CVE-2024-4801: College Management System SQL Injection Flaw

CVE-2024-4801 Overview

CVE-2024-4801 is a SQL injection vulnerability in Kashipara College Management System 1.0. The flaw resides in the submit_new_faculty.php script, where the address parameter is passed to a database query without proper sanitization. Attackers can inject arbitrary SQL statements remotely over the network. The exploit has been publicly disclosed, increasing the risk of opportunistic attacks against exposed installations. The vulnerability is tracked as VulDB entry 263921 and mapped to CWE-89 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command).

Critical Impact
Authenticated attackers can inject SQL through the address parameter in submit_new_faculty.php to read, modify, or delete database records in the College Management System.

Affected Products

Kashipara College Management System 1.0
Vulnerable file: submit_new_faculty.php
Vulnerable parameter: address

Discovery Timeline

2024-05-14 - CVE-2024-4801 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-4801

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability exists in the faculty submission workflow of the College Management System. When an authenticated user submits new faculty data, the application concatenates the address form field directly into a SQL statement executed against the backend database. Because the application does not use parameterized queries or apply input validation, adversaries can break out of the intended string context and append additional SQL clauses.

Exploitation only requires low privileges and no user interaction. Successful injection allows attackers to enumerate database schemas, exfiltrate credentials or personal information stored for students and faculty, and tamper with academic records. Depending on database privileges, an attacker may also leverage stacked queries or INTO OUTFILE primitives to escalate impact.

The EPSS model indicates a moderate probability of exploitation attempts compared to the broader CVE population, consistent with the trend of automated scanners weaponizing publicly documented PHP SQL injection flaws.

Root Cause

The root cause is unsafe SQL query construction in submit_new_faculty.php. User-supplied data from the address request parameter is embedded directly into an SQL statement without prepared statements or escaping. This maps to CWE-89, Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command.

Attack Vector

The attack is remote and network-based. An attacker with a valid low-privileged session sends a crafted HTTP POST request to submit_new_faculty.php with SQL metacharacters embedded in the address field. The payload is executed by the database engine in the context of the application user, exposing all records reachable by that account. Technical details are documented in the GitHub Vulnerability Report and the VulDB #263921 entry.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-4801

Indicators of Compromise

HTTP POST requests to submit_new_faculty.php containing SQL metacharacters such as ', --, UNION SELECT, or OR 1=1 in the address parameter.
Unexpected database errors in web server logs referencing the faculty submission endpoint.
New or modified faculty records with anomalous content that does not match legitimate submissions.
Outbound database queries from the application host that reference schema tables like information_schema.tables or mysql.user.

Detection Strategies

Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with signatures for SQL injection patterns targeting the submit_new_faculty.php endpoint.
Enable database query logging and alert on syntax errors originating from the College Management System application account.
Correlate authenticated session activity with unusual query volume or query length spikes to identify injection attempts.

Monitoring Recommendations

Monitor web server access logs for repeated 4xx or 5xx responses on submit_new_faculty.php following requests with suspicious payloads.
Track database read volume from the application service account to detect mass data extraction attempts.
Alert on the creation of new database users, privilege changes, or file write operations initiated by the application account.

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-4801

Immediate Actions Required

Restrict network access to the College Management System to trusted networks or a VPN until a fix is applied.
Rotate database credentials used by the application and confirm the account is limited to least-privilege operations.
Review recent faculty submission activity for signs of injection or unauthorized data access.
Deploy virtual patching via a WAF rule that blocks SQL metacharacters in the address parameter of submit_new_faculty.php.

Patch Information

No official vendor patch has been published for Kashipara College Management System 1.0 at the time of writing. Operators should track the vendor project for updates and, in the interim, apply source-level fixes by replacing string concatenation in submit_new_faculty.php with prepared statements using PDO or MySQLi parameter binding, and by applying server-side input validation to every field received from the faculty submission form.

Workarounds

Rewrite the vulnerable query using parameterized statements (PDO::prepare with bound parameters) to eliminate SQL injection.
Enforce strict allow-list validation on the address field, rejecting SQL metacharacters at the application layer.
Configure the database account used by the application with read/write access only to the tables it requires, revoking FILE, SUPER, and DDL privileges.
Enable error suppression in production PHP configuration to prevent leakage of SQL error messages that assist attackers.

bash

# Example WAF rule (ModSecurity) blocking SQLi patterns in the address parameter
SecRule ARGS:address "@rx (?i)(union(.*?)select|--|;|/\*|xp_|information_schema)" \
    "id:1004801,phase:2,deny,status:403,\
     msg:'CVE-2024-4801 SQLi attempt on submit_new_faculty.php'"