CVE-2025-4793: Phpgurukul Online Course SQLI Vuln

CVE-2025-4793 Overview

A critical SQL Injection vulnerability has been identified in PHPGurukul Online Course Registration version 3.1. The vulnerability exists in the edit-student-profile.php file, where improper handling of the cgpa parameter allows attackers to inject malicious SQL queries. This flaw can be exploited remotely without authentication, potentially enabling unauthorized access to the database, data exfiltration, and manipulation of student records.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can exploit this SQL Injection vulnerability to bypass authentication, access sensitive student data, modify database records, or potentially gain further access to the underlying system through database-level attacks.

Affected Products

• PHPGurukul Online Course Registration 3.1
• Web applications utilizing the vulnerable edit-student-profile.php component

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-05-16 - CVE-2025-4793 published to NVD
• 2025-05-21 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-4793

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified as SQL Injection (CWE-89) and more broadly as Injection (CWE-74). The vulnerability resides in the student profile editing functionality within the edit-student-profile.php file. The application fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input in the cgpa parameter before incorporating it into SQL queries, creating an injection point that attackers can exploit.

The network-accessible nature of the vulnerability means that any attacker with access to the web application can attempt exploitation without requiring prior authentication or user interaction. The vulnerability allows for low-impact compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system.

Root Cause

The root cause is insufficient input validation and lack of parameterized queries in the PHP code handling the cgpa field. When processing student profile updates, the application directly concatenates user input into SQL statements without proper sanitization or the use of prepared statements. This classic SQL Injection pattern allows attackers to break out of the intended query context and execute arbitrary SQL commands.

Attack Vector

The attack can be executed remotely over the network by submitting a maliciously crafted request to the edit-student-profile.php endpoint. An attacker can manipulate the cgpa parameter to inject SQL syntax that modifies the query logic. Common attack techniques include:

• Using single quotes or double quotes to escape the string context
• Injecting UNION-based queries to extract data from other tables
• Employing boolean-based blind injection to infer database contents
• Time-based blind injection using database sleep functions

The vulnerability has been publicly disclosed through a GitHub Issue Discussion, which may contain additional technical details about the exploitation method. Additional tracking information is available through VulDB #309102.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-4793

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual SQL syntax appearing in web server access logs for edit-student-profile.php
• Database query logs showing malformed or suspicious queries originating from the CGPA field
• Unexpected database errors or exceptions related to SQL syntax in application logs
• Evidence of data extraction attempts through UNION-based query patterns

Detection Strategies

• Deploy web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect SQL injection patterns in the cgpa parameter
• Implement input validation monitoring to flag requests containing SQL metacharacters such as single quotes, semicolons, or SQL keywords
• Configure database activity monitoring to detect anomalous query patterns
• Enable detailed logging on the edit-student-profile.php endpoint to capture and analyze suspicious requests

Monitoring Recommendations

• Monitor application logs for failed SQL queries or database connection errors that may indicate injection attempts
• Set up alerts for multiple rapid requests to the edit-student-profile.php endpoint from single IP addresses
• Review database audit logs for unauthorized data access or privilege escalation attempts
• Implement network-level monitoring for unusual outbound data transfers that could indicate successful exfiltration

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-4793

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict access to the edit-student-profile.php endpoint through IP whitelisting or additional authentication controls
• Deploy WAF rules specifically targeting SQL injection patterns in POST parameters
• Consider temporarily disabling the CGPA editing functionality until a patch is applied
• Audit database access logs for evidence of prior exploitation

Patch Information

As of the last update on 2025-05-21, no official patch has been announced by PHPGurukul for this vulnerability. Organizations using the affected software should monitor the PHPGurukul website for security updates. In the absence of an official fix, implementing the workarounds below is strongly recommended.

Workarounds

• Implement server-side input validation to ensure the cgpa parameter contains only expected numeric values (e.g., floating-point numbers between 0.0 and 10.0)
• Modify the application code to use prepared statements with parameterized queries for all database interactions
• Deploy a reverse proxy or WAF configured to block requests containing SQL injection patterns
• Implement database user privilege restrictions to limit the impact of successful injection attacks
• Consider using database stored procedures to abstract direct SQL query construction from user input

# Example: Implement basic input validation in PHP
# Replace direct query concatenation with prepared statements
# File: edit-student-profile.php

# Before (vulnerable):
# $query = "UPDATE students SET cgpa = '$cgpa' WHERE id = $id";

# After (secure):
# $stmt = $pdo->prepare("UPDATE students SET cgpa = ? WHERE id = ?");
# $stmt->execute([floatval($cgpa), intval($id)]);