CVE-2024-6191: Student Management System SQL Vulnerability

CVE-2024-6191 Overview

CVE-2024-6191 is a SQL injection vulnerability in itsourcecode Student Management System 1.0. The flaw resides in the login.php file of the Login Page component. An attacker can manipulate the user parameter to inject arbitrary SQL statements into the underlying database query. The vulnerability is exploitable remotely, requires no authentication, and the exploit has been publicly disclosed. The associated VulDB identifier is VDB-269163, and the weakness is classified under [CWE-89].

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated remote attackers can inject SQL through the login form, potentially bypassing authentication and accessing or modifying database records.

Affected Products

• itsourcecode Student Management System 1.0
• Component: Login Page (login.php)
• Vendor: angeljudesuarez

Discovery Timeline

• 2024-06-20 - CVE-2024-6191 published to NVD
• 2024-11-21 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-6191

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is a classic SQL injection [CWE-89] in the authentication workflow of the Student Management System. The login.php script accepts the user parameter from client input and concatenates it into a SQL query without proper sanitization or parameterization. An attacker submits crafted input through the login form, and the database engine executes the resulting SQL statement as part of the authentication query.

The EPSS score of 0.097% reflects current real-world exploitation probability, but the public disclosure of exploit details lowers the barrier to attack. Successful exploitation can lead to authentication bypass, unauthorized data retrieval, or modification of student records stored in the backend database.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper neutralization of special elements used in an SQL command. The application directly embeds user-supplied data from the user request parameter into a SQL query string. Without prepared statements or input validation, SQL metacharacters such as single quotes, comments, and Boolean operators alter the intended query structure.

Attack Vector

An attacker sends a crafted HTTP request to login.php over the network with a malicious payload in the user field. No credentials or user interaction are required. Typical payloads include tautology-based injections that force the WHERE clause to evaluate as true, granting authentication bypass. Union-based or error-based techniques can extract data from other tables. Refer to the GitHub issue tracker and VulDB entry for technical disclosure details.

// No verified exploit code available - see public references for technical disclosure details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-6191

Indicators of Compromise

• HTTP POST or GET requests to login.php containing SQL metacharacters such as ', --, OR 1=1, or UNION SELECT in the user parameter
• Unusual authentication success events from unfamiliar source IP addresses without corresponding valid credentials
• Web server logs showing repeated failed login attempts followed by sudden success from the same source
• Database error messages logged following requests to the login endpoint

Detection Strategies

• Deploy Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules that inspect parameters submitted to login.php for SQL injection patterns
• Enable verbose logging on the web server and database to correlate HTTP requests with database query anomalies
• Implement query analysis to flag malformed or unusually structured SQL statements originating from the login workflow

Monitoring Recommendations

• Monitor outbound traffic from the application server for signs of data exfiltration following suspicious login activity
• Alert on database queries that reference system tables such as information_schema from the application's database user
• Track and review changes to user account tables and session data for unauthorized modifications

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-6191

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict network access to the Student Management System until a patch or code-level fix is applied
• Deploy WAF rules to block SQL injection payloads targeting the user parameter of login.php
• Audit database logs and authentication events for signs of prior exploitation
• Rotate database credentials and review database user privileges to enforce least privilege

Patch Information

No official vendor patch is currently listed in the NVD or VulDB references for itsourcecode Student Management System 1.0. Administrators should monitor the VulDB entry and the upstream project for updates. In the absence of a vendor fix, refactor login.php to use parameterized queries or prepared statements with bound parameters for all user-supplied input.

Workarounds

• Replace dynamic SQL concatenation in login.php with prepared statements using PDO or MySQLi parameter binding
• Apply server-side input validation to reject characters not expected in a username field
• Restrict the application's database account to the minimum privileges required for normal operation
• Place the application behind a reverse proxy with SQL injection filtering enabled

# Example: replace concatenated query with a prepared statement in PHP (PDO)
$stmt = $pdo->prepare('SELECT id, role FROM users WHERE username = :user AND password = :pass');
$stmt->execute([':user' => $_POST['user'], ':pass' => hash('sha256', $_POST['pass'])]);
$row = $stmt->fetch(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);