CVE-2026-3745: Student Web Portal SQL Injection Flaw

CVE-2026-3745 Overview

A SQL injection vulnerability has been identified in code-projects Student Web Portal version 1.0. The vulnerability exists in the profile.php file, where the User argument is not properly sanitized before being used in SQL queries. This allows remote authenticated attackers to inject malicious SQL statements, potentially leading to unauthorized data access, modification, or deletion within the application's database.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can exploit this SQL injection flaw to bypass authentication, extract sensitive student data, modify database records, or potentially compromise the underlying database server.

Affected Products

• Carmelo Student Web Portal 1.0
• code-projects Student Web Portal 1.0

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-03-08 - CVE-2026-3745 published to NVD
• 2026-03-09 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-3745

Vulnerability Analysis

This SQL injection vulnerability (CWE-89) stems from improper neutralization of special elements used in SQL commands. The profile.php file accepts user-controlled input through the User parameter without adequate validation or sanitization. When this tainted data is concatenated directly into SQL queries, attackers can manipulate the query logic to execute arbitrary SQL commands.

The vulnerability also falls under the broader category of injection flaws (CWE-74), where untrusted data is sent to an interpreter as part of a command or query. The network-accessible nature of web applications makes this particularly dangerous, as exploitation requires no physical access to the target system.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper input validation in the profile.php file. The User parameter is directly incorporated into SQL queries without using prepared statements, parameterized queries, or proper input sanitization. This classic SQL injection pattern allows attackers to break out of the intended query structure and inject their own SQL commands.

Attack Vector

The attack can be launched remotely over the network by any authenticated user with access to the profile functionality. An attacker submits a crafted payload through the User parameter that contains SQL metacharacters and malicious SQL statements. When the application processes this input, the injected SQL code executes with the privileges of the database user configured for the web application.

The vulnerability mechanism involves manipulation of the User argument in profile.php. An attacker can craft specially formatted input containing SQL syntax such as single quotes, UNION statements, or boolean-based payloads to alter query behavior. For example, injecting SQL metacharacters allows attackers to terminate the original query and append additional commands, enabling data exfiltration or database manipulation. Technical details and proof-of-concept information are available in the GitHub PoC Repository and the associated report.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-3745

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual SQL error messages appearing in application logs or displayed to users
• Abnormal database queries containing UNION SELECT, OR 1=1, or other SQL injection patterns in web server logs
• Unexpected database access patterns or queries targeting multiple tables
• Evidence of data exfiltration or unauthorized database modifications

Detection Strategies

• Deploy Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block common SQL injection patterns in the User parameter
• Implement application-level logging to capture and alert on suspicious input containing SQL metacharacters
• Monitor database query logs for anomalous query structures or error conditions
• Utilize SentinelOne's behavioral AI to detect post-exploitation activities resulting from successful SQL injection

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable verbose logging for the profile.php endpoint to capture all parameter values
• Configure alerting for database errors that may indicate injection attempts
• Monitor for unusual outbound data transfers that could indicate data exfiltration
• Review access logs for repeated requests to profile.php with varying payloads

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-3745

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict access to the profile.php page until a patch can be applied
• Implement input validation on the User parameter to reject SQL metacharacters
• Deploy WAF rules specifically targeting SQL injection patterns for this endpoint
• Review database permissions to ensure the web application uses a least-privilege database account

Patch Information

No official vendor patch is currently available. Organizations should monitor the Code Projects Resource Hub for updates. Until a patch is released, implement the workarounds and mitigations described below. Additional technical details are available at VulDB #349723.

Workarounds

• Implement prepared statements or parameterized queries in the profile.php file to prevent SQL injection
• Add server-side input validation to sanitize the User parameter before processing
• Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with SQL injection detection rules enabled
• Temporarily disable or restrict access to the profile functionality if not critical to operations

# Example WAF rule for ModSecurity to block SQL injection attempts
SecRule ARGS:User "@detectSQLi" \
    "id:100001,\
    phase:2,\
    block,\
    log,\
    msg:'SQL Injection attempt detected in User parameter',\
    logdata:'Matched Data: %{MATCHED_VAR}'"