CVE-2025-4941: PHPGurukul Credit Card App SQLi Flaw

CVE-2025-4941 Overview

CVE-2025-4941 is a SQL Injection vulnerability discovered in PHPGurukul Credit Card Application Management System version 1.0. The vulnerability exists in the /admin/index.php file where improper sanitization of the Username parameter allows attackers to inject malicious SQL queries. This critical flaw enables remote attackers to manipulate database queries without authentication, potentially leading to unauthorized data access, modification, or deletion of sensitive credit card application records.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can exploit this SQL injection vulnerability to bypass authentication, extract sensitive financial data, modify database records, or potentially gain complete control over the application's backend database containing credit card application information.

Affected Products

• PHPGurukul Credit Card Application Management System 1.0

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-05-19 - CVE-2025-4941 published to NVD
• 2025-05-28 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-4941

Vulnerability Analysis

The SQL Injection vulnerability in PHPGurukul Credit Card Application Management System stems from insufficient input validation on the admin login functionality. The application fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input in the Username field before incorporating it into SQL queries. This allows attackers to inject arbitrary SQL statements that the database server executes with the application's privileges.

The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it affects the administrative login page (/admin/index.php), which serves as the gateway to the entire credit card application management system. Successful exploitation could grant attackers administrative access to sensitive financial data including credit card applications, personal information, and application status records.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is the direct concatenation of user-controlled input into SQL queries without proper parameterization or input sanitization. The Username parameter submitted through the login form is passed directly into a SQL statement, creating an injection point. The application lacks prepared statements or parameterized queries, which are the standard defense against SQL injection attacks. Additionally, there is no input validation or encoding applied to the username value before database interaction.

Attack Vector

The attack can be executed remotely over the network without requiring any prior authentication. An attacker targets the admin login page at /admin/index.php and submits specially crafted SQL syntax within the Username field. Common attack payloads include authentication bypass strings such as ' OR '1'='1'-- or UNION-based queries to extract data from other database tables.

The exploitation is straightforward since the vulnerable endpoint is publicly accessible and requires no user interaction. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to bypass authentication controls entirely, enumerate database structure and contents, extract sensitive credit card application data, modify or delete database records, and potentially execute operating system commands if database permissions allow.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-4941

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual SQL error messages in web server logs originating from /admin/index.php
• Login attempts containing SQL syntax characters such as single quotes, double dashes, or UNION keywords
• Unexpected database queries in database audit logs, particularly those with abnormal WHERE clauses
• Multiple failed login attempts followed by sudden successful authentication from the same source

Detection Strategies

• Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect SQL injection patterns in form submissions
• Monitor application logs for requests to /admin/index.php containing suspicious characters in POST parameters
• Enable database query logging and alert on queries with anomalous structure or excessive data retrieval
• Deploy intrusion detection signatures for common SQL injection attack patterns

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable verbose logging on the web server for all requests to administrative endpoints
• Configure database audit logging to capture all queries executed against sensitive tables
• Set up alerts for authentication anomalies including multiple rapid login attempts or logins from unusual geolocations
• Monitor for unexpected changes to user privilege tables or administrative accounts in the database

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-4941

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict access to the admin panel by implementing IP whitelisting or VPN requirements
• Consider taking the application offline if it processes live credit card applications until patched
• Review database logs for signs of prior exploitation and check for unauthorized data access
• Implement a WAF rule to filter SQL injection attempts on the login endpoint as a temporary measure

Patch Information

No official patch has been released by PHPGurukul at the time of publication. Organizations using this software should monitor the PHP Gurukul website for security updates. Technical details about this vulnerability are available in the GitHub SQL Injection Guide and additional analysis can be found at VulDB CVE Analysis #309504.

Workarounds

• Modify the application code to use prepared statements with parameterized queries for all database interactions
• Add input validation to reject usernames containing SQL metacharacters such as quotes, semicolons, and comment sequences
• Deploy a reverse proxy with WAF capabilities to filter malicious requests before they reach the application
• Implement multi-factor authentication for administrative access to reduce the impact of authentication bypass
• Apply the principle of least privilege to the database user account used by the application

# Configuration example - Apache mod_security rule to block SQL injection attempts
SecRule ARGS:Username "@rx (?i:(\%27)|(\')|(\-\-)|(\%23)|(#))" \
    "id:1001,phase:2,deny,status:403,log,msg:'SQL Injection attempt detected in Username parameter'"