CVE-2025-5562: Phpgurukul Curfew E-pass SQLI Vulnerability

CVE-2025-5562 Overview

A critical SQL injection vulnerability has been identified in PHPGurukul Curfew e-Pass Management System version 1.0. The vulnerability exists in the /admin/edit-category-detail.php file, where improper handling of the editid parameter allows attackers to inject malicious SQL commands. This flaw can be exploited remotely without authentication, potentially compromising the entire database and underlying system.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can exploit this SQL injection vulnerability to extract sensitive data, modify database contents, or potentially gain unauthorized access to the underlying system through database exploitation techniques.

Affected Products

• PHPGurukul Curfew e-Pass Management System 1.0

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-06-04 - CVE-2025-5562 published to NVD
• 2025-06-10 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-5562

Vulnerability Analysis

This SQL injection vulnerability arises from insufficient input validation in the administrative interface of the Curfew e-Pass Management System. The /admin/edit-category-detail.php endpoint accepts the editid parameter without proper sanitization, allowing attackers to manipulate SQL queries executed against the backend database.

The vulnerability is classified under CWE-74 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component), indicating that user-supplied input is incorporated into SQL queries without adequate filtering or parameterization. Since the attack vector is network-based and requires no authentication or user interaction, any remote attacker with network access to the application can exploit this vulnerability.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is the direct concatenation or interpolation of user-supplied input (the editid parameter) into SQL queries without using prepared statements or parameterized queries. The application fails to sanitize or validate the input before incorporating it into database operations, allowing specially crafted input to modify the intended SQL command structure.

Attack Vector

The vulnerability can be exploited remotely over the network. An attacker targets the /admin/edit-category-detail.php endpoint and manipulates the editid parameter with malicious SQL payloads. Since no authentication is required to trigger the vulnerable code path, the attack surface is significant.

Typical SQL injection payloads can be used to:

• Extract sensitive information from the database using UNION-based or blind SQL injection techniques
• Bypass authentication mechanisms
• Modify or delete database records
• Potentially execute system commands if database permissions allow

The vulnerability has been publicly disclosed, with technical details available through the GitHub Issue Tracker Entry. For additional context, refer to the VulDB #311012 entry.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-5562

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual SQL error messages appearing in application logs related to /admin/edit-category-detail.php
• Web server access logs showing requests to edit-category-detail.php with suspicious editid parameter values containing SQL syntax characters (single quotes, double dashes, semicolons, UNION keywords)
• Database query logs revealing anomalous or unexpected SQL queries

Detection Strategies

• Deploy Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block SQL injection patterns in the editid parameter
• Monitor application logs for SQL syntax errors or database exceptions originating from the administrative interface
• Implement intrusion detection signatures for common SQL injection payloads targeting PHP applications

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable detailed logging for all requests to administrative endpoints, particularly /admin/edit-category-detail.php
• Configure database audit logging to capture all queries executed against sensitive tables
• Set up alerting for unusual database access patterns or error rates

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-5562

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict access to the /admin/ directory to trusted IP addresses only using firewall rules or web server configuration
• Implement input validation to ensure the editid parameter only accepts numeric values
• Consider taking the application offline if it handles sensitive data until a proper fix is applied
• Review database permissions to ensure the application uses least-privilege database accounts

Patch Information

At the time of publication, no official vendor patch has been released for this vulnerability. Organizations should monitor the PHPGurukul website for security updates and patch releases. In the absence of an official fix, implementing the workarounds below is strongly recommended.

Workarounds

• Modify the vulnerable PHP code to use prepared statements with parameterized queries for the editid parameter
• Add server-side input validation to reject non-numeric values for the editid parameter before any database operations
• Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with SQL injection detection rules as a compensating control

# Apache .htaccess configuration to restrict admin access by IP
<Directory "/var/www/html/admin">
    Order deny,allow
    Deny from all
    Allow from 192.168.1.0/24
    Allow from 10.0.0.0/8
</Directory>