CVE-2026-3752: Employee Task Management System SQLi Flaw

CVE-2026-3752 Overview

A SQL injection vulnerability has been discovered in SourceCodester Employee Task Management System version 1.0. The flaw exists in the /daily-task-report.php file within the GET Parameter Handler component. By manipulating the Date argument, an attacker can inject malicious SQL commands into the application's database queries. This vulnerability can be exploited remotely and a proof-of-concept exploit has been published.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers with high privileges can exploit this SQL injection vulnerability to compromise database confidentiality, integrity, and availability through the /daily-task-report.php endpoint.

Affected Products

• SourceCodester Employee Task Management System 1.0
• oretnom23 Employee Task Management System (all versions up to 1.0)

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-03-08 - CVE CVE-2026-3752 published to NVD
• 2026-03-09 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-3752

Vulnerability Analysis

This SQL injection vulnerability occurs due to improper input validation in the /daily-task-report.php file. The application fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input passed through the Date GET parameter before incorporating it into SQL queries. This allows attackers to inject arbitrary SQL commands that are executed by the underlying database engine.

The vulnerability is classified under CWE-74 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component), which encompasses injection vulnerabilities where user-controllable input is not properly handled before being used in constructed commands or queries.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is the lack of proper input sanitization and parameterized query usage in the GET Parameter Handler component. The Date parameter value is directly concatenated into SQL statements without adequate validation or escaping, allowing malicious SQL syntax to be interpreted as part of the query structure rather than as data.

Attack Vector

The attack can be initiated remotely over the network. An attacker with high-level privileges in the application can craft malicious HTTP GET requests targeting the /daily-task-report.php endpoint. By injecting SQL syntax into the Date parameter, the attacker can manipulate database queries to extract sensitive information, modify data, or potentially disrupt database operations.

The vulnerability is accessible through standard HTTP requests to the vulnerable endpoint, making exploitation straightforward once an attacker has the required privilege level. Technical details and a proof-of-concept demonstrating the exploitation technique are available in the GitHub SQLi PoC.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-3752

Indicators of Compromise

• HTTP GET requests to /daily-task-report.php containing SQL keywords or special characters in the Date parameter
• Database query logs showing malformed or suspicious SQL statements originating from the daily task report functionality
• Unusual database errors or exception handling related to date parameter processing
• Evidence of data exfiltration or unauthorized database modifications linked to task management system access

Detection Strategies

• Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block SQL injection patterns in HTTP GET parameters
• Monitor application and database logs for anomalous queries containing UNION, SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, or comment sequences (-- or /*)
• Deploy intrusion detection systems (IDS) with signatures for common SQL injection attack payloads
• Enable database auditing to track unusual query patterns and unauthorized data access attempts

Monitoring Recommendations

• Configure real-time alerting for HTTP requests to /daily-task-report.php with suspicious parameter values
• Establish baseline metrics for normal database query patterns and alert on deviations
• Monitor for error messages that may indicate SQL injection attempts, such as syntax errors or unexpected query results
• Review access logs for the Employee Task Management System for unusual activity patterns from privileged accounts

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-3752

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict access to the /daily-task-report.php endpoint to only trusted users and networks
• Implement input validation to allow only properly formatted date values in the Date parameter
• Deploy a web application firewall with SQL injection protection rules
• Consider temporarily disabling the daily task report functionality until a patch is applied

Patch Information

No official vendor patch has been released at the time of this publication. The vulnerability affects SourceCodester Employee Task Management System version 1.0 and below. Organizations using this software should monitor the SourceCodester website for security updates. Additional vulnerability details and tracking information are available at VulDB #349730.

Workarounds

• Implement server-side input validation to restrict the Date parameter to expected date formats only (e.g., YYYY-MM-DD)
• Use parameterized queries or prepared statements if modifying the source code is possible
• Deploy network segmentation to limit exposure of the vulnerable application to internal networks only
• Implement additional authentication controls to restrict access to privileged functions

# Example Apache configuration to restrict access to vulnerable endpoint
<Location "/daily-task-report.php">
    # Restrict to internal network only
    Require ip 10.0.0.0/8 192.168.0.0/16 172.16.0.0/12
    
    # Block requests with common SQL injection patterns
    SetEnvIfNoCase Query_String "(union|select|insert|update|delete|drop|--|\/\*)" block_sqli
    Deny from env=block_sqli
</Location>