CVE-2025-65125: Online Movie Booking SQLi Vulnerability

CVE-2025-65125 Overview

CVE-2025-65125 is a critical SQL Injection vulnerability discovered in the gosaliajainam/online-movie-booking application version 5.5. The vulnerability exists in the movie_details.php file and allows remote attackers to extract sensitive information from the underlying database through malicious SQL queries.

Critical Impact

This SQL Injection vulnerability enables unauthenticated attackers to access, modify, or delete sensitive data from the database, potentially compromising user credentials, payment information, and other confidential movie booking records.

Affected Products

• gosaliajainam/online-movie-booking version 5.5

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-01-02 - CVE-2025-65125 published to NVD
• 2026-01-06 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-65125

Vulnerability Analysis

This SQL Injection vulnerability (CWE-89: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command) occurs when user-supplied input is incorporated into SQL queries without proper sanitization or parameterization. The movie_details.php endpoint accepts input parameters that are directly concatenated into database queries, allowing attackers to manipulate the query logic.

The vulnerability is network-accessible and requires no authentication or user interaction to exploit. An attacker can craft malicious input strings containing SQL metacharacters and additional SQL statements to extract data from the database, bypass authentication mechanisms, or potentially modify database contents.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper input validation and the use of dynamic SQL query construction in movie_details.php. The application fails to sanitize user-supplied parameters before incorporating them into SQL statements, violating secure coding practices that mandate the use of prepared statements or parameterized queries.

Attack Vector

The attack is conducted over the network by sending specially crafted HTTP requests to the movie_details.php endpoint. Attackers can inject SQL payloads through vulnerable parameters, allowing them to:

1. Extract sensitive user data including credentials and personal information
2. Enumerate database structure and table contents
3. Bypass authentication controls
4. Potentially achieve data modification or deletion depending on database permissions

The vulnerability can be exploited using common SQL injection techniques such as UNION-based injection, blind SQL injection, or error-based injection methods. Technical details regarding the specific exploitation approach are documented in the GitHub CVE Research Repository.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-65125

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual SQL syntax patterns in web application logs targeting movie_details.php
• Database error messages exposed in HTTP responses indicating SQL query failures
• Abnormal database query patterns or timing suggesting blind SQL injection attempts
• Unexpected data access patterns or bulk data extraction from the application database

Detection Strategies

• Deploy Web Application Firewalls (WAF) with SQL injection detection rules
• Implement database activity monitoring to detect anomalous queries
• Enable detailed logging on web servers and review requests to movie_details.php for suspicious payloads
• Utilize intrusion detection systems (IDS) with signatures for common SQL injection patterns

Monitoring Recommendations

• Monitor HTTP request parameters for SQL metacharacters such as single quotes, double dashes, and UNION keywords
• Set up alerts for database errors or exceptions related to malformed queries
• Track access patterns to sensitive database tables for unusual query volumes
• Review application logs for repeated requests with varying injection payloads

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-65125

Immediate Actions Required

• Implement input validation and sanitization on all user-supplied parameters in movie_details.php
• Convert dynamic SQL queries to prepared statements with parameterized queries
• Deploy or update WAF rules to block SQL injection attack patterns
• Restrict database user privileges to minimum required permissions
• Consider temporarily disabling the vulnerable endpoint until a patch is applied

Patch Information

No official vendor patch has been published at this time. Users should implement the recommended mitigations and monitor the project repository for security updates. For additional technical details and research, refer to the GitHub CVE Research Repository.

Workarounds

• Use prepared statements (parameterized queries) instead of dynamic SQL construction
• Implement strict input validation using allowlists for expected parameter values
• Deploy a WAF configured with SQL injection prevention rules in front of the application
• Apply the principle of least privilege to database accounts used by the application
• Consider implementing database query logging and anomaly detection

# Example: Restrict database user permissions (MySQL)
REVOKE ALL PRIVILEGES ON moviebooking.* FROM 'webapp_user'@'localhost';
GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE ON moviebooking.bookings TO 'webapp_user'@'localhost';
GRANT SELECT ON moviebooking.movies TO 'webapp_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;