed parameter.
• Web server access logs showing unusually long or URL-encoded breed parameter values.
• Database error messages or stack traces returned in HTTP responses tied to breed-related queries.

Detection Strategies

• Deploy web application firewall (WAF) rules that inspect query strings and POST bodies targeting manage-breed.php for SQL injection signatures.
• Enable database query logging and alert on unexpected UNION, INFORMATION_SCHEMA, or multi-statement queries originating from the Farm Management System application user.
• Correlate web server access logs with database audit logs to identify anomalous parameter patterns.

Monitoring Recommendations

• Monitor outbound traffic from the web server for signs of data exfiltration following suspicious requests.
• Track repeated 500-class HTTP responses from manage-breed.php, which often indicate injection probing.
• Review authentication logs for low-privilege accounts issuing high volumes of requests to breed management endpoints.

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-10738

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict network access to the Farm Management System interface to trusted internal networks or VPN users only.
• Audit and rotate database credentials used by the application to limit blast radius if injection has already occurred.
• Review web server and database logs for prior exploitation attempts against manage-breed.php.

Patch Information

No official vendor patch is listed in the referenced advisories. itsourcecode Farm Management System 1.0 is a small-business PHP application, and remediation requires source-level fixes. Replace dynamic SQL with parameterized queries using mysqli_prepare() or PDO prepared statements. Validate the breed parameter against an allowlist of expected values before query execution.

Workarounds

• Deploy a WAF rule that blocks SQL metacharacters in the breed parameter sent to manage-breed.php.
• Apply strict server-side input validation that rejects non-alphanumeric content in breed identifiers.
• Run the database service account with the minimum privileges required, removing DROP, ALTER, and FILE permissions.

# Example ModSecurity rule to block SQLi attempts against manage-breed.php
SecRule REQUEST_URI "@contains manage-breed.php" \
    "chain,deny,status:403,id:1010738,msg:'Possible SQLi in breed parameter'"
    SecRule ARGS:breed "@detectSQLi" "t:none"