CVE-2025-4027: Old Age Home Management System SQL Injection

CVE-2025-4027 Overview

A critical SQL injection vulnerability has been identified in PHPGurukul Old Age Home Management System version 1.0. The vulnerability exists in the /admin/rules.php file, where the pagetitle parameter is not properly sanitized before being used in SQL queries. This allows unauthenticated remote attackers to manipulate database queries, potentially leading to unauthorized data access, data modification, or complete database compromise.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can exploit this SQL injection vulnerability to extract sensitive data, modify database contents, or potentially gain unauthorized administrative access to the management system.

Affected Products

• PHPGurukul Old Age Home Management System 1.0
• Web applications using the vulnerable /admin/rules.php endpoint

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-04-28 - CVE-2025-4027 published to NVD
• 2025-04-30 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-4027

Vulnerability Analysis

This SQL injection vulnerability stems from improper input validation in the administrative rules management functionality. The pagetitle parameter in /admin/rules.php is directly incorporated into SQL queries without proper sanitization or parameterized query implementation. Since no authentication appears to be required to reach this endpoint, the attack surface is significantly expanded, allowing any network-accessible attacker to attempt exploitation.

The vulnerability is classified under 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), indicating both the specific SQL injection issue and the broader injection vulnerability class.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is the direct concatenation of user-supplied input into SQL query strings without proper input validation, sanitization, or the use of prepared statements with parameterized queries. The pagetitle parameter is accepted from user input and passed directly to the database layer, allowing attackers to inject malicious SQL syntax.

Attack Vector

The vulnerability is exploitable remotely over the network with no authentication required and low attack complexity. An attacker can craft malicious HTTP requests to the /admin/rules.php endpoint with specially crafted values in the pagetitle parameter. These payloads can include SQL syntax designed to:

• Extract sensitive information from the database through UNION-based or blind SQL injection techniques
• Modify or delete existing database records
• Potentially escalate privileges if database credentials are stored in the same database
• In some configurations, read or write files on the server filesystem

The attack does not require any user interaction, making it particularly dangerous for internet-facing installations.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-4027

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual or malformed requests to /admin/rules.php containing SQL syntax characters such as single quotes, double dashes, UNION keywords, or semicolons in the pagetitle parameter
• Database error messages appearing in application logs or HTTP responses
• Unexpected database queries or data extraction activities in database audit logs
• Anomalous administrative account creation or privilege modifications

Detection Strategies

• Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect SQL injection patterns targeting the /admin/rules.php endpoint
• Monitor HTTP access logs for requests containing SQL injection signatures in the pagetitle parameter
• Enable database query logging and alert on suspicious query patterns or errors
• Deploy intrusion detection systems with SQL injection detection signatures

Monitoring Recommendations

• Review access logs for the /admin/rules.php file regularly for signs of exploitation attempts
• Set up alerts for database errors or unusual query execution times
• Monitor for unauthorized data access patterns or bulk data extraction
• Implement real-time log analysis to detect SQL injection payload patterns

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-4027

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict network access to the /admin/rules.php endpoint using firewall rules or .htaccess configurations
• Implement input validation to reject requests containing SQL metacharacters in the pagetitle parameter
• Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with SQL injection protection enabled
• If possible, take the affected application offline until a patch is applied

Patch Information

No official vendor patch has been announced at the time of this writing. Organizations should monitor the PHP Gurukul website for security updates. Additional technical details about this vulnerability can be found in the GitHub issue tracker and the VulDB entry.

Workarounds

• Implement prepared statements with parameterized queries in the affected PHP code to prevent SQL injection
• Apply strict input validation and sanitization for all user-supplied parameters, especially pagetitle
• Restrict access to administrative endpoints using IP whitelisting or VPN requirements
• Consider using a reverse proxy with SQL injection filtering capabilities as an interim measure

# Apache .htaccess example to restrict access to admin directory
<Directory "/path/to/application/admin">
    Order deny,allow
    Deny from all
    Allow from 192.168.1.0/24
    # Add your trusted IP ranges
</Directory>