CVE-2021-40317
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2021-40317 is a SQL injection vulnerability in Piwigo's admin.php file via the id parameter. This allows authenticated attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands on the database. Only Piwigo administrators who can access admin.php are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Piwigo
📦 What is this software?
Piwigo by Piwigo
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete database compromise including data theft, modification, or deletion; potential privilege escalation to full system control if database permissions allow.
Likely Case
Unauthorized data access, modification of gallery content, or extraction of sensitive information like user credentials.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper input validation and parameterized queries preventing SQL injection.
🎯 Exploit Status
SQL injection via id parameter is well-understood attack vector; requires admin authentication but trivial to exploit once authenticated.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 11.5.1 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/Piwigo/Piwigo/issues/1470
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Backup database and files. 2. Download Piwigo 11.5.1+ from official site. 3. Replace affected files. 4. Verify admin.php functionality.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Input Validation Filter
allAdd input validation to sanitize id parameter before processing
Modify admin.php to validate id parameter as integer: if(!is_numeric($_GET['id'])) { die('Invalid input'); }
Access Restriction
linuxRestrict admin.php access to specific IP addresses
Add to .htaccess: Order Deny,Allow
Deny from all
Allow from 192.168.1.0/24
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) with SQL injection rules
- Restrict database user permissions to minimum required
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if running Piwigo 11.5.0 and test admin.php?id parameter with SQL injection payloadsCheck Version:
Check includes/version.inc.php or admin dashboard for version numberVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 11.5.1+ and test SQL injection attempts return error or no database impact📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual SQL queries in database logs
- Multiple failed login attempts followed by admin.php access
- Suspicious id parameter values in web server logs
Network Indicators:
- SQL syntax in HTTP GET parameters
- Unusual database connection patterns from web server
SIEM Query:
source="web_logs" AND uri="*admin.php*" AND (query="*id=*UNION*" OR query="*id=*SELECT*" OR query="*id=*INSERT*")