CVE-2026-37597: Employees Work From Home System SQLi Flaw

CVE-2026-37597 Overview

SourceCodester Online Employees Work From Home Attendance System v1.0 contains a SQL Injection vulnerability in the file /wfh_attendance/admin/attendance_list.php. This flaw allows authenticated administrators to inject malicious SQL queries, potentially leading to unauthorized access to sensitive database information.

Critical Impact

SQL Injection in administrative attendance management functionality could expose employee attendance records and other sensitive data stored in the application database.

Affected Products

• SourceCodester Online Employees Work From Home Attendance System v1.0

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-04-14 - CVE CVE-2026-37597 published to NVD
• 2026-04-14 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-37597

Vulnerability Analysis

This SQL Injection vulnerability (CWE-89) exists within the administrative attendance management component of the SourceCodester Online Employees Work From Home Attendance System. The vulnerability is exploitable over the network and requires high-level (administrator) privileges to exploit. Successful exploitation could allow an attacker with administrative access to extract confidential information from the underlying database, though the impact is limited to read-only access to a portion of the data.

The vulnerable endpoint /wfh_attendance/admin/attendance_list.php fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input before incorporating it into SQL queries. This lack of input validation allows an attacker to manipulate database queries and potentially access data beyond their intended scope.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is improper input validation and failure to use parameterized queries or prepared statements when handling user input in the attendance_list.php file. User-controlled data is directly concatenated into SQL query strings without proper sanitization or escaping, enabling SQL Injection attacks.

Attack Vector

The attack vector for this vulnerability is network-based, requiring the attacker to have administrative access to the application. An authenticated administrator can craft malicious input containing SQL syntax that modifies the intended query logic. When submitted to the vulnerable endpoint, the injected SQL commands are executed by the database server.

The vulnerability affects the attendance listing functionality, and exploitation could allow extraction of database contents including employee records, attendance data, and potentially other sensitive information stored in the same database. For detailed technical information, see the GitHub CVE Report.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-37597

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual or malformed requests to /wfh_attendance/admin/attendance_list.php containing SQL metacharacters such as single quotes, semicolons, or UNION SELECT statements
• Database error messages appearing in application logs indicating SQL syntax errors
• Abnormal database query patterns or excessive data retrieval from attendance-related tables
• Administrator account activity accessing attendance records outside normal business hours

Detection Strategies

• Deploy Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block common SQL Injection patterns targeting the affected endpoint
• Implement database activity monitoring to identify anomalous query patterns or unauthorized data access attempts
• Review web server access logs for suspicious requests containing SQL injection payloads directed at attendance_list.php
• Enable application-level logging to capture and alert on potential injection attempts

Monitoring Recommendations

• Monitor database query logs for unusual UNION, SELECT, or -- comment patterns originating from the attendance management module
• Set up alerts for database errors or exceptions that may indicate attempted SQL injection exploitation
• Track administrator account activity for unusual access patterns to the vulnerable endpoint
• Implement real-time log analysis to correlate multiple failed injection attempts from the same source

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-37597

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict access to the administrative panel to trusted IP addresses only until a patch is applied
• Implement Web Application Firewall rules to filter SQL injection patterns in requests to the attendance management endpoint
• Review and audit administrator accounts to ensure only authorized personnel have access
• Monitor all access to /wfh_attendance/admin/attendance_list.php for suspicious activity

Patch Information

No official vendor patch information is currently available for this vulnerability. Organizations should monitor the vendor's release channels and the GitHub CVE Report for updates regarding a security fix.

Workarounds

• Implement input validation at the application level to sanitize user inputs before database queries
• Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) configured to block SQL injection attack patterns
• Limit network access to the administrative interface using firewall rules or VPN requirements
• Consider temporarily disabling the vulnerable attendance listing functionality if it is not critical to operations
• Use database user accounts with minimal privileges for the application to reduce potential impact of exploitation

# Example: Restrict access to admin panel via .htaccess
# Add to /wfh_attendance/admin/.htaccess
<Files "attendance_list.php">
    Order Deny,Allow
    Deny from all
    Allow from 192.168.1.0/24
    # Replace with your trusted admin IP range
</Files>