CVE-2025-1875: Best Online News Portal SQL Injection Flaw

CVE-2025-1875 Overview

A critical SQL injection vulnerability has been discovered in 101news (Mayurik Best Online News Portal) affecting version 1.0. The vulnerability exists in the searchtitle parameter within the search.php file, allowing unauthenticated attackers to inject malicious SQL queries through network-accessible requests.

Critical Impact

This SQL injection vulnerability enables attackers to manipulate database queries, potentially leading to unauthorized data access, data modification, data deletion, and in some cases, complete database server compromise.

Affected Products

• Mayurik Best Online News Portal version 1.0
• 101news application with vulnerable search.php component

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-03-03 - CVE-2025-1875 published to NVD
• 2025-03-07 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-1875

Vulnerability Analysis

This SQL injection vulnerability (CWE-89) affects the search.php file in the Mayurik Best Online News Portal application. The root cause lies in the improper neutralization of special elements used in SQL commands through the searchtitle parameter. When user-supplied input is passed to this parameter without adequate sanitization or parameterized queries, attackers can inject arbitrary SQL statements that execute in the context of the database.

The attack surface is exposed through the network with no authentication required, making it trivially exploitable by remote attackers. Successful exploitation can result in complete compromise of the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data stored in the backend database.

Root Cause

The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and the absence of prepared statements or parameterized queries in the search.php file. The searchtitle parameter directly concatenates user input into SQL queries without proper escaping or sanitization, creating a classic SQL injection attack vector.

Attack Vector

The attack is network-based and requires no authentication or user interaction. An attacker can craft malicious HTTP requests containing SQL injection payloads in the searchtitle parameter of the search.php endpoint. The injected SQL code executes with the privileges of the database user configured for the application, potentially allowing attackers to:

• Extract sensitive data from the database
• Modify or delete existing records
• Bypass authentication mechanisms
• Execute administrative operations on the database
• In some configurations, achieve command execution on the underlying server

The vulnerability can be exploited by submitting specially crafted input to the search functionality. For example, an attacker could append SQL syntax such as single quotes followed by boolean-based or time-based payloads to the searchtitle parameter to extract database contents or enumerate schema information. For detailed technical information, refer to the INCIBE Security Notice.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-1875

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual or malformed requests to search.php containing SQL syntax characters such as single quotes ('), double dashes (--), semicolons (;), or SQL keywords like UNION, SELECT, OR 1=1
• Database error messages appearing in application logs or responses
• Unexpected database queries in database server logs
• Evidence of data exfiltration or unauthorized data modifications

Detection Strategies

• Deploy Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block SQL injection patterns in HTTP requests targeting search.php
• Implement database activity monitoring to identify anomalous query patterns or unauthorized data access
• Configure application logging to capture all requests to the search functionality for forensic analysis
• Use intrusion detection systems (IDS) with SQL injection signature rules

Monitoring Recommendations

• Monitor web server access logs for requests to search.php with suspicious parameter values
• Set up alerts for database authentication failures or privilege escalation attempts
• Track database query execution times to detect time-based blind SQL injection attempts
• Implement real-time monitoring of database operations for unauthorized schema enumeration or bulk data extraction

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-1875

Immediate Actions Required

• Remove or disable access to the search.php functionality until a patch is applied
• Implement web application firewall rules to filter SQL injection attempts targeting the searchtitle parameter
• Review database permissions and restrict the application's database user to minimum required privileges
• Audit database logs for evidence of exploitation attempts or data compromise

Patch Information

As of the last NVD update on 2025-03-07, no vendor patch information is currently available for this vulnerability. Organizations using Mayurik Best Online News Portal version 1.0 should monitor the INCIBE Security Notice for updates and contact the vendor directly for remediation guidance.

Workarounds

• Disable or restrict access to the vulnerable search.php file until a patch is available
• Implement input validation at the application level to reject requests containing SQL metacharacters
• Deploy a web application firewall with SQL injection detection rules in front of the application
• Consider replacing the vulnerable search functionality with a secure implementation using parameterized queries or an ORM

To temporarily restrict access to the vulnerable endpoint, web server administrators can implement access controls:

# Apache .htaccess example to restrict access to search.php
<Files "search.php">
    Order Deny,Allow
    Deny from all
    # Allow only from trusted internal networks if needed
    # Allow from 192.168.1.0/24
</Files>