CVE-2025-7176: PHPGurukul Hospital Management SQLi Flaw

CVE-2025-7176 Overview

A critical SQL injection vulnerability has been identified in PHPGurukul Hospital Management System version 1.0. The vulnerability exists in the view-medhistory.php file, where improper handling of the viewid parameter allows 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 healthcare records.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can exploit this SQL injection vulnerability to access, modify, or delete sensitive patient medical history records and other healthcare data stored in the Hospital Management System database.

Affected Products

• PHPGurukul Hospital Management System 1.0
• Systems running view-medhistory.php with unsanitized viewid parameter

Discovery Timeline

• July 8, 2025 - CVE-2025-7176 published to NVD
• July 8, 2025 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-7176

Vulnerability Analysis

This SQL injection vulnerability stems from the improper validation and sanitization of user-supplied input in the view-medhistory.php file. The viewid parameter is directly incorporated into SQL queries without proper escaping or parameterization, creating a classic injection point. Attackers can craft malicious input that breaks out of the intended query structure and executes arbitrary SQL commands.

The vulnerability is network-exploitable, meaning attackers can launch attacks remotely without requiring any authentication or prior access to the system. Given that Hospital Management Systems contain highly sensitive Protected Health Information (PHI), successful exploitation could result in significant data breaches affecting patient privacy and regulatory compliance.

Root Cause

The root cause is the lack of proper input validation and the failure to use parameterized queries or prepared statements when processing the viewid parameter. The application directly concatenates user input into SQL queries, allowing injection attacks. This represents a violation of secure coding practices as outlined in CWE-74 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component).

Attack Vector

The attack can be launched remotely over the network by manipulating the viewid parameter in HTTP requests to view-medhistory.php. An attacker can inject SQL syntax through this parameter to alter the query logic, extract data from the database, bypass authentication mechanisms, or potentially execute administrative operations on the database server.

The exploitation process typically involves sending crafted GET or POST requests containing SQL injection payloads in the viewid parameter. Since no authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability, any network-connected attacker can attempt exploitation against vulnerable instances.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-7176

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual SQL error messages in web server logs originating from view-medhistory.php
• HTTP requests containing SQL keywords (UNION, SELECT, DROP, INSERT) in the viewid parameter
• Unexpected database queries or access patterns in database audit logs
• Signs of data exfiltration or unauthorized data modifications in patient records

Detection Strategies

• Deploy Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block SQL injection patterns in the viewid parameter
• Implement database activity monitoring to identify anomalous queries from the web application
• Monitor web server access logs for requests to view-medhistory.php with suspicious parameter values
• Configure intrusion detection systems with signatures for common SQL injection attack patterns

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable detailed logging for all requests to view-medhistory.php and related medical history endpoints
• Set up alerts for database errors generated by the Hospital Management System application
• Monitor for unusual data access patterns or bulk data retrieval from patient records tables
• Review authentication logs for any unauthorized access attempts following exploitation

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-7176

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict network access to the Hospital Management System to trusted IP ranges only
• Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with SQL injection detection rules
• Consider temporarily disabling access to view-medhistory.php until a patch is applied
• Conduct an audit of database logs to identify any potential past exploitation attempts
• Back up database contents and verify data integrity

Patch Information

No official vendor patch information is currently available. Monitor the PHP Gurukul website for security updates and patches. Additional vulnerability details can be found at the VulDB entry and the GitHub Issue Tracker.

Workarounds

• Implement input validation to ensure the viewid parameter only accepts numeric values
• Modify the application code to use parameterized queries or prepared statements
• Deploy a reverse proxy with SQL injection filtering capabilities in front of the application
• Apply principle of least privilege to the database user account used by the application

# Example: Restrict access to view-medhistory.php via .htaccess
# Place in the application directory to limit access
<Files "view-medhistory.php">
    Order Deny,Allow
    Deny from all
    Allow from 192.168.1.0/24
    # Allow only from trusted internal network
</Files>