CVE-2026-7118: Employee Management System 1.0 SQLi Flaw

CVE-2026-7118 Overview

A SQL Injection vulnerability has been identified in code-projects Employee Management System 1.0. The vulnerability exists in an unknown function within the file 370project/cancel.php. By manipulating the id or token parameters, an attacker can inject malicious SQL statements. This attack can be executed remotely, and the exploit has been publicly disclosed.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can exploit this SQL Injection vulnerability to manipulate database queries, potentially leading to unauthorized data access, data modification, or data deletion within the Employee Management System.

Affected Products

• code-projects Employee Management System 1.0
• File: 370project/cancel.php
• Parameters: id and token

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-04-27 - CVE-2026-7118 published to NVD
• 2026-04-29 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-7118

Vulnerability Analysis

This SQL Injection vulnerability (classified under CWE-74: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component) affects the cancel.php file in the Employee Management System. The vulnerability arises from improper handling of user-supplied input in the id and token parameters, which are directly incorporated into SQL queries without adequate sanitization or parameterization.

The network-based attack vector allows remote exploitation with low attack complexity. An authenticated attacker can craft malicious input to manipulate backend database queries. The vulnerability impacts confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system, though the scope remains unchanged (no impact to other components).

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is insufficient input validation and the lack of parameterized queries in the cancel.php file. User-supplied values from the id and token parameters are directly concatenated into SQL statements, allowing attackers to inject arbitrary SQL code. This is a classic example of improper neutralization of special elements, where the application fails to properly escape or sanitize input before using it in database operations.

Attack Vector

The attack can be carried out remotely over the network by any authenticated user. An attacker needs to craft a malicious HTTP request to the 370project/cancel.php endpoint with specially crafted values for the id or token parameters. These malicious values contain SQL syntax that, when processed by the backend database, executes unintended commands.

The vulnerability allows attackers to potentially:

• Extract sensitive employee data from the database
• Modify or delete existing records
• Bypass authentication mechanisms
• Escalate privileges within the application

For technical details on the exploitation method, see the GitHub CVE Documentation.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-7118

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual HTTP requests to 370project/cancel.php containing SQL syntax characters such as single quotes, semicolons, or SQL keywords in the id or token parameters
• Database error messages in application logs indicating malformed SQL queries
• Unexpected database query patterns or execution of atypical SQL statements
• Evidence of data exfiltration or unauthorized database modifications

Detection Strategies

• Deploy Web Application Firewalls (WAF) configured to detect and block SQL Injection patterns in HTTP requests
• Implement application-level logging to capture all requests to cancel.php with parameter values for forensic analysis
• Use database activity monitoring to identify anomalous query patterns or unauthorized data access attempts
• Configure intrusion detection systems (IDS) to alert on common SQL Injection payloads in network traffic

Monitoring Recommendations

• Monitor web server access logs for requests to 370project/cancel.php with suspicious parameter values
• Enable database audit logging to track all queries executed against sensitive tables
• Set up alerts for database errors that may indicate attempted SQL Injection attacks
• Review application logs regularly for patterns suggesting exploitation attempts

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-7118

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict access to the vulnerable cancel.php endpoint until a patch is applied
• Implement input validation on the id and token parameters to allow only expected data types and formats
• Deploy WAF rules to filter SQL Injection attempts targeting the affected endpoint
• Review and audit all database queries in the application for similar vulnerabilities

Patch Information

As of the last update on 2026-04-29, no official vendor patch has been released for this vulnerability. Organizations using code-projects Employee Management System 1.0 should monitor the Code Projects Resource Hub for security updates. Additional vulnerability details are available through VulDB Vulnerability #359718.

Workarounds

• Implement parameterized queries (prepared statements) for all database operations involving user input
• Add server-side input validation to ensure the id parameter accepts only numeric values and the token parameter matches expected formats
• Deploy a reverse proxy or WAF with SQL Injection protection rules enabled
• Consider temporarily disabling or removing the cancel.php functionality if it is not business-critical

# Example: Apache mod_security rule to block SQL injection attempts
SecRule ARGS:id|ARGS:token "@detectSQLi" \
    "id:1001,\
    phase:2,\
    deny,\
    status:403,\
    log,\
    msg:'SQL Injection attempt detected in cancel.php parameters'"