CVE-2024-7910: Online Railway Reservation System RCE Flaw

CVE-2024-7910 Overview

CVE-2024-7910 is an unrestricted file upload vulnerability in CodeAstro Online Railway Reservation System 1.0. The flaw resides in the Profile Photo Update Handler implemented by /admin/emp-profile-avatar.php. An authenticated administrator can upload arbitrary files, including server-side scripts, because the handler does not validate the file type or extension. Public exploit details have been disclosed, enabling remote attackers with valid admin credentials to place executable content on the web server. The weakness is tracked under CWE-434 (Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type).

Critical Impact
Successful exploitation allows remote code execution on the web server, leading to full compromise of the reservation application and its underlying host.

Affected Products

CodeAstro Online Railway Reservation System 1.0
/admin/emp-profile-avatar.php Profile Photo Update Handler
Deployments exposing the admin panel over the network

Discovery Timeline

2024-08-18 - CVE-2024-7910 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-7910

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability sits inside the profile avatar upload workflow of the admin panel. The emp-profile-avatar.php script accepts a multipart file upload but fails to enforce a safe MIME type, extension allow-list, or content inspection. An attacker who is authenticated as an administrator can submit a PHP file disguised as an avatar image. The web server then stores the file inside a directory that is reachable over HTTP and interpreted by the PHP engine.

Requesting the uploaded file executes attacker-supplied code within the context of the web server user. From there, an attacker can pivot to database access, credential theft, and lateral movement inside the hosting environment. The exploitation model requires high privileges, but hardcoded or weak admin credentials in small-business deployments make this bar low in practice.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing server-side validation on user-supplied files. The handler trusts the client-provided filename and content type instead of restricting uploads to a fixed set of image formats and rewriting extensions. Combined with storing uploads in a script-executable directory, this design turns an image upload into an arbitrary code execution primitive.

Attack Vector

The attack is delivered remotely over HTTP against the admin interface. An authenticated attacker submits a crafted POST request to /admin/emp-profile-avatar.php containing a .php payload in the avatar field. After the file is stored, the attacker retrieves it via a direct URL to trigger execution. See the published GitHub CVE Writeup and VulDB entry #275036 for technical details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-7910

Indicators of Compromise

POST requests to /admin/emp-profile-avatar.php containing file parameters with .php, .phtml, .phar, or double-extension filenames
New or modified files with executable extensions inside the avatar upload directory
Outbound connections initiated by the PHP worker process shortly after avatar uploads
Web shell activity such as system, exec, or shell_exec calls originating from files under the uploads path

Detection Strategies

Inspect web server access logs for uploads to emp-profile-avatar.php followed by GET requests to newly created files in the uploads directory
Deploy file integrity monitoring on the web root to flag creation of script files under image directories
Alert on PHP processes spawning shells, curl, wget, or reverse shell binaries

Monitoring Recommendations

Forward Apache or Nginx access logs and PHP-FPM error logs to a centralized SIEM for correlation
Enable YARA scanning of the upload directory for known web shell signatures
Baseline administrator authentication events and alert on anomalous logins preceding upload activity

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-7910

Immediate Actions Required

Restrict access to /admin/ using IP allow-listing, VPN, or reverse-proxy authentication until a patch is applied
Rotate all administrator credentials and audit accounts for unauthorized additions
Review the avatar upload directory and remove any non-image files
Disable PHP execution inside upload directories at the web server configuration level

Patch Information

No vendor patch has been published for CodeAstro Online Railway Reservation System 1.0 at the time of writing. Organizations relying on this application should evaluate alternatives or apply the compensating controls described below. Consult VulDB #275036 for updated status.

Workarounds

Enforce a server-side allow-list for image MIME types (image/jpeg, image/png, image/gif) and rewrite stored filenames with random names and safe extensions
Store uploaded files outside the web root and serve them through a dedicated download handler
Add a web application firewall rule to block requests to emp-profile-avatar.php carrying script file signatures
Configure the web server to deny script execution in upload paths

bash

# Apache: block PHP execution in the avatar uploads directory
<Directory "/var/www/railway/admin/uploads">
    php_admin_flag engine off
    <FilesMatch "\.(php|phtml|phar|phps)$">
        Require all denied
    </FilesMatch>
</Directory>

# Nginx: deny execution of scripts under uploads
location ^~ /admin/uploads/ {
    location ~ \.(php|phtml|phar|phps)$ {
        deny all;
        return 403;
    }
}