CVE-2024-3349: Aplaya Beach Resort System SQLi Flaw

CVE-2024-3349 Overview

A critical SQL Injection vulnerability has been identified in SourceCodester Aplaya Beach Resort Online Reservation System version 1.0. This vulnerability exists in the admin login functionality (admin/login.php) where the email parameter is not properly sanitized before being used in SQL queries. An attacker can exploit this flaw remotely without authentication to manipulate database queries, potentially leading to unauthorized access, data theft, or complete system compromise.

Critical Impact

This SQL injection vulnerability allows unauthenticated remote attackers to bypass authentication, extract sensitive data from the database, modify or delete records, and potentially gain complete control over the underlying database server.

Affected Products

• Janobe Aplaya Beach Resort Online Reservation System 1.0
• SourceCodester Aplaya Beach Resort Online Reservation System 1.0

Discovery Timeline

• 2024-04-05 - CVE-2024-3349 published to NVD
• 2025-02-11 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-3349

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability represents a classic SQL Injection (CWE-89) flaw in the administrative login interface of the reservation system. The admin/login.php file fails to properly validate and sanitize user-supplied input in the email parameter before incorporating it into SQL queries. This allows attackers to inject malicious SQL statements that are executed by the database server.

The exploitation can be performed remotely over the network without requiring any prior authentication or user interaction. Successful exploitation enables attackers to completely bypass the authentication mechanism, access all data stored in the database including customer information and administrative credentials, and potentially execute administrative operations on the database server.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is improper input validation and the lack of parameterized queries or prepared statements in the admin/login.php file. The application directly concatenates user-supplied input from the email parameter into SQL queries without proper sanitization or escaping, creating a classic SQL injection attack surface.

Attack Vector

The attack is network-based and can be launched remotely against any exposed instance of the application. An attacker targets the admin/login.php endpoint and manipulates the email parameter to inject malicious SQL syntax. Since no authentication or user interaction is required, this vulnerability is particularly dangerous for internet-facing deployments.

The vulnerability allows attackers to craft malicious input that breaks out of the intended SQL query context, enabling arbitrary SQL command execution. Common attack techniques include authentication bypass using payloads like ' OR '1'='1, UNION-based attacks to extract data from other tables, and time-based or error-based blind injection to enumerate database contents.

For detailed technical information and proof-of-concept details, refer to the GitHub PoC Repository and VulDB entry #259453.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-3349

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual SQL error messages in web server logs or application error logs originating from admin/login.php
• Access logs showing requests to admin/login.php with suspicious characters in the email parameter (single quotes, semicolons, SQL keywords like UNION, SELECT, OR)
• Database logs indicating failed or unusual queries from the web application user account
• Evidence of unauthorized administrative access or unexpected data modifications

Detection Strategies

• Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block SQL injection patterns in HTTP requests to admin/login.php
• Configure intrusion detection systems (IDS) to alert on SQL injection signature patterns in network traffic
• Enable detailed logging on the database server to capture and alert on anomalous query patterns
• Deploy application security monitoring to detect authentication bypass attempts

Monitoring Recommendations

• Monitor web server access logs for requests containing SQL injection payloads targeting the email parameter
• Set up alerts for multiple failed login attempts followed by sudden successful authentication
• Review database query logs for UNION SELECT statements or other data extraction patterns
• Implement real-time monitoring for any unauthorized changes to user tables or administrative accounts

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-3349

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict access to the admin/login.php endpoint using IP whitelisting or VPN requirements
• Deploy a Web Application Firewall with SQL injection protection rules enabled
• Consider temporarily disabling the administrative login portal until proper remediation is implemented
• Review database logs for any signs of prior exploitation

Patch Information

No official patch has been released by the vendor at the time of this writing. Organizations using this software should contact SourceCodester/Janobe for security updates or implement the recommended workarounds. Monitor the VulDB entry for updated patch information.

Workarounds

• Implement prepared statements or parameterized queries in the admin/login.php file to prevent SQL injection
• Add input validation to strictly enforce email format requirements using server-side validation
• Deploy a WAF configured to block common SQL injection patterns and sanitize input
• Restrict network access to administrative interfaces using firewall rules or authentication proxies
• Consider replacing the vulnerable component with a secure alternative if patches are unavailable

# Example: Restrict access to admin login via Apache .htaccess
# Place in /admin/.htaccess

<Files "login.php">
    Order Deny,Allow
    Deny from all
    # Allow only from trusted IP addresses
    Allow from 192.168.1.0/24
    Allow from 10.0.0.0/8
</Files>

# Alternative: Require HTTP Basic Auth as additional layer
# AuthType Basic
# AuthName "Admin Access"
# AuthUserFile /path/to/.htpasswd
# Require valid-user