PHPGurukul News Portal SQL Injection Vulnerability in Forgot Password Functionality

A critical SQL injection vulnerability has been identified in PHPGurukul News Portal version 4.1. The issue resides in the admin/forgot-password.php file, where the Username parameter is manipulated to inject malicious SQL queries. This vulnerability can be exploited remotely, allowing attackers to access and manipulate the database without authorization.

Impact

Exploitation of this vulnerability could lead to unauthorized database access, data manipulation or deletion, leakage of sensitive information, and potentially full control over the system, disrupting normal services.

Reproduction

The vulnerability can be reproduced by sending a POST request to the /admin/forgot-password.php endpoint. The request must include a crafted payload in the username parameter that exploits the SQL injection vulnerability. This can be done using a tool like sqlmap, which automates the process of finding and exploiting SQL injection flaws.

Remediation

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