CVE-2025-4698
📋 TL;DR
A critical SQL injection vulnerability in PHPGurukul Directory Management System 2.0 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands via the email parameter in /admin/forget-password.php. This can lead to unauthorized database access, data theft, or system compromise. All users running the affected version are vulnerable.
💻 Affected Systems
- PHPGurukul Directory Management System
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete database compromise leading to data exfiltration, privilege escalation, or remote code execution via database functions.
Likely Case
Unauthorized access to sensitive directory data, user credentials, or administrative information.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if proper input validation and WAF rules block malicious SQL payloads.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploit details are publicly available on GitHub, making weaponization likely.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Unknown
Vendor Advisory: https://phpgurukul.com/
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
No official patch available. Consider upgrading to a newer version if available, or implement workarounds.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Input Validation and Sanitization
allAdd proper input validation and parameterized queries to the email parameter in forget-password.php
Edit /admin/forget-password.php to use prepared statements with PDO or mysqli
WAF Rule Implementation
allDeploy web application firewall rules to block SQL injection patterns
Add WAF rule: Detect and block SQL keywords in email parameter
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict access to /admin/forget-password.php using IP whitelisting or authentication
- Disable the forget password functionality if not required
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Test the email parameter in /admin/forget-password.php with SQL injection payloads like ' OR '1'='1Check Version:
Check system documentation or admin panel for version informationVerify Fix Applied:
Verify that SQL injection payloads no longer work and return proper error handling📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual SQL errors in application logs
- Multiple failed password reset attempts with SQL-like patterns
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests to /admin/forget-password.php containing SQL keywords in parameters
SIEM Query:
source="web_logs" AND uri="/admin/forget-password.php" AND (email CONTAINS "' OR" OR email CONTAINS "UNION" OR email CONTAINS "SELECT")