CVE-2025-8371: Exam Form Submission SQLi Vulnerability

CVE-2025-8371 Overview

A SQL Injection vulnerability has been identified in code-projects Exam Form Submission version 1.0. This critical security flaw affects the /admin/update_s5.php file, where improper handling of the credits parameter allows attackers to inject malicious SQL statements. The vulnerability can be exploited remotely without authentication, potentially compromising the integrity and confidentiality of the underlying database.

Critical Impact
Remote attackers can exploit this SQL injection vulnerability to extract sensitive data, modify database contents, or potentially gain unauthorized access to the application's backend systems.

Affected Products

code-projects Exam Form Submission 1.0

Discovery Timeline

July 31, 2025 - CVE-2025-8371 published to NVD
August 5, 2025 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-8371

Vulnerability Analysis

This SQL Injection vulnerability exists in the administrative functionality of the Exam Form Submission application. The vulnerable endpoint /admin/update_s5.php fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input through the credits parameter before incorporating it into SQL queries. This lack of input validation creates a classic injection point that attackers can exploit to manipulate database operations.

The vulnerability is classified under CWE-74 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component), which encompasses injection flaws where untrusted data is used to construct commands or queries without proper sanitization. The exploit for this vulnerability has been publicly disclosed, increasing the risk of exploitation in the wild.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is inadequate input validation and the absence of parameterized queries or prepared statements in the /admin/update_s5.php file. When user-supplied data from the credits parameter is directly concatenated into SQL queries without proper escaping or sanitization, it allows attackers to break out of the intended query structure and inject arbitrary SQL commands.

Attack Vector

The attack can be launched remotely over the network. An attacker can craft malicious HTTP requests targeting the /admin/update_s5.php endpoint with specially crafted payloads in the credits parameter. Since the vulnerability exists in an administrative function, successful exploitation could provide attackers with elevated privileges within the application's database context.

The exploitation technique typically involves injecting SQL syntax such as single quotes, UNION-based queries, or Boolean-based blind injection payloads to extract data or manipulate database records. Given that this is in an admin-facing file, the attacker may need to either have administrative access or find a way to reach this endpoint without proper authentication checks.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-8371

Indicators of Compromise

Unusual HTTP requests to /admin/update_s5.php containing SQL syntax characters (single quotes, UNION statements, OR 1=1 patterns)
Database error messages in application logs indicating malformed SQL queries
Unexpected database query patterns or execution times suggesting blind SQL injection attempts
Evidence of data exfiltration or unauthorized database modifications

Detection Strategies

Deploy Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block SQL injection patterns targeting the credits parameter
Implement application-layer logging to capture all requests to /admin/update_s5.php with full parameter values
Configure database audit logging to track anomalous query patterns or unauthorized data access
Use intrusion detection systems (IDS) with signatures for common SQL injection payloads

Monitoring Recommendations

Monitor web server access logs for requests to /admin/update_s5.php containing encoded or obfuscated SQL injection payloads
Set up alerts for database errors or exceptions that may indicate injection attempts
Track authentication events to the admin panel for unusual login patterns or brute-force attempts
Review database query logs for UNION-based queries, stacked queries, or time-based injection indicators

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-8371

Immediate Actions Required

Restrict access to the /admin/update_s5.php endpoint through network-level controls or .htaccess rules
Implement input validation to reject special characters in the credits parameter
Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with SQL injection protection enabled
Consider taking the vulnerable application offline if it processes sensitive data until a patch is available

Patch Information

No official patch has been released by the vendor at the time of this writing. Organizations using code-projects Exam Form Submission 1.0 should monitor the Code Projects Resource Hub for security updates. Additional technical details are available in the GitHub Issue on CVE-ZhuChengQing and VulDB #318343.

Workarounds

Implement parameterized queries or prepared statements in /admin/update_s5.php to prevent SQL injection
Add input validation to sanitize the credits parameter, allowing only expected numeric values
Restrict access to the admin panel to trusted IP addresses only
Deploy a reverse proxy with SQL injection filtering capabilities in front of the application

bash

# Example: Apache .htaccess to restrict access to admin directory
<Directory "/var/www/html/admin">
    Order deny,allow
    Deny from all
    Allow from 192.168.1.0/24
    # Replace with your trusted admin IP range
</Directory>