CVE-2025-13240: Student Information System SQLi Flaw

CVE-2025-13240 Overview

A SQL injection vulnerability has been identified in code-projects Student Information System 2.0. This vulnerability affects the /searchquery.php file, where improper handling of the s argument allows attackers to inject malicious SQL statements. The vulnerability can be exploited remotely without authentication, potentially allowing unauthorized access to sensitive student data stored in the application's database.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can exploit this SQL injection vulnerability to extract, modify, or delete sensitive student information from the database without requiring authentication.

Affected Products

• Fabian Student Information System 2.0
• code-projects Student Information System 2.0

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-11-16 - CVE-2025-13240 published to NVD
• 2025-11-19 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-13240

Vulnerability Analysis

This SQL injection vulnerability exists in the /searchquery.php endpoint of the Student Information System application. The s parameter, which appears to be used for search functionality, does not properly sanitize user-supplied input before incorporating it into SQL queries. This lack of input validation allows attackers to manipulate the database queries by injecting specially crafted SQL statements.

The vulnerability falls 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 network-accessible nature of the vulnerability combined with no authentication requirements makes it particularly concerning for organizations using this software.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is insufficient input validation and lack of parameterized queries in the /searchquery.php file. When user input from the s parameter is directly concatenated into SQL query strings without proper sanitization or the use of prepared statements, the application becomes vulnerable to SQL injection attacks. This is a classic example of improper input handling that violates secure coding practices.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based, allowing remote exploitation without user interaction or prior authentication. An attacker can craft malicious HTTP requests to the /searchquery.php endpoint with specially crafted values in the s parameter. These malicious payloads can include SQL syntax that alters the intended query logic, potentially enabling data extraction through UNION-based attacks, boolean-based blind injection, or time-based blind injection techniques.

The exploit for this vulnerability has been made public, increasing the risk of active exploitation. Attackers could leverage techniques such as appending ' OR '1'='1 or using UNION SELECT statements to extract data from other database tables, including potentially sensitive student records, credentials, or administrative information.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-13240

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual or malformed requests to /searchquery.php containing SQL syntax characters such as single quotes, semicolons, or SQL keywords
• Database error messages appearing in web server logs indicating syntax errors from the search functionality
• Unexpected database queries or data access patterns in database audit logs
• Increased response times from the /searchquery.php endpoint suggesting time-based SQL injection attempts

Detection Strategies

• Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block common SQL injection patterns in the s parameter
• Monitor web server access logs for requests to /searchquery.php containing suspicious characters or SQL keywords
• Deploy intrusion detection systems (IDS) with signatures for SQL injection attack patterns
• Enable database query logging and monitor for anomalous query structures originating from the application

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable verbose logging on the web server for all requests to PHP endpoints
• Configure real-time alerting for database errors that may indicate injection attempts
• Implement rate limiting on search functionality to slow potential automated exploitation
• Review database access patterns regularly for signs of unauthorized data extraction

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-13240

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict access to the /searchquery.php endpoint through network-level controls or authentication requirements
• Implement input validation to reject requests containing SQL metacharacters in the s parameter
• Consider temporarily disabling the search functionality until a proper fix can be applied
• Review application logs for signs of prior exploitation attempts

Patch Information

No official vendor patch has been identified at this time. Organizations using the affected Student Information System should contact the vendor or consider implementing the workarounds listed below. Additional technical details are available in the GitHub CVE Documentation and VulDB #332566.

Workarounds

• Deploy a web application firewall (WAF) with SQL injection protection rules in front of the application
• Implement prepared statements or parameterized queries by modifying the searchquery.php source code
• Apply input validation to sanitize the s parameter, removing or escaping SQL metacharacters
• Restrict network access to the application to trusted IP addresses only

# Example: Apache mod_security rule to block SQL injection attempts
SecRule ARGS:s "@detectSQLi" \
    "id:1001,\
    phase:2,\
    deny,\
    status:403,\
    msg:'SQL Injection attempt detected in search parameter',\
    log,\
    auditlog"