CVE-2008-5088 in PHPKB Knowledge Base Software
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple SQL injection vulnerabilities in PHPKB Knowledge Base Software 1.5 Professional allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands via the ID parameter to (1) email.php and (2) question.php, a different vector than CVE-2008-1909.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/04/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-5088 represents a critical SQL injection flaw in PHPKB Knowledge Base Software version 1.5 Professional that exposes the application to remote code execution attacks. This vulnerability specifically affects two distinct script files within the software ecosystem namely email.php and question.php where user input containing the ID parameter is improperly sanitized and directly incorporated into SQL query constructions without adequate validation or escaping mechanisms. The flaw falls under the category of CWE-89 SQL Injection as defined by the Common Weakness Enumeration framework which categorizes this as a persistent vulnerability that allows attackers to manipulate database queries through malicious input. The attack vector operates through HTTP requests where an attacker can craft specially formatted URLs containing malicious SQL payloads in the ID parameter that when processed by the vulnerable scripts will execute unauthorized database operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft as it provides attackers with the capability to perform complete database manipulation including data insertion, modification, and deletion operations. Remote attackers can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges within the application's database layer, potentially gaining access to sensitive user information, administrative credentials, and confidential knowledge base content. The vulnerability's persistence across multiple endpoints demonstrates a systemic flaw in the application's input handling architecture where the same insecure coding pattern exists in different parts of the software, making the attack surface larger and more difficult to remediate. This type of vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1190 for exploiting vulnerabilities in software applications and represents a common attack pattern that has been documented extensively in security research and incident reports.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2008-5088 require immediate implementation of proper input validation and parameterized query construction techniques throughout the affected application components. Organizations should implement proper sanitization of all user-supplied input including the ID parameter in both email.php and question.php scripts by utilizing prepared statements or parameterized queries that separate SQL command structure from data values. The solution must also include comprehensive input validation that rejects or escapes potentially malicious characters and implements proper error handling that does not expose database structure information to end users. Security patches should be applied immediately to upgrade to versions that address this vulnerability, while network-based protections such as web application firewalls can provide additional layers of defense. Regular security code reviews and automated vulnerability scanning should be implemented to identify similar patterns in other application components and prevent future occurrences of this class of vulnerability that has been classified under CWE-89 and commonly exploited through techniques documented in the MITRE ATT&CK framework.