CVE-2025-10082: Razormist Online Polling System SQLi Flaw

CVE-2025-10082 Overview

A SQL injection vulnerability has been identified in SourceCodester Online Polling System version 1.0. The flaw exists in an unknown function within the file /admin/manage-admins.php, where improper handling of the email argument allows attackers to inject malicious SQL statements. This vulnerability can be exploited remotely without authentication, potentially allowing unauthorized access to sensitive database information, data manipulation, or complete database compromise.

Critical Impact
Remote attackers can exploit this SQL injection vulnerability to bypass authentication, extract sensitive data from the database, modify or delete records, and potentially gain unauthorized administrative access to the polling system.

Affected Products

Razormist Online Polling System 1.0
SourceCodester Online Polling System 1.0

Discovery Timeline

2025-09-08 - CVE-2025-10082 published to NVD
2025-09-09 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-10082

Vulnerability Analysis

This SQL injection vulnerability affects the administrative interface of the Online Polling System, specifically the /admin/manage-admins.php endpoint. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and sanitization of the email parameter, which is directly incorporated into SQL queries without proper parameterization or escaping. This allows attackers to craft malicious input that modifies the intended SQL query logic.

The vulnerability is classified under CWE-89 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command) and CWE-74 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component). The exploit has been publicly disclosed, increasing the risk of active exploitation.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is the failure to properly sanitize and validate user-supplied input in the email parameter before incorporating it into SQL queries. The application likely uses string concatenation to build SQL statements rather than employing prepared statements with parameterized queries. This programming practice directly exposes the database layer to injection attacks, as special SQL characters and commands within user input are interpreted as part of the query structure rather than as data.

Attack Vector

The attack can be executed remotely over the network without requiring authentication. An attacker can manipulate the email parameter in HTTP requests sent to /admin/manage-admins.php to inject arbitrary SQL commands. The injection point allows for various attack techniques including:

Union-based SQL injection to extract data from other database tables
Boolean-based blind SQL injection to infer database contents
Time-based blind SQL injection using database-specific delay functions
Stacked queries (if supported) to execute multiple SQL statements

The vulnerability allows attackers to potentially bypass authentication mechanisms, extract administrator credentials, access voter information, manipulate poll results, or achieve full database compromise depending on database permissions.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-10082

Indicators of Compromise

Unusual SQL error messages in application logs originating from /admin/manage-admins.php
HTTP requests to /admin/manage-admins.php containing SQL keywords (UNION, SELECT, INSERT, DELETE, DROP) in the email parameter
Anomalous database queries with unexpected syntax patterns
Failed login attempts followed by successful authentication without valid credentials

Detection Strategies

Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect SQL injection patterns in the email parameter targeting /admin/manage-admins.php
Monitor database query logs for malformed or suspicious SQL statements containing injection patterns
Deploy intrusion detection systems (IDS) with signatures for common SQL injection attack payloads
Enable verbose logging on the web server to capture all requests to administrative endpoints

Monitoring Recommendations

Configure alerts for HTTP requests containing SQL metacharacters (single quotes, double dashes, semicolons) in form parameters
Monitor for abnormal database response times that may indicate time-based blind SQL injection attempts
Track failed authentication attempts and correlate with requests to the vulnerable endpoint
Implement database activity monitoring to detect unauthorized data access or extraction

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-10082

Immediate Actions Required

Restrict access to /admin/manage-admins.php by IP whitelist or VPN until a patch is available
Implement input validation on the email parameter to reject requests containing SQL metacharacters
Deploy a web application firewall (WAF) with SQL injection protection rules
Consider taking the Online Polling System offline if it processes sensitive data and cannot be adequately protected

Patch Information

No official patch has been released by the vendor at this time. Organizations using this software should monitor SourceCodester for security updates. Additional technical details and community discussion can be found in the GitHub Issue Discussion and VulDB entry #323037.

Workarounds

Implement prepared statements with parameterized queries in the affected PHP code to prevent SQL injection
Add server-side input validation to sanitize the email parameter before database operations
Restrict database user permissions to limit the impact of successful exploitation
Deploy a reverse proxy with ModSecurity or similar WAF capabilities to filter malicious requests

bash

# Example Apache ModSecurity rule to block SQL injection attempts
SecRule ARGS:email "@detectSQLi" \
    "id:1001,\
    phase:2,\
    block,\
    msg:'SQL Injection Attempt Detected in email parameter',\
    log,\
    severity:'CRITICAL'"