CVE-2025-5368: Daily Expense Tracker System SQLi Flaw

CVE-2025-5368 Overview

CVE-2025-5368 is a SQL injection vulnerability in PHPGurukul Daily Expense Tracker System 1.1. The flaw resides in /expense-yearwise-reports-detailed.php, where the todate parameter is concatenated into a SQL query without sanitization. Authenticated attackers can manipulate the parameter remotely to inject arbitrary SQL statements. The exploit details have been publicly disclosed, increasing the likelihood of opportunistic abuse against exposed deployments.

The weakness maps to [CWE-89] (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command) and [CWE-74] (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output).

Critical Impact
A remote attacker with low-level privileges can read, modify, or delete records in the underlying expense database by injecting crafted SQL through the todate request parameter.

Affected Products

PHPGurukul Daily Expense Tracker System 1.1
Deployments using /expense-yearwise-reports-detailed.php
Installations exposing the application to untrusted networks

Discovery Timeline

2025-05-31 - CVE-2025-5368 published to the National Vulnerability Database (NVD)
2025-06-03 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-5368

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability exists in the year-wise expense reporting endpoint of the application. The PHP script /expense-yearwise-reports-detailed.php builds a SQL query using the todate HTTP parameter directly, without prepared statements or input validation. An attacker who can authenticate to the application can append SQL operators and subqueries to the todate value to alter query logic.

Because the endpoint runs server-side queries against the expense database, injected statements execute with the privileges of the database user configured for the application. Depending on database role configuration, this can expose financial records, user data, or allow modification of arbitrary tables. The attack requires only network access to the application and a valid low-privilege session.

Further technical context is available in the GitHub Issue Discussion and VulDB entry #310661.

Root Cause

The root cause is unsanitized user input flowing into a dynamically constructed SQL statement. The todate parameter is consumed by the report generation logic without parameterized queries or type validation. PHP code paths that concatenate request data into SQL strings consistently produce this class of defect, classified under [CWE-89].

Attack Vector

The attack is delivered over the network against the web interface. An authenticated user submits a crafted value in the todate field, either through the reports form or by issuing a direct HTTP request. The injected payload can use UNION-based, boolean-based, or time-based techniques to exfiltrate data or modify backend tables. No user interaction beyond the attacker's own request is required.

No verified proof-of-concept code is published in the referenced advisories, but the disclosure on VulDB and GitHub describes the parameter and injection point in sufficient detail for an attacker to reproduce the issue.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-5368

Indicators of Compromise

HTTP requests to /expense-yearwise-reports-detailed.php containing SQL keywords such as UNION, SELECT, SLEEP, --, or ' OR '1'='1 in the todate parameter.
Database error messages logged by PHP referencing syntax errors near the todate value.
Unexpected outbound traffic or unusual query response times originating from the application server.

Detection Strategies

Inspect web server access logs for todate values that do not match the expected YYYY-MM-DD date format.
Deploy a web application firewall (WAF) rule set tuned to flag SQL syntax in date parameters submitted to the reports endpoint.
Enable MySQL or MariaDB general query logging during incident response to correlate suspicious application requests with backend statements.

Monitoring Recommendations

Alert on repeated 500-series HTTP responses from /expense-yearwise-reports-detailed.php, which often indicate injection probing.
Monitor authentication logs for accounts generating high volumes of report requests outside business hours.
Track database user activity for unexpected INFORMATION_SCHEMA reads, which commonly accompany SQL injection enumeration.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-5368

Immediate Actions Required

Restrict network access to the Daily Expense Tracker System using firewall rules or VPN-only exposure until a patch is applied.
Audit application user accounts and disable inactive or unnecessary credentials that could be used to reach the vulnerable endpoint.
Review database logs for evidence of prior exploitation, focusing on queries originating from the reports script.

Patch Information

As of the last NVD update on 2025-06-03, no vendor patch has been published for PHPGurukul Daily Expense Tracker System 1.1. Refer to the PHP Gurukul Resource Site for any future updates and to the VulDB CTI entry for tracking status changes.

Workarounds

Place the application behind a WAF and block requests where the todate parameter contains characters outside the expected date format.
Modify the affected PHP source to use parameterized queries with PDO or mysqli_prepare, binding todate as a typed value.
Apply least-privilege database credentials so the application user cannot read or modify tables outside its required scope.
Disable the year-wise reports feature in production if it is not actively used by business workflows.

bash

# Example WAF rule (ModSecurity) blocking non-date values in the todate parameter
SecRule ARGS:todate "!@rx ^[0-9]{4}-[0-9]{2}-[0-9]{2}$" \
  "id:1005368,phase:2,deny,status:400,\
   msg:'CVE-2025-5368: invalid todate parameter format',\
   tag:'sql-injection',tag:'phpgurukul'"