CVE-2022-4052: Critical SQL Injection Vulnerability Found in Student Attendance Management System

A recently discovered critical vulnerability (CVE-2022-4052) has been found affecting the Student Attendance Management System (SAMS). This system is commonly used by educational institutions to track and manage student attendance records. The vulnerability affects the way the system processes data through the file "/Admin/createClass.php" and can be exploited to execute malicious SQL commands on the application's database. This, in turn, could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data and system functionality.

Exploit Details

The vulnerability is classified under the category of SQL Injection, which is a very common and dangerous type of security issue that can lead to severe consequences if not mitigated. In this case, an attacker can remotely exploit the vulnerability by sending a specially crafted input to the "Id" attribute of the "createClass.php" file. By doing so, the attacker can manipulate SQL queries on the server-side, leading to unauthorized access and manipulation of data, or even complete control of the server.

The following code snippet demonstrates how the SQL Injection vulnerability might be present in the createClass.php file:

<?php
    // ...
    $id = $_GET['id'];  // Vulnerable: unfiltered user input
    // ...
    $sql = "SELECT * FROM class WHERE id = '$id'";  // Vulnerable: use of unescaped input in SQL query
    // ...
?>

To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker might send a request like this

GET /Admin/createClass.php?id=';DROP%20TABLE%20users;--

This request results in the following SQL query being executed by the server

SELECT * FROM class WHERE id = '';DROP TABLE users;--'

In this example, the injected SQL code executes a command to delete the entire "users" table, which could lead to a devastating loss of data.

The vulnerability has been logged with the identifier VDB-213845 to facilitate tracking and remediation.

Original References

The original disclosure of this exploit was made public through various security channels and can be accessed through the following links:

- National Vulnerability Database (NVD): https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-4052
- Vulnerability Database (VDB): https://vdb.example.com/vuln/VDB-213845

Mitigation and Recommendations

It is highly recommended for institutions using the Student Attendance Management System to apply the patch or update the system as soon as possible to protect against potential attacks. In addition, the following measures should be taken to enhance the security of web applications:

- Employ parameterized SQL queries or use prepared statements to handle user inputs and avoid SQL injection attacks.
- Validate and sanitize user inputs on both the client and server sides to ensure they do not carry malicious code.
- Keep software up-to-date and apply security patches and updates regularly to ensure protection against emerging threats.

In conclusion, the CVE-2022-4052 vulnerability poses a serious threat to the Student Attendance Management System if left unpatched. Users are strongly urged to take immediate action to mitigate this risk and protect their valuable data.

Timeline

Published on: 11/17/2022 17:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 11/18/2022 18:21:00 UTC