CVE-2025-3180: Doctor Appointment System SQLi Vulnerability

CVE-2025-3180 Overview

A critical SQL injection vulnerability has been identified in the Projectworlds Online Doctor Appointment Booking System version 1.0. The vulnerability exists in the /doctor/deleteschedule.php file, where improper handling of the ID parameter allows attackers to inject malicious SQL statements. This flaw can be exploited remotely without authentication, potentially compromising the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the underlying database and sensitive patient information.

Critical Impact

This SQL injection vulnerability allows unauthenticated remote attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands against the database, potentially exposing sensitive healthcare data, modifying records, or compromising the entire system.

Affected Products

• Projectworlds Online Doctor Appointment Booking System 1.0
• projectworlds doctor_appointment_system

Discovery Timeline

• April 3, 2025 - CVE-2025-3180 published to NVD
• April 8, 2025 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-3180

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is a classic SQL injection flaw (CWE-89) resulting from inadequate input validation in a healthcare appointment management system. The vulnerable endpoint /doctor/deleteschedule.php accepts an ID parameter that is directly incorporated into SQL queries without proper sanitization or parameterization.

When a user or attacker supplies a crafted value for the ID parameter, the application fails to validate or escape the input before constructing the database query. This allows an attacker to manipulate the SQL statement's logic, potentially gaining unauthorized access to the database contents, modifying data, or executing administrative operations on the database server.

The vulnerability falls 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 does not properly neutralize special characters that could alter the intended SQL command structure.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is the lack of parameterized queries or prepared statements in the deleteschedule.php file. The ID parameter from user input is concatenated directly into the SQL query string, allowing attackers to break out of the intended query context and inject their own SQL commands. This is a fundamental input validation failure that bypasses any intended access controls.

Attack Vector

The attack can be executed remotely over the network without requiring any authentication or user interaction. An attacker simply needs to craft a malicious HTTP request to the /doctor/deleteschedule.php endpoint with a specially crafted ID parameter containing SQL injection payloads.

For example, an attacker could modify the ID parameter to include SQL syntax such as ' OR '1'='1 or use UNION-based techniques to extract data from other tables. Time-based blind SQL injection techniques could also be employed if direct output is not visible. The exploit has been publicly disclosed, increasing the risk of active exploitation in the wild.

Technical details about this vulnerability can be found in the GitHub Issue on CVE and VulDB entry #303139.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-3180

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual or malformed requests to /doctor/deleteschedule.php containing SQL syntax characters such as single quotes, double dashes, semicolons, or UNION keywords in the ID parameter
• Database error messages in application logs indicating SQL syntax errors or unexpected query behavior
• Unexpected database queries or access patterns in database audit logs, particularly involving administrative commands or cross-table data access
• Evidence of data exfiltration or unauthorized bulk data access from patient or appointment tables

Detection Strategies

• Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block common SQL injection patterns targeting the ID parameter
• Monitor HTTP access logs for requests to deleteschedule.php with suspicious parameter values containing SQL metacharacters
• Enable database query logging and alert on queries with anomalous structures or unexpected UNION operations
• Deploy intrusion detection systems (IDS) with signatures for SQL injection attack patterns

Monitoring Recommendations

• Configure real-time alerting for any requests containing SQL injection indicators to the affected endpoint
• Establish baseline database query patterns and alert on deviations that may indicate injection attacks
• Monitor for unauthorized data access patterns or unusual record deletions in the appointment scheduling tables
• Review web server access logs regularly for reconnaissance activity targeting the vulnerable endpoint

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-3180

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict access to the /doctor/deleteschedule.php endpoint until a patch is applied by implementing IP-based access controls or disabling the endpoint entirely
• Deploy a web application firewall (WAF) with SQL injection protection rules to filter malicious requests
• Implement input validation on the server side to ensure the ID parameter contains only numeric values
• Review and audit all database accounts used by the application to ensure least-privilege access

Patch Information

No official vendor patch has been released for this vulnerability at the time of writing. Administrators should contact Projectworlds for remediation guidance or consider implementing custom fixes. The vulnerability was publicly disclosed via VulDB Submission #543840.

Organizations using this system should implement prepared statements and parameterized queries in the deleteschedule.php file to prevent SQL injection. All user-supplied input should be validated and sanitized before use in database queries.

Workarounds

• Implement server-side input validation to ensure the ID parameter accepts only integer values, rejecting any requests containing non-numeric characters
• Use a web application firewall with SQL injection filtering capabilities to block malicious requests at the network perimeter
• Restrict network access to the application to trusted IP addresses only until proper remediation can be applied
• Consider temporarily disabling the delete schedule functionality if it is not business-critical

# Example Apache mod_rewrite rule to block SQL injection attempts
# Add to .htaccess or Apache configuration
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (union|select|insert|update|delete|drop|concat|char|hex|load_file|into.*outfile) [NC]
RewriteRule ^doctor/deleteschedule\.php$ - [F,L]