CVE-2024-7637: Fabian Online Polling SQLi Vulnerability

CVE-2024-7637 Overview

CVE-2024-7637 is a SQL Injection vulnerability affecting Fabian Online Polling version 1.0. The vulnerability exists in the registeracc.php file within the Registration component, where improper handling of the email parameter allows attackers to inject malicious SQL queries. This classic web application vulnerability can be exploited remotely without authentication, potentially enabling unauthorized database access, data manipulation, or complete database compromise.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can exploit insufficient input validation in the registration functionality to execute arbitrary SQL commands against the underlying database, potentially leading to unauthorized data access, modification, or deletion.

Affected Products

• Fabian Online Polling 1.0
• registeracc.php component (Registration functionality)

Discovery Timeline

• 2024-08-12 - CVE-2024-7637 published to NVD
• 2025-10-23 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-7637

Vulnerability Analysis

This SQL Injection vulnerability stems from the application's failure to properly sanitize user-supplied input in the email parameter within the registeracc.php file. When users submit registration data, the email field value is directly incorporated into SQL queries without adequate input validation or parameterized queries. This allows attackers to craft malicious input that alters the intended SQL query logic.

The vulnerability can be exploited remotely over the network without requiring any authentication or user interaction. An attacker can manipulate the email parameter during the registration process to inject SQL commands that execute with the database privileges of the web application. This could potentially allow extraction of sensitive user data, modification of database records, or in severe cases, complete database takeover depending on the database configuration and permissions.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is the lack of proper input sanitization and the absence of parameterized queries (prepared statements) in the registeracc.php file. The application directly concatenates user-supplied input from the email parameter into SQL queries, enabling SQL Injection attacks. This is a violation of secure coding practices as defined in CWE-89 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command).

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based, requiring no authentication or special privileges. An attacker can craft a malicious HTTP request to the registeracc.php endpoint, inserting SQL injection payloads in the email parameter during the registration process. The vulnerability has been publicly disclosed, which increases the risk of exploitation attempts.

The exploitation mechanism involves submitting specially crafted input through the registration form that contains SQL syntax. When this input reaches the database query without proper sanitization, the injected SQL commands execute within the database context. Typical attack patterns include UNION-based injection to extract data from other tables, boolean-based blind injection to infer database contents, or time-based blind injection when direct output is not available.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-7637

Indicators of Compromise

• Anomalous SQL syntax patterns in web server access logs, particularly in requests to registeracc.php
• Unusual database query patterns or errors in database logs
• Unexpected database connection attempts or query execution times
• Registration attempts with email values containing SQL keywords such as UNION, SELECT, DROP, or single quotes

Detection Strategies

• Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block SQL injection patterns in the email parameter
• Enable database query logging and monitor for suspicious query structures or unauthorized data access patterns
• Deploy intrusion detection systems with signatures for common SQL injection attack patterns
• Review web application logs for repeated failed registration attempts with unusual email formats

Monitoring Recommendations

• Monitor HTTP POST requests to registeracc.php for SQL injection indicators
• Set up alerts for database errors that may indicate injection attempts, such as syntax errors or permission denials
• Track registration activity for anomalies, including high-volume registration attempts from single IP addresses
• Enable verbose logging on the database server to capture all queries executed against the application database

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-7637

Immediate Actions Required

• Implement input validation to restrict the email parameter to valid email format patterns only
• Replace direct SQL query construction with parameterized queries (prepared statements) in registeracc.php
• Apply web application firewall rules to filter SQL injection attempts targeting the registration endpoint
• Consider temporarily disabling the registration functionality until proper fixes can be implemented

Patch Information

No official vendor patch has been released for this vulnerability at the time of publication. Administrators should implement the recommended mitigations and monitor for any vendor updates. For additional technical details, refer to the VulDB entry or the GitHub security issue.

Workarounds

• Implement server-side input validation that strictly validates email format using regular expressions before processing
• Use prepared statements with parameterized queries for all database interactions involving user input
• Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) configured with SQL injection detection rules in front of the application
• Apply the principle of least privilege to database accounts used by the web application to limit potential damage

# Example: Basic input validation for email parameter (server-side)
# Validate email format before any database operations
# Ensure database user has minimal required privileges
# Example MySQL privilege restriction:
REVOKE ALL PRIVILEGES ON database.* FROM 'webapp_user'@'localhost';
GRANT SELECT, INSERT ON database.users TO 'webapp_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;