CVE-2025-2362: Pre-school Enrollment System SQLi Flaw

CVE-2025-2362 Overview

A SQL Injection vulnerability has been identified in PHPGurukul Pre-School Enrollment System version 1.0. This vulnerability exists in the /admin/contact-us.php file where the mobnum parameter fails to properly sanitize user input before incorporating it into SQL queries. The flaw allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary SQL commands through the affected parameter, potentially leading to unauthorized database access, data manipulation, or complete system compromise.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can exploit this SQL Injection vulnerability to extract sensitive information from the database, modify or delete records, and potentially gain unauthorized administrative access to the Pre-School Enrollment System. Other parameters in the same file may also be vulnerable.

Affected Products

• PHPGurukul Pre-School Enrollment System 1.0

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-03-17 - CVE CVE-2025-2362 published to NVD
• 2025-05-06 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-2362

Vulnerability Analysis

This SQL Injection vulnerability (CWE-89) affects the administrative contact management functionality within PHPGurukul Pre-School Enrollment System. The vulnerable endpoint /admin/contact-us.php processes user-supplied data from the mobnum parameter without adequate input validation or parameterized query implementation. When attackers supply maliciously crafted SQL syntax through this parameter, the application directly incorporates the input into database queries, allowing execution of arbitrary SQL commands.

The vulnerability is classified under both CWE-89 (SQL Injection) and CWE-74 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component), indicating a fundamental failure in input handling mechanisms. The exploit has been publicly disclosed, increasing the risk of exploitation by malicious actors.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and the use of unsanitized user input directly within SQL queries. The application fails to implement proper parameterized queries or prepared statements when processing the mobnum parameter in /admin/contact-us.php. This allows special SQL characters and commands to be interpreted as executable code rather than data, enabling attackers to manipulate database queries.

Attack Vector

The attack can be initiated remotely over the network without requiring authentication. An attacker can craft a malicious HTTP request targeting the /admin/contact-us.php endpoint with specially crafted SQL injection payloads in the mobnum parameter. The CVE description indicates that other parameters within the same file may also be susceptible to similar injection attacks.

The vulnerability allows attackers to perform various SQL injection techniques including UNION-based attacks for data exfiltration, boolean-based blind injection for data enumeration, and time-based blind injection for stealthy data extraction. For technical details on the exploitation method, refer to the GitHub Issue Discussion where the vulnerability was publicly disclosed.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-2362

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual SQL error messages in application logs originating from /admin/contact-us.php
• Anomalous database queries containing SQL keywords like UNION, SELECT, OR 1=1, or comment sequences (--, /**/) in the mobnum parameter
• Unexpected database access patterns or queries to sensitive tables such as user credentials or administrative data
• Web server access logs showing requests to /admin/contact-us.php with encoded or suspicious characters in parameters

Detection Strategies

• Deploy Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block common SQL injection patterns targeting the mobnum parameter
• Implement intrusion detection system (IDS) signatures for SQL injection attack patterns in HTTP traffic
• Enable database query logging and monitor for anomalous queries containing injection patterns
• Configure application-level logging to capture and alert on SQL syntax errors or database exceptions

Monitoring Recommendations

• Monitor web server access logs for requests to /admin/contact-us.php containing special characters or SQL keywords
• Set up alerts for database errors or exceptions that may indicate failed SQL injection attempts
• Regularly review database audit logs for unauthorized data access or modification attempts
• Implement real-time monitoring of administrative endpoints for suspicious request patterns

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-2362

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict access to the /admin/contact-us.php endpoint through network-level controls or authentication mechanisms
• Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with SQL injection detection rules to filter malicious requests
• Consider temporarily disabling the affected contact management functionality until a patch is available
• Review and audit all parameters in /admin/contact-us.php for similar SQL injection vulnerabilities

Patch Information

At the time of this writing, no official patch has been released by PHPGurukul for this vulnerability. Organizations using the Pre-School Enrollment System should monitor the PHPGurukul website for security updates and patch releases. For detailed vulnerability tracking information, refer to VulDB #299861.

Workarounds

• Implement input validation to sanitize the mobnum parameter, allowing only numeric characters and standard phone number formatting
• Modify the vulnerable PHP code to use prepared statements with parameterized queries instead of direct string concatenation
• Deploy application-level input filters to strip or encode special SQL characters from user input
• Implement least privilege database access by ensuring the application database user has minimal required permissions

# Example: Apache mod_rewrite rules to block suspicious requests
# Add to .htaccess in the application root directory
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (union|select|insert|update|delete|drop|concat|benchmark) [NC]
RewriteRule ^admin/contact-us\.php$ - [F,L]