CVE-2025-2373: Phpgurukul HMPV System SQLi Vulnerability

CVE-2025-2373 Overview

CVE-2025-2373 is a SQL injection vulnerability in PHPGurukul Human Metapneumovirus Testing Management System 1.0. The flaw resides in /check_availability.php, where the mobnumber and employeeid parameters are passed to backend SQL queries without proper sanitization. Remote attackers with low-privilege access can manipulate these arguments to inject arbitrary SQL statements.

The vulnerability has been publicly disclosed, and the underlying weaknesses are classified as 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).

Critical Impact
Authenticated remote attackers can inject SQL through /check_availability.php to read, modify, or destroy data stored in the application database.

Affected Products

PHPGurukul Human Metapneumovirus Testing Management System 1.0
Component: /check_availability.php
Vulnerable parameters: mobnumber, employeeid

Discovery Timeline

2025-03-17 - CVE-2025-2373 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-2373

Vulnerability Analysis

The /check_availability.php endpoint accepts the mobnumber and employeeid parameters from client requests and concatenates them into SQL queries executed against the backend database. The application does not apply parameterized queries or input validation before query execution.

An attacker can supply crafted values containing SQL metacharacters such as single quotes, comment delimiters, and UNION clauses. The injected payload alters the structure of the original SQL statement and is executed with the privileges of the database user configured for the application.

The issue maps to CWE-89 and reflects a common pattern in PHP applications that build queries through string concatenation. Exploitation does not require user interaction and can be performed remotely over the network.

Root Cause

The root cause is the absence of prepared statements or input sanitization on the mobnumber and employeeid parameters in /check_availability.php. Attacker-controlled input flows directly into the SQL query string passed to the database driver.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based. An attacker sends HTTP requests to /check_availability.php with malicious payloads in the mobnumber or employeeid parameters. Successful injection can extract sensitive records such as patient data, employee identifiers, and credentials, and may allow database modification depending on the privileges of the application database account.

The vulnerability mechanism is described in the GitHub CVE Issue Discussion and the VulDB entry #299872. The current EPSS probability is approximately 0.397% (percentile 31.5).

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-2373

Indicators of Compromise

HTTP requests to /check_availability.php containing SQL metacharacters such as ', --, UNION, SELECT, or SLEEP( in the mobnumber or employeeid parameters.
Database error messages returned in HTTP responses referencing MySQL syntax or unexpected query failures.
Unusual outbound database query volumes or table dumps originating from the application service account.

Detection Strategies

Deploy a web application firewall (WAF) with SQL injection signatures tuned to inspect the mobnumber and employeeid parameters.
Enable database query logging and alert on queries originating from /check_availability.php that contain UNION, INFORMATION_SCHEMA, or boolean-based payloads.
Correlate web server access logs with database audit logs to identify anomalous query patterns tied to specific client IP addresses.

Monitoring Recommendations

Monitor authentication logs for low-privileged accounts generating high volumes of requests against /check_availability.php.
Track repeated 500-series HTTP responses from the endpoint, which often indicate injection probing.
Baseline normal query rates per session and alert on deviations consistent with automated SQL injection tooling.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-2373

Immediate Actions Required

Restrict network access to the PHPGurukul Human Metapneumovirus Testing Management System until the application code is remediated.
Place the affected endpoint behind a WAF with active SQL injection blocking rules.
Rotate database credentials used by the application and confirm the database account follows least-privilege principles.
Review database audit logs for evidence of prior injection attempts against /check_availability.php.

Patch Information

No vendor patch is referenced in the available advisories. Operators should monitor the PHP Gurukul site and the VulDB entry for updates. Until a fix is published, application owners should remediate the code directly by replacing string-concatenated SQL with parameterized queries using PDO or MySQLi prepared statements.

Workarounds

Modify /check_availability.php to use parameterized queries and cast mobnumber and employeeid to expected numeric types before query execution.
Apply server-side input validation that rejects non-numeric characters for mobnumber and employeeid.
Restrict the database user assigned to the application to SELECT privileges on the minimum required tables to limit the impact of successful injection.
Disable verbose database error reporting in production to prevent information leakage during injection probing.

bash

# Configuration example - enforce prepared statements via PHP PDO
# In /check_availability.php, replace concatenated SQL with:
# $stmt = $pdo->prepare('SELECT id FROM bookings WHERE mobnumber = :mob AND employeeid = :emp');
# $stmt->execute([':mob' => (int)$_POST['mobnumber'], ':emp' => (int)$_POST['employeeid']]);

# Example ModSecurity rule to block SQLi patterns on the endpoint
SecRule REQUEST_URI "@beginsWith /check_availability.php" \
    "id:1002373,phase:2,deny,status:403,msg:'CVE-2025-2373 SQLi attempt',\
    chain"
    SecRule ARGS:mobnumber|ARGS:employeeid "@detectSQLi" "t:none"