CVE-2026-90701: Online Clinic Management System SQL Injection

CVE-2026-90701 Overview

CVE-2026-90701 is a SQL injection vulnerability in the subhajitkhan online-clinic-management-system project, affecting builds up to commit e9ee77a8827a1446220fa07ee693dc4d9a29a578. The flaw resides in listdoctor.php, where the searchtext parameter is passed to a database query without proper sanitization. Remote attackers can manipulate the parameter to inject arbitrary SQL statements. The project follows a rolling-release model, so no discrete fixed version has been published. A public exploit exists, and the maintainer has not yet responded to the upstream issue report [CWE-74].

Critical Impact
Unauthenticated remote attackers can inject SQL through the searchtext parameter in listdoctor.php, exposing patient, doctor, and clinical records stored in the backend database.

Affected Products

subhajitkhan online-clinic-management-system (rolling release)
All commits up to and including e9ee77a8827a1446220fa07ee693dc4d9a29a578
Deployments exposing listdoctor.php to network-reachable users

Discovery Timeline

2026-09-14 - CVE-2026-90701 published to NVD
2026-09-14 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-90701

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability affects the doctor listing feature exposed by listdoctor.php in the online clinic management application. The endpoint accepts a searchtext argument and concatenates the value into a SQL query executed against the backend database. Because the input is not parameterized or sanitized, attackers can break out of the intended string context and append additional SQL clauses.

Exploitation requires no authentication and no user interaction. The attack can be delivered over the network using a standard HTTP request. Successful injection permits limited read and write access to database contents, including patient information, doctor profiles, and appointment records. The public availability of exploit details lowers the barrier for opportunistic scanning against exposed installations.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper neutralization of special elements in a downstream SQL component [CWE-74]. The searchtext parameter flows directly from the HTTP request into a dynamically constructed query without prepared statements, bound parameters, or input validation. Any character with SQL meaning, including single quotes, UNION keywords, and comment sequences, alters query semantics.

Attack Vector

An attacker sends a crafted HTTP request to listdoctor.php with a malicious searchtext value. Typical payloads use UNION SELECT clauses to extract data from adjacent tables or boolean-based conditions to enumerate rows. Because the project ships as a rolling release without version markers, defenders cannot rely on version banners to identify vulnerable deployments.

A sanitized code example is not published in a verified source. See the GitHub Issue #2 and VulDB entry for CVE-2026-90701 for technical detail.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-90701

Indicators of Compromise

HTTP requests to listdoctor.php containing SQL metacharacters such as ', --, /*, or UNION in the searchtext parameter.
Web server logs showing repeated searchtext values that grow in length or include encoded payloads (%27, %20UNION%20).
Database error messages surfaced in HTTP responses referencing MySQL syntax errors near searchtext values.
Unexpected outbound queries or dumps from the application database user account.

Detection Strategies

Deploy web application firewall (WAF) rules that flag SQL injection patterns targeting the searchtext parameter on listdoctor.php.
Enable database query logging and alert on statements containing UNION SELECT, INFORMATION_SCHEMA, or stacked queries originating from the clinic application user.
Correlate web access logs with database audit logs to identify parameter manipulation that produces anomalous query patterns.

Monitoring Recommendations

Monitor for high request rates to listdoctor.php from single source IPs, especially from scanning infrastructure.
Track response size and status code anomalies on the doctor listing endpoint that may indicate data exfiltration.
Review database user permissions and alert on any privilege escalation or schema enumeration activity.

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-90701

Immediate Actions Required

Restrict network access to listdoctor.php behind authentication or IP allowlists until a patch is available.
Deploy WAF signatures blocking SQL injection payloads on the searchtext parameter.
Rotate database credentials used by the application and reduce the account to the minimum privileges required.
Audit database contents and access logs for signs of prior exploitation.

Patch Information

No vendor patch is available at the time of publication. The upstream project follows a rolling release model, and the maintainer has not responded to GitHub Issue #2. Organizations running the application should track the project repository and the VulDB entry for updates.

Workarounds

Apply a virtual patch at the reverse proxy or WAF layer that rejects requests where searchtext contains SQL metacharacters.
Modify listdoctor.php locally to use prepared statements with bound parameters instead of string concatenation.
Enforce input validation that restricts searchtext to an allowlist of expected characters, such as alphanumerics and spaces.
Consider taking the application offline if it processes protected health information and cannot be adequately isolated.

bash

# Example ModSecurity rule to block SQL metacharacters in searchtext
SecRule ARGS:searchtext "@rx (?i)(union(\s|/\*.*\*/)+select|--|;|/\*|\bor\b\s+\d+=\d+)" \
    "id:1029070,phase:2,deny,status:403,log,msg:'CVE-2026-90701 SQLi attempt on listdoctor.php'"