CVE-2025-2601: Advocate Office Management System SQLI Flaw

CVE-2025-2601 Overview

CVE-2025-2601 is a SQL injection vulnerability in SourceCodester Kortex Lite Advocate Office Management System 1.0, produced by Mayurik. The flaw resides in the activate_reg.php script, where the ID parameter is concatenated into a SQL statement without sanitization. Attackers can submit crafted input over the network to manipulate backend database queries. The issue is classified under [CWE-74] (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output) and exploitation details have been publicly disclosed. Authentication with a low-privilege account is required, but no user interaction is needed.

Critical Impact
Remote attackers with low-privilege access can inject arbitrary SQL through the ID parameter of activate_reg.php, potentially exposing or modifying records in the application database.

Affected Products

Mayurik Advocate Office Management System 1.0
SourceCodester Kortex Lite Advocate Office Management System 1.0
activate_reg.php endpoint (vulnerable component)

Discovery Timeline

2025-03-21 - CVE-2025-2601 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-2601

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability exists in activate_reg.php, a PHP script that processes registration activation requests. The script accepts an ID parameter from the HTTP request and embeds it directly into a SQL query. Because the input is not parameterized or sanitized, attackers can append SQL syntax to alter the query logic.

Successful exploitation allows reading arbitrary tables, including credentials and case records, and may permit modification of data depending on database permissions. The attack is conducted remotely over the network and requires a low-privilege authenticated session. The public disclosure of exploitation steps increases the risk of opportunistic scanning against exposed installations.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper neutralization of user-supplied input in a SQL statement [CWE-74]. The ID parameter flows from the HTTP request into a database query without prepared statements or input validation. Any character set permitted by the database driver, including single quotes, comment markers, and UNION keywords, reaches the SQL parser unmodified.

Attack Vector

An attacker sends an HTTP request to activate_reg.php with a manipulated ID parameter. Typical payloads use UNION SELECT clauses to extract data from other tables or boolean-based blind injection to enumerate the schema. No social engineering or client-side interaction is required. Because exploitation can be automated, vulnerable instances exposed to the internet face elevated scanning risk.

No verified public proof-of-concept code is attached to this advisory. Refer to the GitHub Issue CVE Discussion and VulDB entry #300585 for additional technical context.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-2601

Indicators of Compromise

HTTP requests to /activate_reg.php containing SQL metacharacters such as ', --, UNION, SLEEP(, or INFORMATION_SCHEMA in the ID parameter.
Unexpected database errors, long response times, or large result payloads correlated with requests to activate_reg.php.
Web server access logs showing repeated probing of the ID parameter from a single source address.

Detection Strategies

Deploy Web Application Firewall (WAF) signatures that flag SQL syntax in query string and POST parameters targeting activate_reg.php.
Enable database query logging and alert on syntactically anomalous statements originating from the application service account.
Correlate web access logs with database error logs to surface injection probes that bypass WAF rules.

Monitoring Recommendations

Forward web server, application, and database logs to a centralized analytics platform for retrospective hunting.
Establish baselines for typical activate_reg.php request volumes and alert on deviations.
Monitor outbound connections from the application host for data exfiltration patterns following suspicious requests.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-2601

Immediate Actions Required

Restrict access to the Kortex Lite Advocate Office Management System to trusted networks or place it behind a VPN until a fix is available.
Apply WAF rules that block SQL metacharacters in the ID parameter of activate_reg.php.
Rotate database credentials and review database accounts for least-privilege configuration.
Audit application and database logs for prior indicators of exploitation.

Patch Information

At the time of writing, no vendor advisory or official patch is listed in the NVD references for Mayurik Advocate Office Management System 1.0. Operators should monitor the SourceCodester Security Resource and the VulDB record for fix updates. Until a patch is released, code owners should refactor activate_reg.php to use prepared statements with bound parameters.

Workarounds

Replace dynamic SQL concatenation in activate_reg.php with PDO or mysqli prepared statements that bind the ID parameter as an integer.
Add server-side input validation that rejects any ID value not matching a strict numeric pattern.
Disable or remove the activate_reg.php endpoint if it is not required for production operation.

bash

# Example Apache rule to block SQL metacharacters in the ID parameter
<LocationMatch "/activate_reg\.php">
  RewriteEngine On
  RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (?:'|--|\bUNION\b|\bSELECT\b|\bSLEEP\() [NC]
  RewriteRule .* - [F,L]
</LocationMatch>