CVE-2024-57401: Uniclare Student Portal RCE Vulnerability

CVE-2024-57401 Overview

CVE-2024-57401 is a SQL injection vulnerability affecting the Uniclare Student portal version 2 and earlier. The flaw resides in the Forgot Password function, which fails to sanitize user-supplied input before incorporating it into backend database queries. A remote, unauthenticated attacker can submit crafted input to manipulate SQL statements and execute arbitrary code against the underlying database. Successful exploitation can compromise the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of student records and authentication data.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated remote attackers can manipulate database queries through the Forgot Password endpoint, leading to arbitrary code execution and full compromise of student portal data.

Affected Products

• Uniclare Student Portal v2
• Uniclare Student Portal versions prior to v2
• Deployments referenced at the University Solutions Student Portal

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-02-20 - CVE-2024-57401 published to the National Vulnerability Database (NVD)
• 2026-04-15 - Last updated in the NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-57401

Vulnerability Analysis

The Uniclare Student portal exposes a Forgot Password feature that accepts user identifiers, such as a registration number or email address, to initiate credential recovery. The vulnerable endpoint concatenates the supplied parameter directly into a SQL query without parameterization or input validation. An attacker can inject SQL syntax to alter query logic, exfiltrate arbitrary table contents, or leverage stacked queries depending on the database engine.

Because the endpoint is reachable before authentication, exploitation requires no credentials or user interaction. The flaw is classified under [CWE-94] (Improper Control of Generation of Code) in the NVD record, reflecting that injected SQL can lead to arbitrary command execution through database functions or out-of-band channels.

Root Cause

The root cause is the absence of prepared statements and input sanitization in the password recovery workflow. User input flows directly into a dynamic SQL string, allowing metacharacters such as single quotes, semicolons, and SQL keywords to break out of the intended query context.

Attack Vector

Attackers reach the vulnerability over the network by issuing HTTP requests to the Forgot Password endpoint of the student portal. The injection payload is delivered through the form field handling the user identifier. With EPSS data indicating a 4.405% exploitation probability and an 89th-percentile ranking, opportunistic scanning and exploitation against exposed instances is plausible.

The vulnerability manifests in the password recovery handler when user-supplied identifiers are interpolated into SQL statements. See the published GitHub PoC Repository for technical details and reproduction steps.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-57401

Indicators of Compromise

• HTTP POST requests to the Forgot Password endpoint containing SQL metacharacters such as ', --, UNION SELECT, OR 1=1, or ;
• Unexpected database errors or stack traces returned to clients from the student portal
• Anomalous outbound database connections or DNS lookups originating from the portal's database server, suggesting out-of-band exfiltration

Detection Strategies

• Inspect web server and application logs for malformed input on password reset parameters and correlate with elevated database error rates
• Deploy a web application firewall (WAF) rule set tuned for SQL injection patterns targeting authentication and account-recovery endpoints
• Enable database query logging and alert on queries that contain tautologies, union-based payloads, or references to system tables such as information_schema

Monitoring Recommendations

• Monitor authentication subsystems for unusual password reset volumes from single source IP addresses
• Track database service accounts for queries outside their normal application baseline
• Forward portal and database logs to a centralized analytics platform for correlation with threat intelligence on SQL injection campaigns

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-57401

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict public exposure of the Uniclare Student portal until a vendor patch is verified and applied
• Place the Forgot Password endpoint behind a WAF with signatures blocking SQL injection payloads
• Rotate database credentials and review database logs for evidence of prior exploitation attempts

Patch Information

No vendor patch information is published in the NVD record for CVE-2024-57401 at the time of writing. Operators of the Uniclare Student portal should contact the vendor directly through the University Solutions Student Portal to confirm remediation availability and obtain fixed releases.

Workarounds

• Apply virtual patching via WAF rules to block SQL metacharacters in password recovery parameters
• Enforce least-privilege permissions on the database account used by the portal so injected queries cannot reach sensitive tables or execute administrative functions
• Implement input allow-listing at a reverse proxy to constrain Forgot Password parameters to expected formats such as alphanumeric registration numbers
• Disable verbose database error messages returned to end users to reduce information available to attackers

# Example WAF rule (ModSecurity) to block common SQLi patterns on the password reset endpoint
SecRule REQUEST_URI "@contains /forgotpassword" \
  "phase:2,deny,status:403,id:1057401,\
  chain,msg:'Potential SQLi on Uniclare Forgot Password endpoint'"
  SecRule ARGS "@rx (?i)(union\s+select|or\s+1=1|--|;|information_schema)" \
    "t:none,t:urlDecodeUni"