CVE-2024-2514: Event Hall Reservation System SQLi Flaw

CVE-2024-2514 Overview

A critical SQL injection vulnerability was discovered in MAGESH-K21 Online-College-Event-Hall-Reservation-System version 1.0. The vulnerability exists in the /login.php file where the email parameter is not properly sanitized before being used in SQL queries. This allows remote attackers to inject malicious SQL code and bypass authentication, potentially gaining unauthorized access to the entire application and its underlying database.

Critical Impact

This SQL injection vulnerability enables complete authentication bypass and unauthorized database access, allowing attackers to read, modify, or delete sensitive data without valid credentials.

Affected Products

• MAGESH-K21 Online-College-Event-Hall-Reservation-System 1.0

Discovery Timeline

• 2024-03-15 - CVE-2024-2514 published to NVD
• 2025-03-03 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-2514

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is classified as CWE-89: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command (SQL Injection). The affected /login.php file fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input in the email parameter before incorporating it into SQL queries. This lack of input validation allows attackers to manipulate the authentication logic by injecting malicious SQL statements directly through the login form.

The attack can be launched remotely over the network without requiring any prior authentication or user interaction. An attacker can craft a malicious payload in the email field that alters the intended SQL query logic, effectively bypassing the authentication mechanism entirely. This provides complete access to the application with potentially elevated privileges.

The vendor (MAGESH-K21) was contacted about this disclosure but did not respond, leaving users without an official patch or remediation guidance.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is the direct concatenation or improper handling of user-supplied input (the email parameter) within SQL queries in the /login.php authentication endpoint. The application fails to implement parameterized queries, prepared statements, or adequate input sanitization, allowing SQL metacharacters to be interpreted as part of the SQL command rather than as literal data.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based, requiring no authentication or privileges. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by submitting a crafted HTTP request to the /login.php endpoint with a malicious payload in the email parameter. The SQL injection payload manipulates the query logic to return a valid authentication response regardless of the actual credentials provided.

For example, classic SQL injection payloads that evaluate to true (such as ' OR '1'='1' --) can be used to bypass the login check entirely. The public proof-of-concept demonstrates authentication bypass techniques leveraging this vulnerability.

Technical details and proof-of-concept information are available in the GitHub SQL Injection PoC repository.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-2514

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual login patterns or successful authentications from unexpected IP addresses
• SQL error messages in application logs indicating malformed queries from the /login.php endpoint
• Evidence of SQL injection payloads in web server access logs (requests containing SQL keywords like UNION, SELECT, OR, --)
• Database audit logs showing unauthorized queries or data access following authentication requests

Detection Strategies

• Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block SQL injection patterns in login form submissions
• Configure intrusion detection systems (IDS) to alert on requests containing SQL metacharacters targeting /login.php
• Enable verbose logging on the web server and database to capture suspicious query patterns
• Deploy database activity monitoring to detect anomalous query execution patterns

Monitoring Recommendations

• Monitor HTTP POST requests to /login.php for SQL injection signatures in the email parameter
• Set up alerting for multiple failed login attempts followed by successful authentication from the same source
• Review database logs for SELECT statements that return unexpected result sets during authentication
• Implement real-time log analysis to correlate web access and database activity

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-2514

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict network access to the application using firewall rules to limit exposure
• Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with SQL injection protection rules
• Consider taking the application offline until proper remediation can be applied
• Audit database access and user accounts for signs of compromise

Patch Information

No official patch is available from the vendor. The vendor (MAGESH-K21) was contacted about this vulnerability but did not respond. Organizations using this software should implement the workarounds below and consider migrating to a supported alternative solution.

Additional vulnerability details are available at VulDB #256951 and VulDB CTI.

Workarounds

• Modify the source code to use parameterized queries or prepared statements for all database interactions in /login.php
• Implement strict input validation to whitelist acceptable characters for the email field
• Deploy a reverse proxy or WAF to filter malicious requests before they reach the application
• Isolate the database server and restrict application database user privileges to minimum required access

# Example WAF rule for ModSecurity to block SQL injection in login forms
SecRule ARGS:email "@detectSQLi" \
    "id:1001,\
    phase:2,\
    deny,\
    status:403,\
    log,\
    msg:'SQL Injection attempt detected in email parameter',\
    tag:'application-multi',\
    tag:'language-multi',\
    tag:'platform-multi',\
    tag:'attack-sqli'"