CVE-2024-3356: Janobe Aplaya Resort SQL Injection Flaw

CVE-2024-3356 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 file admin/mod_settings/controller.php?action=add, where improper handling of the type parameter allows attackers to inject malicious SQL statements. The vulnerability can be exploited remotely without authentication, potentially leading to complete database compromise, data exfiltration, and unauthorized access to sensitive reservation and customer information.

Critical Impact

This SQL Injection vulnerability allows unauthenticated remote attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands, potentially compromising the entire database containing customer personal information, reservation records, and administrative credentials.

Affected Products

• Janobe Aplaya Beach Resort Online Reservation System 1.0

Discovery Timeline

• 2024-04-05 - CVE-2024-3356 published to NVD
• 2025-02-11 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-3356

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified as CWE-89 (SQL Injection), a critical web application security flaw where user-supplied input is directly incorporated into SQL queries without proper sanitization or parameterization. The vulnerable endpoint admin/mod_settings/controller.php?action=add accepts a type parameter that is processed without adequate input validation, allowing attackers to manipulate the resulting database query.

The attack surface is particularly concerning as it exists within an administrative function, meaning successful exploitation could grant attackers access to privileged operations and sensitive backend data. Since the vulnerability requires no authentication and can be triggered remotely over the network, any exposed instance of this reservation system is at immediate risk.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is insufficient input validation and the absence of parameterized queries (prepared statements) in the application's database interaction layer. The type parameter passed to the controller.php script is directly concatenated or interpolated into SQL statements without sanitization, escaping, or the use of secure database access patterns.

Attack Vector

An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by crafting malicious HTTP requests to the vulnerable endpoint with SQL injection payloads in the type parameter. The attack can be launched remotely without any prior authentication, making it accessible to any attacker who can reach the target application over the network.

Successful exploitation allows attackers to:

• Extract sensitive data from the database including customer personal information and payment details
• Modify or delete reservation records and system settings
• Potentially escalate privileges by extracting administrative credentials
• In some configurations, execute system commands through database functions

The exploit has been publicly disclosed and documented, as referenced in the GitHub PoC Repository, increasing the likelihood of exploitation attempts in the wild.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-3356

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual or malformed requests to admin/mod_settings/controller.php?action=add containing SQL syntax characters such as single quotes, double dashes, semicolons, or UNION keywords in the type parameter
• Database error messages appearing in HTTP responses or application logs indicating SQL syntax errors
• Unexpected database queries or data access patterns in database audit logs
• Evidence of data exfiltration or unauthorized bulk data retrieval from reservation or customer tables

Detection Strategies

• Deploy Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block common SQL injection patterns targeting the type parameter and similar input fields
• Implement application-level input validation logging to capture and alert on suspicious parameter values
• Configure database activity monitoring to detect anomalous query patterns, especially those containing UNION-based or time-based blind injection techniques
• Monitor HTTP access logs for repeated requests to the vulnerable endpoint with varying payloads

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable verbose logging on the web server and application to capture full request parameters for forensic analysis
• Configure intrusion detection systems (IDS) with signatures for SQL injection attack patterns
• Set up real-time alerting for database errors that may indicate active exploitation attempts
• Implement rate limiting on administrative endpoints to slow down automated exploitation tools

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-3356

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict access to the vulnerable admin/mod_settings/controller.php endpoint using network-level controls such as IP whitelisting or VPN requirements
• Deploy a Web Application Firewall with SQL injection protection rules in front of the application
• If possible, take the application offline until a patched version is available or the vulnerability is remediated
• Review database and application logs for signs of prior exploitation

Patch Information

As of the last NVD update on 2025-02-11, no official vendor patch has been documented for this vulnerability. Organizations using this software should contact the vendor (Janobe/SourceCodester) for remediation guidance or consider alternative reservation system solutions that follow secure development practices.

For additional technical details, refer to the VulDB entry #259460 and the VulDB CTI report.

Workarounds

• Implement input validation at the application level to sanitize all user-supplied parameters, specifically filtering out SQL metacharacters from the type parameter
• Refactor the vulnerable code to use parameterized queries or prepared statements for all database interactions
• Apply the principle of least privilege to database accounts used by the application, restricting permissions to only necessary operations
• Deploy network segmentation to isolate the reservation system from critical infrastructure and limit the blast radius of a potential compromise