CVE-2025-4110: Pre-school Enrollment System SQLi Flaw

CVE-2025-4110 Overview

CVE-2025-4110 is a SQL injection vulnerability in PHPGurukul Pre-School Enrollment System 1.0. The flaw resides in the /admin/edit-teacher.php script, where the mobilenumber parameter is passed to a database query without proper sanitization. An authenticated attacker with low-privilege access to the admin interface can manipulate the parameter to inject arbitrary SQL statements. The exploit details have been publicly disclosed, and other parameters in the same script may also be affected. The vulnerability is categorized under [CWE-74] (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component).

Critical Impact
Successful exploitation allows remote attackers to read, modify, or delete records in the application database, including teacher and enrollment data.

Affected Products

PHPGurukul Pre-School Enrollment System 1.0
Vendor: phpgurukul
Component: /admin/edit-teacher.php (parameter mobilenumber)

Discovery Timeline

2025-04-30 - CVE-2025-4110 published to the National Vulnerability Database (NVD)
2025-05-13 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-4110

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is a classic SQL injection in the administrative teacher-edit workflow. When an administrator submits the edit form, the mobilenumber POST parameter is concatenated directly into a SQL UPDATE statement targeting the teacher records table. Because the application does not use parameterized queries or input validation, attacker-controlled SQL syntax executes within the database session of the application. The attack requires network access to the admin endpoint and a valid low-privilege admin session, as reflected in the CVSS 4.0 vector requiring PR:L. The advisory also notes that other parameters in the same script may exhibit the same flaw.

Root Cause

The root cause is unsanitized user input flowing into a dynamically constructed SQL query inside /admin/edit-teacher.php. PHPGurukul applications commonly build queries through direct string concatenation of $_POST values, omitting prepared statements offered by mysqli or PDO. Without bound parameters or type enforcement on mobilenumber, the input is interpreted as SQL when it contains quote characters or comment markers.

Attack Vector

An attacker authenticated to the admin panel submits a crafted request to /admin/edit-teacher.php containing a malicious payload in the mobilenumber field. Typical exploitation includes UNION-based extraction to read arbitrary tables, boolean-based blind injection to enumerate the schema, or stacked queries where the database driver allows them. Because the exploit is publicly available through VulDB #306590 and the GitHub CVE issue discussion, opportunistic scanning against exposed installations is feasible.

No verified proof-of-concept code is reproduced here. Refer to the linked references for technical payload details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-4110

Indicators of Compromise

HTTP POST requests to /admin/edit-teacher.php containing SQL meta-characters such as ', ", --, UNION, SLEEP(, or INFORMATION_SCHEMA in the mobilenumber field.
Web server access logs showing unusually long mobilenumber values or repeated edit requests from a single source.
Unexpected modifications to teacher records, password hashes, or new administrator accounts appearing in the application database.

Detection Strategies

Inspect web server and PHP error logs for MySQL syntax errors originating from edit-teacher.php, which often accompany SQL injection probing.
Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule set such as OWASP CRS to flag SQL injection patterns targeting admin endpoints.
Enable MySQL general query logging temporarily to identify malformed UPDATE statements referencing the teachers table.

Monitoring Recommendations

Alert on authenticated admin sessions performing high volumes of edit operations within short windows.
Monitor for outbound database connections or data exfiltration patterns following admin activity.
Correlate admin login events with subsequent unusual request payloads to /admin/*.php resources.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-4110

Immediate Actions Required

Restrict network access to the /admin/ directory using IP allow-lists or VPN-only access until a fix is applied.
Rotate all administrator credentials and review the teachers and users tables for unauthorized modifications.
Deploy WAF signatures that block SQL injection payloads on POST parameters submitted to /admin/edit-teacher.php.

Patch Information

No vendor patch has been published for PHPGurukul Pre-School Enrollment System 1.0 at the time of disclosure. Operators should monitor PHP Gurukul Security Resources for an updated release. Until an official fix is available, source-level remediation requires replacing string concatenation in edit-teacher.php with parameterized queries using mysqli_prepare() or PDO::prepare() and binding mobilenumber as a typed parameter.

Workarounds

Apply server-side input validation to enforce a strict numeric format on the mobilenumber field before it reaches the database layer.
Audit every parameter handled by /admin/edit-teacher.php and adjacent admin scripts, since the advisory states other parameters may be affected.
Run the application database user with least privilege, removing DROP, ALTER, and FILE permissions where they are not required.

bash

# Example: minimal WAF/ModSecurity rule to block SQLi patterns on the vulnerable endpoint
SecRule REQUEST_URI "@streq /admin/edit-teacher.php" \
  "id:1004110,phase:2,deny,status:403,\
   chain,msg:'CVE-2025-4110 SQLi attempt on mobilenumber'"
  SecRule ARGS:mobilenumber "@rx (?i)(union(\s)+select|sleep\(|--|/\*|information_schema)" "t:none"