CVE-2024-1876: Razormist Employee Management SQLI Flaw

CVE-2024-1876 Overview

A critical SQL injection vulnerability exists in SourceCodester Employee Management System version 1.0. The vulnerability affects the /psubmit.php file, where improper handling of the pid parameter allows attackers to inject malicious SQL queries. This flaw enables unauthorized access to the application's database, potentially leading to data theft, manipulation, or complete system compromise.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can exploit this SQL injection vulnerability without authentication to extract sensitive employee data, modify database records, or potentially gain full control of the underlying database server.

Affected Products

• SourceCodester Employee Management System 1.0
• Razormist Employee Management System 1.0

Discovery Timeline

• 2024-02-26 - CVE-2024-1876 published to NVD
• 2024-12-23 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-1876

Vulnerability Analysis

This SQL injection vulnerability (CWE-89) occurs due to insufficient input validation and sanitization in the /psubmit.php script. The application fails to properly validate user-supplied input passed through the pid parameter before incorporating it into SQL queries. An attacker can craft malicious input containing SQL syntax that, when processed by the database, alters the intended query logic.

The vulnerability is remotely exploitable and requires no authentication, making it particularly dangerous. Once exploited, an attacker can bypass authentication mechanisms, access confidential employee records, modify or delete data, and in some configurations, execute commands on the underlying operating system.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is the direct inclusion of unsanitized user input in SQL queries. The pid parameter value is concatenated into database queries without proper validation, prepared statements, or parameterized queries. This classic injection pattern allows attacker-controlled data to be interpreted as SQL commands rather than data values.

Attack Vector

The attack can be launched remotely via network access to the web application. An attacker submits a specially crafted HTTP request to /psubmit.php with the pid parameter containing SQL injection payload such as '+or+1%3d1%23 (URL-decoded: ' or 1=1#). This payload manipulates the SQL query logic to return true for all conditions, potentially bypassing access controls or extracting data.

The injection technique uses single-quote to break out of the original query context, followed by a boolean condition that always evaluates to true (1=1), and finally a comment character (#) to ignore the remainder of the original query. This pattern is commonly used to bypass WHERE clause restrictions and extract unauthorized data.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-1876

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual HTTP requests to /psubmit.php containing SQL syntax characters such as single quotes, comment sequences (-- or #), or encoded equivalents
• Web server logs showing requests with pid parameter values containing SQL keywords like OR, UNION, SELECT, or DROP
• Database error messages appearing in application responses indicating malformed queries
• Unexpected database query patterns or performance degradation

Detection Strategies

• Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block SQL injection attempts targeting the pid parameter
• Configure SIEM alerts for HTTP requests containing common SQL injection patterns in query strings
• Enable database query logging and monitor for anomalous query structures
• Deploy application-level logging to capture and analyze all requests to /psubmit.php

Monitoring Recommendations

• Review web server access logs for requests to /psubmit.php with suspicious parameter values
• Monitor database audit logs for unauthorized data access or modification patterns
• Implement real-time alerting for multiple failed authentication attempts that may indicate exploitation
• Track outbound data transfers that could indicate data exfiltration following successful exploitation

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-1876

Immediate Actions Required

• Remove or disable access to the Employee Management System until a patch is available or the vulnerable file is remediated
• Implement Web Application Firewall rules to block requests containing SQL injection patterns to /psubmit.php
• Restrict network access to the application to trusted IP addresses only
• Review database logs for evidence of prior exploitation and assess potential data breach

Patch Information

No official vendor patch has been identified for this vulnerability. SourceCodester Employee Management System users should contact the vendor directly or consider alternative solutions. For environments requiring continued use, implement defense-in-depth measures including input validation, prepared statements, and network segmentation.

Technical details are available in the GitHub PoC documentation and additional context is provided in VulDB #254724.

Workarounds

• Modify the /psubmit.php source code to use parameterized queries or prepared statements for all database operations
• Implement server-side input validation to reject any pid values containing non-numeric characters
• Deploy a reverse proxy or WAF configured to sanitize or block malicious input patterns
• Apply the principle of least privilege to database accounts used by the application to limit potential damage

# Example: Restrict access to vulnerable endpoint via .htaccess
<Files "psubmit.php">
    Order Deny,Allow
    Deny from all
    # Allow only from trusted admin IPs
    Allow from 192.168.1.0/24
</Files>