CVE-2024-9811: Restaurant Reservation System SQLi Flaw

CVE-2024-9811 Overview

A SQL injection vulnerability has been discovered in code-projects Restaurant Reservation System version 1.0. This vulnerability exists in the filter3.php file, where the company parameter is susceptible to SQL injection attacks due to improper input sanitization. Attackers can exploit this flaw remotely without authentication to manipulate database queries, potentially leading to unauthorized data access, modification, or deletion.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can exploit this SQL injection vulnerability to bypass authentication, extract sensitive data from the database, or potentially gain unauthorized access to the underlying system through the publicly accessible filter3.php endpoint.

Affected Products

• code-projects Restaurant Reservation System 1.0

Discovery Timeline

• 2024-10-10 - CVE-2024-9811 published to NVD
• 2024-10-15 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-9811

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified as CWE-89 (SQL Injection), a widespread and well-understood attack vector that occurs when user-supplied input is incorporated into SQL queries without proper sanitization or parameterization. In the Restaurant Reservation System, the filter3.php file accepts user input through the company parameter and directly incorporates it into database queries without adequate validation.

The network-based attack vector with low complexity makes this vulnerability particularly concerning for publicly deployed instances. An attacker can craft malicious SQL statements that, when processed by the application, execute unintended commands against the database backend. This can result in confidentiality breaches through data extraction, integrity violations through unauthorized data modification, and availability impacts through data destruction or denial of service conditions.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is the failure to implement proper input validation and parameterized queries in the filter3.php file. The company parameter is directly concatenated into SQL query strings without escaping special characters or using prepared statements, allowing attackers to inject arbitrary SQL code that the database interprets as legitimate commands.

Attack Vector

The attack can be executed remotely over the network by any unauthenticated user who can access the filter3.php endpoint. An attacker would craft a malicious HTTP request containing SQL injection payloads in the company parameter. The vulnerability allows for various SQL injection techniques including:

• Union-based injection to extract data from other database tables
• Boolean-based blind injection to enumerate database contents
• Time-based blind injection when other methods are not viable
• Stacked queries (if supported by the database configuration) for executing multiple SQL statements

The vulnerability has been publicly disclosed, and details are available through the GitHub Issue #24 and VulDB #279963.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-9811

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual or suspicious HTTP requests to filter3.php containing SQL syntax characters such as single quotes, double dashes, semicolons, or UNION keywords in the company parameter
• Database error messages appearing in web server logs indicating SQL syntax errors
• Unexpected database queries or access patterns in database audit logs
• Evidence of data exfiltration or unauthorized database dumps

Detection Strategies

• Deploy Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block SQL injection patterns in HTTP request parameters targeting filter3.php
• Implement database activity monitoring to identify anomalous query patterns or unauthorized data access attempts
• Configure intrusion detection systems (IDS) to alert on SQL injection signature patterns in network traffic
• Enable verbose logging on the web application and database servers to capture detailed request information for forensic analysis

Monitoring Recommendations

• Monitor HTTP access logs for requests to filter3.php with suspicious parameter values containing SQL metacharacters
• Set up alerts for database errors that may indicate injection attempts, particularly syntax errors in query execution
• Track database query execution times and patterns for anomalies that could indicate time-based blind SQL injection attempts
• Review application logs for failed authentication attempts or privilege escalation activities following exploitation

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-9811

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict access to filter3.php through network-level controls or web server configuration until a patch can be applied
• Implement Web Application Firewall rules to filter SQL injection payloads in the company parameter
• Review database permissions and apply the principle of least privilege to limit the impact of successful exploitation
• Consider taking the affected application offline if it contains sensitive data and cannot be adequately protected

Patch Information

At the time of publication, no official vendor patch has been released for this vulnerability. Organizations using the code-projects Restaurant Reservation System should monitor the Code Projects website for security updates. Given the publicly disclosed nature of this vulnerability and the lack of vendor response, organizations should prioritize implementing defensive controls or consider alternative software solutions.

Workarounds

• Implement input validation in filter3.php to sanitize the company parameter by rejecting or escaping SQL metacharacters
• Modify the application code to use prepared statements or parameterized queries instead of string concatenation for database operations
• Deploy a reverse proxy or WAF with SQL injection detection capabilities to filter malicious requests before they reach the application
• Restrict network access to the application to trusted IP ranges only if public access is not required

# Example WAF rule for ModSecurity to block SQL injection in the company parameter
SecRule ARGS:company "@detectSQLi" \
    "id:1001,\
    phase:2,\
    deny,\
    status:403,\
    log,\
    msg:'SQL Injection attempt detected in company parameter',\
    tag:'CVE-2024-9811'"