CVE-2025-5557: PHPGurukul Teacher Management SQLi Flaw

CVE-2025-5557 Overview

CVE-2025-5557 is a SQL injection vulnerability in PHPGurukul Teacher Subject Allocation Management System 1.0. The flaw resides in /admin/edit-course.php, where the editid parameter is passed directly into a SQL query without sanitization. An authenticated attacker can manipulate this parameter to inject arbitrary SQL statements. The exploit has been publicly disclosed, increasing the likelihood of opportunistic attacks against exposed installations. The vulnerability is tracked under CWE-89 (SQL Injection) and CWE-74 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output).

Critical Impact
Remote attackers with low privileges can inject SQL commands through the editid parameter, potentially reading, modifying, or deleting administrative database records.

Affected Products

PHPGurukul Teacher Subject Allocation Management System 1.0
Component: /admin/edit-course.php
CPE: cpe:2.3:a:phpgurukul:teacher_subject_allocation_management_system:1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

Discovery Timeline

2025-06-04 - CVE-2025-5557 published to NVD
2025-06-10 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-5557

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability exists in the administrative course editing functionality of PHPGurukul Teacher Subject Allocation Management System 1.0. When an administrator accesses /admin/edit-course.php, the application accepts an editid parameter via HTTP request. This parameter is concatenated directly into a SQL query string rather than being passed through a parameterized statement or prepared query.

The absence of input validation and escaping allows attackers to break out of the intended query context. Injected payloads can modify the WHERE clause, append UNION-based subqueries, or execute stacked statements depending on the underlying database configuration. Because the vulnerable endpoint sits under /admin/, the attacker requires authenticated low-privilege access, but credentials for this application class are frequently weak or default.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper neutralization of special elements used in a SQL command [CWE-89]. The edit-course.php script does not employ prepared statements, parameter binding, or input sanitization functions such as mysqli_real_escape_string() before constructing the SQL query against the editid parameter.

Attack Vector

Exploitation is network-based and remote. An attacker authenticates to the admin interface, then submits a crafted HTTP request to /admin/edit-course.php?editid=<payload>. Typical payloads include boolean-based blind injection (1 AND 1=1), UNION-based extraction (1 UNION SELECT user,password FROM admin), or time-based blind injection using SLEEP() functions. Successful exploitation can disclose teacher records, course assignments, and administrative credentials stored in the database.

A public disclosure exists in the GitHub Issue Discussion and the VulDB entry #311008. No verified exploit code is included here; refer to those references for technical details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-5557

Indicators of Compromise

HTTP requests to /admin/edit-course.php containing SQL metacharacters in the editid parameter, such as single quotes, UNION, SELECT, --, or SLEEP(.
Web server access logs showing unusually long or URL-encoded values for editid.
Database error messages referencing syntax errors near administrator-controlled input.
Unexpected administrator account creation or modification in the application database.

Detection Strategies

Deploy web application firewall (WAF) rules that inspect query strings to /admin/edit-course.php for SQL injection signatures.
Enable verbose query logging on the backend MySQL instance and alert on queries containing UNION SELECT against the tbl_course or related tables.
Correlate admin authentication events with subsequent anomalous query patterns to identify post-authentication exploitation.

Monitoring Recommendations

Forward Apache or NGINX access logs to a centralized log analytics platform and build detections for SQLi payloads targeting PHPGurukul endpoints.
Monitor outbound database connections and query volumes for spikes that indicate enumeration activity.
Audit the application's admin user table on a recurring schedule to detect unauthorized changes.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-5557

Immediate Actions Required

Restrict access to /admin/ paths to trusted IP ranges using network controls or .htaccess rules.
Rotate all administrator credentials and enforce strong password requirements on the application.
Place the application behind a WAF with SQL injection protections enabled in blocking mode.
Review database audit logs for evidence of prior exploitation since the public disclosure date.

Patch Information

No official vendor patch has been published by PHPGurukul for CVE-2025-5557 at the time of writing. Organizations should monitor the PHP Gurukul site for updates. Until a fix is released, modify edit-course.php locally to use parameterized queries with mysqli prepared statements or PDO bindings, replacing direct concatenation of the editid value into SQL strings.

Workarounds

Implement server-side input validation that restricts editid to numeric values only, rejecting any request containing non-digit characters.
Apply WAF signatures such as OWASP CRS rules 942100-942999, which cover common SQL injection patterns.
Disable the affected functionality if course editing is not required in the current deployment.
Run the database under a least-privilege account that cannot execute DROP, CREATE, or cross-database queries.

bash

# Example: restrict editid to integers in PHP before query execution
# $editid = filter_input(INPUT_GET, 'editid', FILTER_VALIDATE_INT);
# if ($editid === false) { http_response_code(400); exit('Invalid input'); }
# $stmt = $mysqli->prepare('SELECT * FROM tbl_course WHERE id = ?');
# $stmt->bind_param('i', $editid);
# $stmt->execute();