CVE-2026-3711: Simple Flight Ticket Booking System SQLi

CVE-2026-3711 Overview

A SQL injection vulnerability has been identified in code-projects Simple Flight Ticket Booking System version 1.0. The vulnerability exists in the /Adminupdate.php file, where multiple parameters including flightno, airplaneid, departure, dtime, arrival, atime, ec, ep, bc, and bp are susceptible to SQL injection attacks due to improper input validation. This flaw allows remote attackers to manipulate database queries, potentially leading to unauthorized data access, modification, or deletion.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can exploit this SQL injection vulnerability to bypass authentication, extract sensitive data from the database, modify flight booking records, or potentially compromise the underlying server through advanced SQL injection techniques.

Affected Products

• Carmelo Simple Flight Ticket Booking System 1.0
• code-projects Simple Flight Ticket Booking System 1.0

Discovery Timeline

• March 8, 2026 - CVE-2026-3711 published to NVD
• March 9, 2026 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-3711

Vulnerability Analysis

This SQL injection vulnerability (CWE-89) affects the administrative update functionality within the Simple Flight Ticket Booking System. The vulnerable endpoint /Adminupdate.php accepts multiple user-supplied parameters that are directly incorporated into SQL queries without proper sanitization or parameterization. The vulnerability falls under CWE-74 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component) and CWE-89 (SQL Injection).

An attacker with administrative access can craft malicious SQL statements through the flight management parameters to manipulate the underlying database. The affected parameters control flight information including flight numbers, airplane identifiers, departure and arrival times, and pricing information for different booking classes (ec, ep, bc, bp).

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is the failure to implement proper input validation and parameterized queries in the /Adminupdate.php file. User-supplied input from the flight management form fields is directly concatenated into SQL query strings without sanitization, escaping, or the use of prepared statements. This allows attackers to inject arbitrary SQL commands that will be executed by the database engine.

Attack Vector

The attack can be executed remotely over the network. An attacker with administrative privileges can access the vulnerable /Adminupdate.php endpoint and submit malicious input through any of the vulnerable parameters (flightno, airplaneid, departure, dtime, arrival, atime, ec, ep, bc, bp). The injected SQL code is then executed by the database server, potentially allowing the attacker to extract sensitive booking information, modify records, or escalate privileges within the application.

The vulnerability requires elevated (administrative) privileges to exploit, as the affected endpoint is part of the administrative interface. However, once exploited, the attacker can gain full control over the database contents.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-3711

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual SQL syntax patterns in HTTP request parameters targeting /Adminupdate.php
• Database error messages appearing in server logs or application responses
• Unexpected database queries containing UNION SELECT, OR 1=1, or comment sequences (--, #)
• Anomalous access patterns to administrative endpoints from unusual IP addresses

Detection Strategies

• Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect SQL injection patterns in requests to /Adminupdate.php
• Monitor database query logs for malformed or suspicious SQL statements originating from the flight booking application
• Deploy intrusion detection systems (IDS) with signatures for common SQL injection attack patterns
• Enable application logging to capture all requests to administrative endpoints with full parameter data

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable detailed logging for the /Adminupdate.php endpoint and regularly review for suspicious activity
• Configure database activity monitoring to alert on unusual query patterns or unauthorized data access
• Implement real-time alerting for multiple failed or malformed requests to administrative functions
• Monitor for signs of data exfiltration such as large result sets or unusual outbound network traffic

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-3711

Immediate Actions Required

• Immediately restrict access to the /Adminupdate.php endpoint using network-level controls or IP whitelisting
• Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with SQL injection detection rules as a temporary protective measure
• Review administrative access logs for evidence of exploitation attempts
• Consider taking the application offline until a patch is available or code remediation is complete

Patch Information

No official vendor patch is currently available for CVE-2026-3711. The exploit for this vulnerability has been publicly disclosed. Organizations using this software should implement defensive measures and monitor for updates from the vendor. Additional technical details are available via the GitHub CVE Issue #5 and VulDB #349657.

Workarounds

• Replace vulnerable dynamic SQL queries with parameterized prepared statements in the /Adminupdate.php file
• Implement strict input validation to whitelist acceptable characters for all flight-related parameters
• Deploy a WAF configured to block common SQL injection patterns targeting the application
• Restrict administrative access to trusted IP addresses only and enforce multi-factor authentication

# Configuration example - Apache mod_security rule to block SQL injection attempts
SecRule REQUEST_URI "/Adminupdate.php" "id:1001,phase:2,deny,status:403,chain"
SecRule ARGS "@detectSQLi" "log,msg:'SQL Injection Attempt Blocked'"