CVE-2025-3340: Restaurant Management System SQLi Flaw

CVE-2025-3340 Overview

A SQL injection vulnerability has been identified in Code-projects Online Restaurant Management System version 1.0. The vulnerability exists in the /admin/combo_update.php file, where improper handling of the ID parameter allows attackers to inject malicious SQL statements. This flaw enables remote attackers to manipulate database queries without authentication, potentially leading to unauthorized data access, modification, or deletion of database contents.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can exploit this SQL injection vulnerability to access, modify, or delete sensitive restaurant management data including customer information, orders, and administrative credentials without requiring authentication.

Affected Products

• Code-projects Online Restaurant Management System 1.0

Discovery Timeline

• April 7, 2025 - CVE-2025-3340 published to NVD
• April 29, 2025 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-3340

Vulnerability Analysis

This SQL injection vulnerability (CWE-89) occurs in the administrative combo update functionality of the Online Restaurant Management System. The vulnerable endpoint /admin/combo_update.php fails to properly sanitize the ID parameter before incorporating it into SQL queries. This classic injection vulnerability allows attackers to break out of the intended query structure and execute arbitrary SQL commands against the underlying database.

The vulnerability is classified under CWE-74 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component) and CWE-89 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command). The network-accessible nature of this vulnerability means that any attacker with network access to the application can attempt exploitation without requiring authentication or user interaction.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is insufficient input validation and the absence of parameterized queries in the /admin/combo_update.php file. The application directly concatenates user-supplied input from the ID parameter into SQL statements without proper sanitization or escaping. This allows specially crafted input containing SQL metacharacters to alter the intended query logic.

Attack Vector

The attack can be launched remotely over the network against the vulnerable endpoint. An attacker crafts a malicious HTTP request to /admin/combo_update.php with a specially crafted ID parameter containing SQL injection payloads. Common attack patterns include:

• Union-based injection: Appending UNION SELECT statements to extract data from other tables
• Boolean-based blind injection: Using conditional statements to infer database contents through application response differences
• Time-based blind injection: Using database sleep functions to confirm injection success and extract data
• Error-based injection: Triggering database errors that reveal information about the database structure

The exploit has been publicly disclosed, increasing the risk of opportunistic attacks against unpatched systems. For technical details, refer to the GitHub CVE Issue Discussion.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-3340

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual or malformed HTTP requests targeting /admin/combo_update.php with suspicious ID parameter values
• Database error messages in application logs indicating SQL syntax errors
• Unexpected database queries containing UNION, SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, or DROP statements from web application context
• Evidence of data exfiltration or unauthorized database modifications

Detection Strategies

• Deploy Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect SQL injection patterns in the ID parameter
• Implement database activity monitoring to identify anomalous query patterns
• Monitor web server access logs for requests to /admin/combo_update.php with encoded or suspicious characters
• Enable verbose database logging to capture and alert on unusual SQL statements

Monitoring Recommendations

• Configure real-time alerting for SQL error messages in application and database logs
• Establish baseline database query patterns and alert on deviations
• Monitor for bulk data access or export operations that could indicate successful exploitation
• Review authentication logs for unauthorized administrative access attempts

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-3340

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict network access to the /admin/combo_update.php endpoint to trusted IP addresses only
• Implement input validation to whitelist only numeric values for the ID parameter
• Deploy Web Application Firewall rules to block SQL injection attempts targeting this endpoint
• Consider temporarily disabling the vulnerable functionality until a patch is applied

Patch Information

No official vendor patch has been identified for this vulnerability at the time of writing. Organizations using Code-projects Online Restaurant Management System 1.0 should contact the vendor for remediation guidance or consider implementing the workarounds described below. Monitor VulDB for updates on patch availability.

Workarounds

• Implement prepared statements/parameterized queries in the vulnerable PHP file to prevent SQL injection
• Add server-side input validation to ensure the ID parameter contains only numeric characters
• Deploy a reverse proxy or WAF with SQL injection detection capabilities in front of the application
• Restrict database user privileges to minimum required operations (principle of least privilege)
• Consider isolating the application in a segmented network zone with enhanced monitoring

# Example: Apache mod_rewrite rule to block suspicious ID parameters
# Add to .htaccess in the admin directory
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ID=.*['";\-\-] [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ID=.*union.*select [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ID=.*select.*from [NC]
RewriteRule ^combo_update\.php$ - [F,L]