PHPGurukul Online Course Registration SQL Injection Vulnerability in Profile Editing Feature

A critical SQL injection vulnerability has been identified in PHPGurukul Online Course Registration version 3.1. The issue resides in the '/edit-student-profile.php' file, where the 'cgpa' parameter is manipulated, allowing attackers to inject malicious SQL code. This vulnerability can be exploited remotely, without any authentication, leading to unauthorized database access, data modification or deletion, and potential leakage of sensitive information.

Impact

Exploitation of this vulnerability allows for unauthorized database access, manipulation or deletion of data, and extraction of sensitive information. Such actions could disrupt normal business operations and compromise system security.

Reproduction

To reproduce this vulnerability, send a POST request to the '/onlinecourse/admin/edit-student-profile.php' endpoint, including the 'cgpa' parameter in the multipart form data. Inject a payload that exploits the SQL injection vulnerability, such as one that uses a time-based blind SQL injection technique, by appending a crafted SQL payload that leverages SQL functions like 'SLEEP' to the 'cgpa' parameter. The request should be made without any authentication, as the vulnerability can be exploited by anyone.

Remediation

It is recommended to implement prepared statements and parameter binding to prevent SQL injection attacks. Additionally, input validation and filtering should be applied to ensure that user input meets expected formats, thereby blocking malicious data. Finally, database user permissions should be minimized, granting only the necessary privileges to the account used for database connections.