SiempreCMS SQL Injection Vulnerability in user_search_ajax.php

A SQL injection vulnerability has been identified in SiempreCMS versions through 1.3.6. The issue arises in the user_search_ajax.php file, where user-supplied input for the 'user-search-username' and 'user-search-name' parameters is not properly sanitized before being used in database queries. This lack of input validation allows remote attackers to manipulate the SQL query, potentially leading to unauthorized data access or modification.

Impact

Exploitation of this vulnerability allows for SQL injection, where an attacker can interfere with the application's database queries. This could lead to unauthorized data access, data manipulation, or in some cases, executing administrative operations on the database.

Reproduction

To reproduce this vulnerability, log into the application and obtain the PHP session ID. Then, send a POST request to 'user_search_ajax.php' with the 'action' parameter set to 'search'. Include a crafted payload in the 'user-search-username' parameter that exploits the SQL injection vulnerability, such as 'test' OR 1=1-- . The 'user-search-name' parameter can be filled with any value, and the 'user-search-perpage' and 'user-search-page' parameters should be set to control pagination. The SQL injection payload bypasses front-end input sanitization, directly manipulating the SQL query on the server side.