CVE-2026-71207: Stock Inventory System Auth Bypass Flaw

CVE-2026-71207 Overview

CVE-2026-71207 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in the Stock-Inventory-Management-System web application. The login.php script writes raw $_POST username and password values into $_SESSION variables and concatenates them directly into a SQL query without parameterization or escaping. An unauthenticated remote attacker can submit a classic SQL injection payload such as ' OR '1'='1 to bypass authentication. The same script also contains hardcoded administrative credentials (admin/neola) in a post-login check, providing a second independent bypass path. The flaw maps to CWE-89: SQL Injection.

Critical Impact
Unauthenticated remote attackers can gain full administrative access to the application through either SQL injection or hardcoded credentials.

Affected Products

Stock-Inventory-Management-System (login.php) — see the GitHub repository

Discovery Timeline

2026-08-05 - CVE-2026-71207 published to NVD
2026-08-05 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-71207

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability exists in the authentication routine of login.php. Values submitted through the login form are assigned to $_SESSION['username'] and $_SESSION['password'] without validation, sanitization, or type checking. The application then constructs a SQL query by string concatenation, embedding those attacker-controlled session values directly into the WHERE clause. Because no prepared statements or escaping functions are used, any single quote submitted by the attacker terminates the string literal and permits arbitrary SQL syntax. Submitting ' OR '1'='1 in the username or password field causes the resulting query to return every row in the users table, and the application accepts the first row as a valid authentication.

A second, independent bypass exists in the same file. After the SQL check, the script performs a conditional comparison against the hardcoded credential pair admin / neola. An attacker who submits these values authenticates as an administrator regardless of the database state.

Root Cause

Two distinct coding defects produce the vulnerability. First, insecure query construction — direct concatenation of untrusted input into a SQL statement — violates safe database access practice and enables classic SQL injection. Second, hardcoded administrative credentials embedded in application source code create a permanent backdoor that cannot be revoked without a code change.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires only network access to the login page. No prior authentication, user interaction, or elevated privileges are needed. An attacker submits crafted form values through the standard HTTP POST request handled by login.php, and the application returns an authenticated session. See the source file on GitHub for the vulnerable code path.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-71207

Indicators of Compromise

POST requests to login.php containing SQL metacharacters such as single quotes, OR, --, or 1=1 in the username or password parameters.
Successful authentication events immediately following anomalous login payloads.
Any authenticated session originating from the credential pair admin/neola in access logs.
Unexpected administrative actions performed shortly after login events from unfamiliar IP addresses.

Detection Strategies

Deploy a web application firewall rule set that flags SQL injection patterns targeting authentication endpoints.
Review web server access logs for repeated failed logins followed by an abrupt successful login from the same source.
Perform static analysis of the deployed PHP codebase to identify concatenated SQL queries and hardcoded credential strings.

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable verbose logging on the database server to capture the full text of executed queries against the users table.
Alert on session creation events for the admin account outside expected administrator source ranges.
Correlate login attempts against known scanner user-agents and threat intelligence feeds.

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-71207

Immediate Actions Required

Remove the application from public network exposure until the codebase is remediated.
Rewrite the authentication query in login.php to use parameterized statements via PDO or mysqli prepared statements.
Delete the hardcoded admin/neola credential branch and force a password reset for all administrative accounts.
Audit all other PHP scripts in the project for the same concatenation pattern and hardcoded secrets.

Patch Information

No official vendor patch is listed in the NVD advisory. The affected repository is available at the GitHub project page. Operators must apply code changes directly to the application source.

Workarounds

Place the application behind an authenticating reverse proxy that restricts access to trusted users.
Deploy WAF rules that block SQL injection payloads and requests containing the hardcoded credential values.
Disable the login page entirely if the application is not actively required.

bash

# Example ModSecurity rule to block common SQLi payloads on login.php
SecRule REQUEST_URI "@endsWith /login.php" \
  "phase:2,deny,status:403,id:1002001,\
   chain,msg:'Possible SQLi on login.php'"
  SecRule ARGS:username|ARGS:password \
    "@rx (?i)(\bor\b\s+['\"]?1['\"]?\s*=\s*['\"]?1|--|\bunion\b|\bselect\b)"