CVE-2024-7499: Airline Reservation System SQLi Vulnerability

CVE-2024-7499 Overview

CVE-2024-7499 is a SQL injection vulnerability in itsourcecode Airline Reservation System 1.0. The flaw resides in the flights.php script, where the departure_airport_id parameter is passed directly to a database query without sanitization. An authenticated remote attacker can manipulate this parameter to inject arbitrary SQL statements. The issue is tracked as VDB-273625 and was publicly disclosed alongside exploit details. The weakness is classified under [CWE-89] (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command).

Critical Impact

Remote attackers with low privileges can extract, modify, or delete database records by injecting SQL through the departure_airport_id parameter in flights.php.

Affected Products

• itsourcecode Airline Reservation System 1.0
• Vendor: angeljudesuarez
• Component: flights.php

Discovery Timeline

• 2024-08-06 - CVE-2024-7499 published to NVD
• 2024-08-19 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-7499

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability exists in the flights.php endpoint of the Airline Reservation System 1.0 application. The application accepts the departure_airport_id request parameter and concatenates its value into a SQL query without parameterization or input validation. This allows attackers to break out of the intended query context and append arbitrary SQL clauses.

Exploitation requires network access to the application and a low-privileged account on the web interface. No user interaction is required. The exploit details were disclosed publicly through VulDB and a GitHub repository, increasing the likelihood of opportunistic abuse against exposed deployments. The EPSS probability for this CVE is 0.197% (41.4th percentile) as of May 2026.

Root Cause

The root cause is the direct inclusion of user-supplied input from the departure_airport_id HTTP parameter into a SQL statement. The application does not use prepared statements or bound parameters, nor does it apply allowlist validation to the numeric identifier. This is a classic [CWE-89] flaw in PHP code that builds queries via string concatenation.

Attack Vector

An attacker sends a crafted HTTP request to flights.php with a malicious payload in the departure_airport_id parameter. By appending SQL meta-characters and union-based or boolean-based payloads, the attacker can enumerate database schemas, exfiltrate stored credentials and passenger records, or alter reservation data. Because the attack is network-reachable and requires only low privileges, exposed instances of the application are at direct risk. Refer to the GitHub CVE Document and VulDB entry #273625 for disclosed payload details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-7499

Indicators of Compromise

• HTTP requests to flights.php containing SQL meta-characters such as ', --, UNION, SELECT, or SLEEP( in the departure_airport_id parameter.
• Web server access logs showing unusually long or URL-encoded values in the departure_airport_id query string.
• Database error messages returned to clients indicating malformed SQL syntax originating from flights.php.

Detection Strategies

• Deploy web application firewall (WAF) signatures targeting SQL injection patterns directed at flights.php endpoints.
• Enable database query logging and alert on anomalous query structures from the application's database user.
• Correlate web server logs with database audit logs to identify queries containing unexpected UNION or INFORMATION_SCHEMA references.

Monitoring Recommendations

• Monitor outbound data volume from the database tier for signs of bulk record exfiltration.
• Track failed and successful authentication events to the application followed by access to flights.php.
• Alert on repeated 500-level HTTP responses from flights.php, which often accompany SQL injection probing.

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-7499

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict network exposure of the Airline Reservation System 1.0 to trusted networks until a fix is applied.
• Place the application behind a WAF with SQL injection rules enabled and tuned for the departure_airport_id parameter.
• Review database logs for prior abuse and rotate any credentials that may have been exposed.

Patch Information

No vendor patch is referenced in the NVD entry or VulDB record for CVE-2024-7499. Organizations running itsourcecode Airline Reservation System 1.0 should consult the VulDB CTI entry for status updates and consider replacing or forking the codebase to apply parameterized queries to flights.php.

Workarounds

• Modify flights.php to use prepared statements with bound parameters (for example, PDO or MySQLi parameterized queries) instead of string concatenation.
• Enforce strict server-side input validation that limits departure_airport_id to integer values only.
• Run the application database account with least privilege, removing rights such as FILE, DROP, and write access to non-essential tables.
• Disable verbose database error reporting in production to limit information leakage during injection attempts.

# Example PHP fix using PDO prepared statements in flights.php
$stmt = $pdo->prepare('SELECT * FROM flights WHERE departure_airport_id = :id');
$stmt->bindValue(':id', (int) $_GET['departure_airport_id'], PDO::PARAM_INT);
$stmt->execute();