CVE-2026-7555: Electronic Judging System SQLi Vulnerability

CVE-2026-7555 Overview

CVE-2026-7555 is a SQL injection vulnerability affecting itsourcecode Electronic Judging System 1.0. The flaw resides in the /intrams/login.php endpoint, where the Username parameter is passed to backend database queries without proper sanitization. Remote attackers can manipulate the parameter to inject arbitrary SQL statements. The vulnerability requires no authentication or user interaction, and exploit details have been publicly disclosed. The weakness is categorized under CWE-74: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated remote attackers can inject SQL statements through the login form, potentially exposing credentials, bypassing authentication, or extracting data from the judging system database.

Affected Products

• itsourcecode Electronic Judging System 1.0
• Component: /intrams/login.php
• Vulnerable parameter: Username

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-05-01 - CVE-2026-7555 published to NVD
• 2026-05-01 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-7555

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability stems from improper handling of user-supplied input in the login workflow of the Electronic Judging System. The Username field submitted to /intrams/login.php is concatenated directly into a SQL query string. Because the application does not apply parameterized queries or input filtering, special characters such as single quotes, comments, and SQL keywords pass through to the database engine.

An attacker can supply crafted payloads in the Username field to alter the SQL statement logic. This allows authentication bypass, retrieval of arbitrary table contents, and enumeration of database schema. Public disclosure of exploitation details lowers the barrier for opportunistic attackers targeting exposed instances. The EPSS probability is 0.039% with a percentile of 11.813, reflecting limited observed exploitation activity to date.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing input neutralization on the Username parameter before it is incorporated into a database query. The login script in /intrams/login.php does not use prepared statements or escape user input. Any untrusted character entering the SQL context is interpreted as part of the query syntax.

Attack Vector

Exploitation occurs over the network through HTTP POST requests to the login page. No credentials, privileges, or user interaction are required. An attacker can send a crafted login request directly from any internet-reachable client. The exploit is publicly available, increasing the likelihood of automated scanning and abuse against exposed deployments.

The vulnerability mechanism follows a typical login-form SQL injection pattern. Attackers append SQL syntax such as comment markers and tautologies to the Username value to neutralize the password check. See the GitHub issue discussion and VulDB entry #360363 for technical details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-7555

Indicators of Compromise

• HTTP POST requests to /intrams/login.php containing SQL metacharacters such as ', --, #, UNION, or OR 1=1 in the Username field.
• Web server access logs showing repeated login attempts with abnormally long or encoded Username values.
• Database error messages or HTTP 500 responses originating from the login endpoint.
• Unexpected outbound database queries referencing system tables like information_schema.

Detection Strategies

• Deploy web application firewall rules that flag SQL injection signatures targeting the /intrams/login.php path.
• Enable database query logging and alert on queries originating from the login workflow that reference unrelated tables.
• Correlate failed authentication events with malformed input patterns in the Username field.

Monitoring Recommendations

• Monitor authentication endpoints for high-volume requests from single source addresses.
• Track database response times and error rates for the login query path.
• Review web server logs daily for SQL keywords appearing in form parameters.

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-7555

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict network access to the Electronic Judging System login page using firewall or VPN controls until a fix is applied.
• Audit application logs for evidence of injection attempts against /intrams/login.php.
• Rotate any credentials and session tokens that may have been exposed through the vulnerable endpoint.
• Deploy WAF rules blocking SQL metacharacters in the Username parameter.

Patch Information

No official vendor patch has been published in the references at the time of NVD publication. Operators should monitor itsourcecode.com and the VulDB advisory for updated remediation guidance. Until a patch is released, code-level fixes should replace string concatenation in login queries with parameterized statements or prepared statements using the database driver's binding APIs.

Workarounds

• Replace dynamic SQL in login.php with parameterized queries using PDO or mysqli prepared statements.
• Apply server-side input validation that rejects non-alphanumeric characters in usernames.
• Place the application behind a reverse proxy that enforces request inspection and rate limiting.
• Disable internet-facing exposure of the judging system if it is intended only for local network use.

# Example PHP remediation pattern using prepared statements
$stmt = $conn->prepare("SELECT id, password_hash FROM users WHERE username = ?");
$stmt->bind_param("s", $_POST['Username']);
$stmt->execute();
$result = $stmt->get_result();