CVE-2024-5775: Vehicle Management System SQLi Vulnerability

CVE-2024-5775 Overview

CVE-2024-5775 is a SQL injection vulnerability in SourceCodester Vehicle Management System 1.0. The flaw resides in the updatebill.php file, where the id parameter is passed to a database query without proper sanitization. Attackers can manipulate the id argument to inject arbitrary SQL statements. The vulnerability is remotely exploitable over the network and requires no authentication or user interaction. The exploit has been publicly disclosed under VulDB identifier VDB-267458. The weakness is classified under [CWE-89]: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated remote attackers can manipulate the id parameter in updatebill.php to execute arbitrary SQL queries against the application database, leading to data disclosure, modification, or deletion.

Affected Products

• SourceCodester Vehicle Management System 1.0
• Warrendaloyan Vehicle Management System (cpe:2.3:a:warrendaloyan:vehicle_management_system:1.0)
• updatebill.php component handling the id parameter

Discovery Timeline

• 2024-06-09 - CVE-2024-5775 published to the National Vulnerability Database
• 2024-11-21 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-5775

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is a classic SQL injection in the updatebill.php script of the Vehicle Management System web application. The script accepts the id parameter through an HTTP request and concatenates it directly into a SQL query without parameterization or input validation. Attackers can supply crafted input to alter the structure of the underlying query.

Because the application performs no authentication checks before reaching the vulnerable code path, the attack surface is exposed to any remote actor who can reach the web server. The EPSS score is 0.091% (25.667 percentile), indicating limited observed exploitation activity, though a public proof of concept exists.

Root Cause

The root cause is unsanitized user-supplied input being interpolated into a SQL statement. The id parameter received in updatebill.php is not validated, escaped, or bound as a prepared statement parameter. Standard mitigations such as PDO prepared statements or mysqli parameter binding are absent from the affected code path.

Attack Vector

An attacker sends an HTTP request to updatebill.php containing a malicious value in the id argument. The injected payload terminates the original query and appends attacker-controlled SQL clauses such as UNION SELECT statements or boolean-based blind injection probes. Successful exploitation enables enumeration of database tables, extraction of credentials, modification of billing records, or destructive operations against application data. Public references describing the issue include the GitHub CVE Issue #44 and VulDB entry #267458.

No verified proof-of-concept code is reproduced here. See the linked external references for technical details published by the original reporter.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-5775

Indicators of Compromise

• HTTP requests to updatebill.php containing SQL meta-characters in the id parameter such as ', ", --, ;, UNION, or SLEEP(
• Web server access logs showing repeated requests to updatebill.php from a single source with varying id values
• Database error messages returned to clients referencing MySQL syntax errors triggered by updatebill.php
• Unexpected modifications, additions, or deletions in billing-related database tables

Detection Strategies

• Deploy web application firewall (WAF) rules that inspect query parameters submitted to updatebill.php for SQL injection signatures
• Enable database query logging and alert on anomalous queries originating from the Vehicle Management System application user
• Correlate web access logs against database audit logs to detect injected UNION or stacked queries

Monitoring Recommendations

• Monitor outbound traffic from the web server for signs of data exfiltration following suspicious updatebill.php activity
• Track failed and successful login attempts to application accounts that may have been disclosed through SQL injection
• Forward web, application, and database logs to a centralized analytics platform for retention and correlation

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-5775

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict network access to the Vehicle Management System until remediation is in place, particularly from untrusted networks
• Audit updatebill.php and other PHP files for direct concatenation of request parameters into SQL queries
• Review database and web server logs for prior exploitation attempts referencing updatebill.php
• Rotate database credentials and application secrets if compromise is suspected

Patch Information

No official vendor patch has been published for SourceCodester Vehicle Management System 1.0 at the time of this writing. Organizations operating this application should apply source-level fixes by replacing direct query concatenation with prepared statements using PDO or mysqli with bound parameters. Validate that the id parameter is an integer before use.

Workarounds

• Place the application behind a web application firewall configured with SQL injection rule sets
• Enforce strict input validation on the id parameter, accepting only numeric values
• Apply the principle of least privilege to the database account used by the application, removing rights such as DROP, FILE, and access to unrelated schemas
• Consider replacing the application with a maintained alternative if no source-level fix can be applied

# Example: input validation snippet to enforce numeric id before query execution
# Replace direct concatenation in updatebill.php with a prepared statement
# $id = filter_input(INPUT_GET, 'id', FILTER_VALIDATE_INT);
# if ($id === false) { http_response_code(400); exit; }
# $stmt = $pdo->prepare('UPDATE bills SET ... WHERE id = :id');
# $stmt->execute([':id' => $id]);