CVE-2025-2379: Phpgurukul Apartment Visitors SQLI Flaw

CVE-2025-2379 Overview

A SQL injection vulnerability has been identified in PHPGurukul Apartment Visitors Management System version 1.0. This critical security flaw exists in the /create-pass.php file, where improper handling of the visname parameter allows attackers to inject malicious SQL commands. The vulnerability can be exploited remotely without authentication, potentially compromising the entire database backend of affected apartment management systems.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can exploit this SQL injection vulnerability to access, modify, or delete sensitive visitor data, bypass authentication mechanisms, and potentially gain unauthorized control over the underlying database system.

Affected Products

• PHPGurukul Apartment Visitors Management System 1.0

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-03-17 - CVE-2025-2379 published to NVD
• 2025-05-06 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-2379

Vulnerability Analysis

This SQL injection vulnerability (CWE-89) stems from insufficient input validation in the visitor pass creation functionality. The /create-pass.php endpoint accepts user-supplied input through the visname parameter, which is directly incorporated into SQL queries without proper sanitization or parameterized query implementation.

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 that the application fails to properly neutralize special characters that could alter the intended SQL command structure.

When processing visitor registration data, the application constructs database queries by concatenating user input directly into the SQL statement. This allows attackers to terminate the intended query and append arbitrary SQL commands, enabling unauthorized data access or manipulation.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability lies in the application's failure to implement proper input validation and parameterized queries (prepared statements) when processing the visname parameter in /create-pass.php. The visitor name field accepts unsanitized user input that is directly interpolated into SQL queries, creating a classic injection vulnerability pattern commonly found in legacy PHP applications.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based, requiring no authentication or user interaction. An attacker can craft malicious HTTP requests to the /create-pass.php endpoint, injecting SQL syntax through the visname parameter. This could include techniques such as:

The exploitation involves sending specially crafted input containing SQL metacharacters (such as single quotes, semicolons, or comment sequences) through the visitor name field. These payloads can manipulate the underlying SQL query to perform unauthorized operations including data extraction via UNION-based injection, authentication bypass, or database modification through stacked queries.

Additional technical details regarding the exploitation methodology can be found in the GitHub CVE Issue Discussion and VulDB #299878.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-2379

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual SQL error messages appearing in application logs, particularly those referencing the /create-pass.php endpoint or visname parameter
• Web server access logs showing requests to /create-pass.php containing SQL metacharacters (single quotes, UNION, SELECT, OR statements) in query parameters
• Database logs indicating anomalous query patterns or syntax errors from the apartment management application
• Unexpected modifications to visitor records or authentication tables

Detection Strategies

• Deploy web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block SQL injection patterns targeting the visname parameter and /create-pass.php endpoint
• Implement intrusion detection system (IDS) signatures for common SQL injection payloads in HTTP POST/GET requests
• Configure application-level logging to capture all inputs to the visitor pass creation functionality for forensic analysis
• Enable database query logging to identify malformed or suspicious SQL statements originating from the web application

Monitoring Recommendations

• Monitor web server logs for repeated failed requests to /create-pass.php that may indicate exploitation attempts
• Establish baseline metrics for normal visitor registration activity and alert on statistical anomalies
• Implement real-time alerting for database errors that indicate SQL syntax violations from the application context

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-2379

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict network access to the Apartment Visitors Management System to trusted IP addresses only until a patch is applied
• Implement WAF rules to filter SQL injection patterns on the /create-pass.php endpoint
• Consider temporarily disabling the visitor pass creation functionality if not business-critical
• Review database permissions to ensure the application database user has minimal required privileges

Patch Information

At the time of this publication, no official vendor patch has been released for this vulnerability. Organizations using PHPGurukul Apartment Visitors Management System 1.0 should monitor the PHP Gurukul Security Resource for security updates. In the absence of an official patch, implementing the workarounds below is strongly recommended.

Workarounds

• Apply input validation at the web server level using ModSecurity or similar WAF with OWASP Core Rule Set to block SQL injection attempts
• If source code access is available, modify /create-pass.php to use prepared statements with parameterized queries for all database operations involving user input
• Implement network segmentation to isolate the apartment management system from critical infrastructure
• Deploy a reverse proxy with request inspection capabilities to filter malicious input before it reaches the application

# ModSecurity rule example for blocking SQL injection on visname parameter
SecRule ARGS:visname "@detectSQLi" \
    "id:100001,\
    phase:2,\
    deny,\
    status:403,\
    log,\
    msg:'SQL Injection attempt blocked on visname parameter',\
    tag:'CVE-2025-2379'"