CVE-2024-7813: Prison Management System Info Disclosure Flaw

CVE-2024-7813 Overview

CVE-2024-7813 affects SourceCodester Prison Management System 1.0 and is classified as an insufficiently protected credentials vulnerability [CWE-522]. The flaw resides in the Profile Image Handler component, specifically in the /uploadImage/Profile/ path. Directory listing on this path exposes uploaded profile images and related artifacts to unauthenticated remote users. Attackers can browse the directory over the network without credentials or user interaction. The exploit has been publicly disclosed, increasing the likelihood of opportunistic abuse against exposed deployments.

Critical Impact
Unauthenticated remote attackers can enumerate the /uploadImage/Profile/ directory and access stored profile assets, exposing potentially sensitive information from the Prison Management System.

Affected Products

SourceCodester Prison Management System 1.0
Profile Image Handler component
Deployments exposing the /uploadImage/Profile/ path to untrusted networks

Discovery Timeline

2024-08-15 - CVE-2024-7813 published to NVD
2024-08-19 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-7813

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability stems from improper protection of stored credentials and sensitive files within the Profile Image Handler. The web server hosting Prison Management System 1.0 serves the /uploadImage/Profile/ directory with directory listing enabled. Any remote user can issue an HTTP GET request to this path and enumerate uploaded files. Because profile uploads can contain identifying information about staff or inmates, exposure constitutes a disclosure of insufficiently protected data. The issue is network-reachable, requires no privileges, and needs no user interaction. The publicly available writeup demonstrates the directory listing behavior against a default installation.

Root Cause

The root cause is a missing access control combined with an unrestricted directory index on the upload location. The application stores user-supplied profile images in a web-served path without an index file or server-side configuration to deny browsing. There is no authentication check on requests to enumerate the directory. Mapping to [CWE-522] reflects that the exposed contents include credential-adjacent or identifying material the application intends to keep restricted to authorized sessions.

Attack Vector

An unauthenticated attacker on the network sends a standard HTTP GET request to /uploadImage/Profile/ on a vulnerable host. The server responds with an auto-generated HTML index that lists every file in the directory. The attacker then downloads any listed file directly by appending its name to the URL. No tooling beyond a browser or curl is required. The technique is documented in the public GitHub CVE Writeup and indexed in VulDB entry #274709.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-7813

Indicators of Compromise

Unauthenticated HTTP GET requests to /uploadImage/Profile/ returning 200 OK with an Index of directory listing response body
Sequential file downloads from /uploadImage/Profile/ originating from a single external IP without a prior authenticated session
User-Agent strings associated with directory enumeration tools such as gobuster, dirb, or ffuf targeting the upload path

Detection Strategies

Inspect web server access logs for GET requests to /uploadImage/Profile/ and any subdirectory enumeration attempts
Correlate requests against authentication logs to flag access without an established session
Deploy web application firewall rules that match directory index responses returned from upload paths

Monitoring Recommendations

Alert on responses containing Index of /uploadImage in outbound HTTP bodies from the application server
Track baseline request volume to /uploadImage/ and trigger on spikes consistent with enumeration
Monitor egress data transfer from the Prison Management System host for bulk image downloads to unfamiliar destinations

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-7813

Immediate Actions Required

Disable directory listing on the web server hosting Prison Management System 1.0
Restrict /uploadImage/Profile/ to authenticated sessions through application or server-level access control
Remove the application from direct internet exposure until the path is protected
Audit the /uploadImage/Profile/ directory for files that may have been retrieved by unauthorized parties

Patch Information

No vendor patch is referenced in the NVD entry for CVE-2024-7813. SourceCodester Prison Management System 1.0 remains the affected version, and administrators should consult the VulDB advisory and the public writeup for current remediation guidance. Until a fix is published, apply the configuration workarounds below.

Workarounds

For Apache, place an .htaccess file in the upload directory containing Options -Indexes to disable auto-indexing
For Nginx, ensure autoindex off; is set for the location /uploadImage/ block
Add an empty index.html file inside /uploadImage/Profile/ to suppress directory listing on servers that fall back to an index file
Move stored profile images outside the web root and serve them through an authenticated handler that validates the requesting session

bash

# Configuration example: disable directory listing in Nginx
location /uploadImage/ {
    autoindex off;
    auth_request /auth;
    try_files $uri =404;
}