CVE-2024-8466: Phpgurukul Job Portal SQLi Vulnerability

CVE-2024-8466 Overview

CVE-2024-8466 is a SQL injection vulnerability affecting PHPGurukul Job Portal 1.0. An attacker can send a specially crafted query through the CATEGORY parameter in /jobportal/admin/category/controller.php to retrieve all information stored in the backend database. The flaw is reachable over the network without authentication or user interaction, and it impacts the confidentiality of stored data. The issue is tracked under CWE-89 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command).

Critical Impact
Unauthenticated attackers can extract arbitrary data from the Job Portal database, including administrator credentials and applicant personal information.

Affected Products

PHPGurukul Job Portal 1.0
Deployments using the /jobportal/admin/category/controller.php endpoint
Installations exposing the admin category controller to untrusted networks

Discovery Timeline

2024-09-05 - CVE-2024-8466 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-8466

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in the administrative category controller of PHPGurukul Job Portal. The CATEGORY parameter received by /jobportal/admin/category/controller.php is concatenated into a SQL statement without parameterization or input sanitization. An attacker can append SQL syntax such as UNION SELECT to enumerate database tables, columns, and rows. Because the endpoint serves administrative functionality but is reachable without effective authentication checks, exploitation does not require valid credentials. Successful exploitation discloses sensitive data including stored credentials, recruiter records, and job applicant personally identifiable information (PII).

Root Cause

The controller builds SQL queries by string concatenation using user-supplied data from the CATEGORY parameter. No prepared statements, bound parameters, or input validation routines are applied before the value reaches the MySQL driver. This pattern matches CWE-89 and renders any boolean-based, error-based, or UNION-based SQL injection technique viable against the endpoint.

Attack Vector

An attacker submits an HTTP request to the vulnerable controller with a manipulated CATEGORY parameter. The injected SQL executes within the context of the application's database user. The vulnerability requires no privileges and no user interaction, and it affects confidentiality of stored data without altering integrity or availability. See the INCIBE Security Notice for additional context on the disclosure.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-8466

Indicators of Compromise

HTTP requests to /jobportal/admin/category/controller.php containing SQL metacharacters such as ', --, UNION, SELECT, or SLEEP( in the CATEGORY parameter
Web server access logs showing unusually long query strings or repeated category requests from a single source IP
Database error messages or warnings logged after requests to the category controller

Detection Strategies

Inspect application and web server logs for parameter values containing SQL keywords or encoded payloads targeting controller.php
Deploy a web application firewall (WAF) rule set such as OWASP CRS to flag SQL injection patterns against the admin category endpoint
Correlate authentication failures with anomalous query volume to surface enumeration attempts

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable MySQL general query logging temporarily to capture unexpected UNION or INFORMATION_SCHEMA lookups originating from the application user
Alert on outbound data transfer spikes from the web host that may indicate bulk database extraction
Track changes to the admin user table and category records for unauthorized modifications

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-8466

Immediate Actions Required

Restrict network access to /jobportal/admin/ paths to trusted administrative IP ranges only
Place the application behind a WAF with SQL injection signatures enabled and tuned for the category endpoint
Audit the admin and user tables for unauthorized accounts and rotate all administrative credentials

Patch Information

No official vendor patch is referenced in the public advisory at the time of NVD publication. Operators should monitor the PHPGurukul project page and the INCIBE Security Notice for fixed releases. Until a patched build is available, modify controller.php to use parameterized queries via mysqli_prepare() or PDO with bound parameters for the CATEGORY input.

Workarounds

Rewrite the affected query to use prepared statements with bound parameters instead of string concatenation
Apply server-side input validation that restricts CATEGORY to an allow-list of expected integer identifiers
Run the application database account with least privilege so it cannot read tables outside the job portal schema
Disable verbose database error reporting in production to limit information leakage to attackers

bash

# Example ModSecurity rule to block SQLi attempts against the vulnerable endpoint
SecRule REQUEST_URI "@contains /jobportal/admin/category/controller.php" \
    "id:1008466,phase:2,deny,status:403,\
     msg:'CVE-2024-8466 SQLi attempt on CATEGORY parameter',\
     chain"
    SecRule ARGS:CATEGORY "@detectSQLi" "t:none,t:urlDecode,t:lowercase"