CVE-2024-45249: Peak-14 Cavok SQLi Vulnerability

CVE-2024-45249 Overview

CVE-2024-45249 is a critical SQL Injection vulnerability affecting Peak-14 Cavok software. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to inject malicious SQL commands due to improper neutralization of special elements used in SQL queries (CWE-89). The flaw can be exploited over the network without authentication, potentially leading to unauthorized data access, data manipulation, and complete system compromise.

Critical Impact

This SQL Injection vulnerability enables unauthenticated remote attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands, potentially resulting in full database compromise, data exfiltration, and system-level access.

Affected Products

• Peak-14 Cavok (all versions)

Discovery Timeline

• 2024-10-06 - CVE-2024-45249 published to NVD
• 2025-05-16 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-45249

Vulnerability Analysis

This SQL Injection vulnerability (CWE-89) exists in Peak-14 Cavok due to insufficient input validation and sanitization of user-supplied data before incorporating it into SQL queries. The vulnerability can be exploited remotely without requiring any authentication or user interaction, making it particularly dangerous in internet-facing deployments.

Successful exploitation allows attackers to manipulate database queries, potentially enabling them to bypass authentication mechanisms, extract sensitive data from the database, modify or delete critical information, and in some configurations, execute operating system commands through database-specific functions.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2024-45249 is the improper neutralization of special characters within user input before it is processed by the SQL query engine. When user-controlled data is concatenated directly into SQL statements without proper parameterization or escaping, attackers can inject malicious SQL syntax that alters the intended query logic.

This typically occurs when developers use string concatenation or interpolation to build SQL queries rather than using prepared statements or parameterized queries, which separate the query structure from the data values.

Attack Vector

The vulnerability is exploitable over the network with no privileges required and no user interaction needed. An attacker can craft malicious HTTP requests containing SQL injection payloads targeting vulnerable input fields or parameters within the Cavok application. These payloads may include techniques such as:

• Union-based injection to extract data from other database tables
• Boolean-based blind injection to infer database contents through true/false responses
• Time-based blind injection using database sleep functions
• Error-based injection to extract information through database error messages
• Stacked queries to execute multiple SQL statements

The vulnerability manifests in input handling routines where user-supplied data is processed without adequate sanitization. For detailed technical information, refer to the Israeli Government CVE Advisories.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-45249

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual database queries in application logs containing SQL keywords like UNION, SELECT, DROP, or INSERT in unexpected contexts
• Database error messages exposed in HTTP responses indicating query syntax errors
• Anomalous database access patterns such as bulk data extraction or unauthorized table access
• Web server logs showing requests with encoded SQL characters (%27, %22, %3D) or common injection strings

Detection Strategies

• Deploy Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block common SQL injection patterns
• Implement database activity monitoring to identify suspicious query patterns and unauthorized data access
• Configure application logging to capture all database queries with parameter values for forensic analysis
• Enable intrusion detection system (IDS) signatures for SQL injection attack patterns

Monitoring Recommendations

• Monitor database logs for queries containing unusual syntax or accessing sensitive tables
• Set up alerts for failed authentication attempts combined with database query anomalies
• Track HTTP request patterns for parameters containing encoded special characters
• Review application error logs for database-related exceptions that may indicate exploitation attempts

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-45249

Immediate Actions Required

• Identify all instances of Peak-14 Cavok in your environment and assess their exposure
• Implement network-level access controls to restrict access to the application from untrusted sources
• Deploy WAF rules specifically targeting SQL injection patterns as an interim protective measure
• Enable detailed logging on both the web application and database servers for incident detection

Patch Information

Contact Peak-14 directly for information about security patches and updated versions that address CVE-2024-45249. Monitor the Israeli Government CVE Advisories for additional security guidance and updates related to this vulnerability.

Workarounds

• Implement input validation at the application layer to reject requests containing SQL special characters
• Deploy a Web Application Firewall configured with SQL injection detection rules in blocking mode
• Restrict database user permissions to the minimum required for application functionality
• Consider placing vulnerable Cavok instances behind a VPN or internal network segment until patches are available

# Example WAF rule configuration for ModSecurity
SecRule ARGS "@detectSQLi" \
  "id:100001,\
  phase:2,\
  deny,\
  status:403,\
  log,\
  msg:'SQL Injection Attack Detected - CVE-2024-45249 Protection',\
  severity:CRITICAL"