CVE-2024-26517: School Task Manager SQLi Vulnerability

CVE-2024-26517 Overview

CVE-2024-26517 is a SQL Injection vulnerability discovered in Rems School Task Manager version 1.0. The vulnerability exists in the delete-task.php component, which fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input before incorporating it into SQL queries. A remote attacker can exploit this flaw by sending a crafted payload to obtain sensitive information from the underlying database.

This vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to manipulate database queries, potentially leading to unauthorized data access, data modification, or complete database compromise.

Critical Impact

This SQL Injection vulnerability allows remote, unauthenticated attackers to extract sensitive information from the database through crafted payloads targeting the delete-task.php component, potentially exposing student records, credentials, and other confidential data.

Affected Products

• Rems School Task Manager v1.0
• PHP-based School Task Manager from SourceCodester
• Any derivative installations based on the vulnerable source code

Discovery Timeline

• 2024-05-14 - CVE-2024-26517 published to NVD
• 2025-06-18 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-26517

Vulnerability Analysis

The SQL Injection vulnerability in School Task Manager v1.0 stems from the application's failure to implement proper input validation and parameterized queries in the delete-task.php component. When processing task deletion requests, the application directly concatenates user-supplied input into SQL statements without adequate sanitization.

This type of vulnerability is particularly dangerous in educational software contexts where sensitive student information, grades, and administrative credentials may be stored. The network-based attack vector requires no authentication, meaning any remote attacker with network access to the application can attempt exploitation.

The vulnerability enables attackers to read arbitrary database contents, potentially including user credentials stored in the database. While the integrity impact allows for potential data modification, the availability of the system remains unaffected according to the vulnerability assessment.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2024-26517 is improper input validation in the delete-task.php file. The vulnerable code accepts user input—likely a task identifier parameter—and incorporates it directly into SQL query strings without using prepared statements or proper escaping mechanisms.

This represents a classic case of CWE-89 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command), where the application fails to neutralize SQL metacharacters in user-controlled data before constructing database queries. The absence of parameterized queries or input sanitization allows malicious SQL syntax to be interpreted as part of the query structure rather than data.

Attack Vector

The attack can be executed remotely over the network without requiring any authentication or user interaction. An attacker targets the delete-task.php endpoint with a specially crafted HTTP request containing malicious SQL payload in the task identifier parameter.

The exploitation mechanism involves injecting SQL syntax that modifies the query's logic to extract data from the database. Common techniques include UNION-based injection to retrieve data from other tables, boolean-based blind injection to infer data character by character, or time-based blind injection when direct output is not visible.

For detailed technical analysis and proof-of-concept information, refer to the GitHub PoC Repository. The original vulnerable source code is available at the SourceCodester PHP Source Code repository.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-26517

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual or malformed HTTP requests to delete-task.php containing SQL keywords such as UNION, SELECT, OR 1=1, or comment sequences (--, /**/)
• Database error messages appearing in web server logs or application responses indicating syntax errors in SQL queries
• Unexpected database queries or access patterns in database audit logs, particularly SELECT statements retrieving large amounts of data
• Web application firewall (WAF) alerts for SQL injection attack patterns targeting the application

Detection Strategies

• Deploy web application firewall rules to detect and block common SQL injection patterns in requests to delete-task.php
• Enable detailed logging on the web server to capture request parameters and payloads for forensic analysis
• Implement database query logging and monitoring to detect anomalous query patterns or unauthorized data access attempts
• Utilize intrusion detection systems (IDS) with SQL injection signature rules to identify exploitation attempts

Monitoring Recommendations

• Monitor web server access logs for repeated requests to delete-task.php with varying payloads, indicating automated exploitation attempts
• Set up alerts for database error rates that may indicate active SQL injection probing
• Review database user account activity for signs of privilege escalation or unauthorized schema access
• Implement real-time alerting for any data exfiltration patterns from sensitive database tables

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-26517

Immediate Actions Required

• Remove or disable the School Task Manager application from production environments until a patch is available
• Implement web application firewall rules to block SQL injection attempts targeting the delete-task.php endpoint
• Restrict network access to the application to trusted IP ranges only as a temporary measure
• Conduct a database audit to determine if exploitation has already occurred and assess the scope of potential data exposure

Patch Information

As of the last NVD update on 2025-06-18, no official vendor patch has been released for this vulnerability. The application is distributed through SourceCodester as open-source PHP code, and organizations using this software should implement manual code remediation.

To address the vulnerability at the source code level, developers should modify the delete-task.php file to use prepared statements with parameterized queries instead of string concatenation for SQL query construction. All user inputs must be validated, sanitized, and treated as untrusted data.

Workarounds

• Implement input validation to accept only numeric task identifiers, rejecting any non-numeric characters
• Add a web application firewall or reverse proxy with SQL injection filtering capabilities in front of the application
• Restrict database user privileges to minimum required permissions, preventing the application database user from accessing sensitive system tables
• Consider replacing the vulnerable application with a more secure, actively maintained alternative

# Configuration example - Apache mod_security rule to block SQL injection attempts
# Add to Apache configuration or .htaccess file

SecRule ARGS "@detectSQLi" "id:1001,phase:2,deny,status:403,msg:'SQL Injection Attempt Blocked',log,auditlog"
SecRule REQUEST_URI "/delete-task\.php" "chain,id:1002,phase:2,deny,status:403,msg:'Blocked delete-task.php access'"
SecRule ARGS "@rx (?i)(union|select|insert|update|delete|drop|concat|char|--)" "t:none"