CVE-2025-5224: Hospital Management System SQL Injection

CVE-2025-5224 Overview

A critical SQL injection vulnerability has been discovered in Campcodes Online Hospital Management System version 1.0. The vulnerability exists in the /admin/add-doctor.php file, where the Doctorspecialization parameter is improperly handled, allowing attackers to inject malicious SQL queries. This flaw enables remote attackers to manipulate database queries without authentication, potentially leading to unauthorized data access, modification, or deletion of sensitive hospital and patient information.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can exploit this SQL injection vulnerability to access, modify, or delete sensitive healthcare data including patient records, doctor information, and administrative credentials without authentication.

Affected Products

• Campcodes Online Hospital Management System 1.0
• Systems with exposed /admin/add-doctor.php endpoint
• Healthcare organizations using unpatched Campcodes Hospital Management deployments

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-05-27 - CVE-2025-5224 published to NVD
• 2025-05-28 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-5224

Vulnerability Analysis

This SQL injection vulnerability affects the doctor registration functionality within the administrative interface of Campcodes Online Hospital Management System. The vulnerable endpoint /admin/add-doctor.php fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input in the Doctorspecialization parameter before incorporating it into SQL queries. This classic injection flaw allows attackers to escape the intended query context and execute arbitrary SQL commands against the backend database.

The vulnerability is remotely exploitable without requiring prior authentication, making it particularly dangerous for internet-facing deployments. Successful exploitation could allow attackers to extract sensitive patient health records, modify doctor credentials, escalate privileges by manipulating user tables, or potentially achieve full database compromise.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2025-5224 is insufficient input validation and the absence of parameterized queries in the /admin/add-doctor.php file. The Doctorspecialization parameter is directly concatenated into SQL statements without proper sanitization or escaping, violating secure coding practices for database interactions. This allows specially crafted input to break out of the intended SQL syntax and inject malicious commands.

Attack Vector

The attack can be launched remotely over the network by sending a crafted HTTP request to the /admin/add-doctor.php endpoint. An attacker can manipulate the Doctorspecialization parameter to include SQL meta-characters and malicious query fragments. Since no authentication is required to reach the vulnerable code path, any network-accessible attacker can attempt exploitation.

The vulnerability has been publicly disclosed, with technical details available through the GitHub Issue Tracker and documented in the VulDB database entry. Organizations should assume that exploit techniques are widely known.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-5224

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual SQL error messages in web server logs referencing /admin/add-doctor.php
• Requests to /admin/add-doctor.php containing SQL keywords like UNION, SELECT, INSERT, DROP, or -- in the Doctorspecialization parameter
• Unexpected database queries or data extraction activities in database audit logs
• Anomalous outbound network connections from the database server

Detection Strategies

• Deploy web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect SQL injection patterns in requests to /admin/add-doctor.php
• Implement intrusion detection signatures for common SQL injection payloads targeting the Doctorspecialization parameter
• Enable detailed logging for the administrative endpoint and monitor for suspicious request patterns
• Configure database activity monitoring to alert on unusual query structures or data access patterns

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable verbose access logging for all requests to /admin/ directory endpoints
• Monitor database query logs for injection signatures such as stacked queries, UNION-based extraction, or time-based blind injection attempts
• Set up alerts for failed authentication attempts combined with SQL error responses
• Review web server logs regularly for reconnaissance activity targeting PHP administrative files

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-5224

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict network access to the /admin/ directory using IP allowlisting or VPN requirements
• Implement a web application firewall with SQL injection protection rules in front of the application
• Consider taking the application offline if it contains sensitive patient data until a patch is available
• Audit database logs for evidence of prior exploitation attempts

Patch Information

No official vendor patch has been released for CVE-2025-5224 at the time of publication. Organizations should monitor the CampCodes website and the VulDB submission page for security updates. Until an official fix is available, organizations must rely on compensating controls and workarounds to mitigate the risk.

Workarounds

• Implement input validation at the web server level to block SQL injection characters in the Doctorspecialization parameter
• Deploy a reverse proxy or WAF configured to sanitize input to vulnerable endpoints
• Restrict access to administrative functions using network segmentation and strong authentication
• If possible, modify the application code to use parameterized queries or prepared statements for database interactions

# Example: Apache .htaccess rule to restrict admin access by IP
<Directory "/var/www/html/admin">
    Require ip 10.0.0.0/8
    Require ip 192.168.1.0/24
</Directory>