CVE-2019-17197 in OpenEMR
Summary
by MITRE
OpenEMR through 5.0.2 has SQL Injection in the Lifestyle demographic filter criteria in library/clinical_rules.php that affects library/patient.inc.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/03/2024
The vulnerability CVE-2019-17197 represents a critical SQL injection flaw within the OpenEMR medical records system version 5.0.2 and earlier. This vulnerability specifically targets the Lifestyle demographic filter criteria functionality located in the library/clinical_rules.php file, which subsequently impacts the library/patient.inc component. The issue arises from insufficient input validation and sanitization mechanisms that fail to properly escape or filter user-supplied data before incorporating it into database queries. This allows malicious actors to inject arbitrary SQL commands through the demographic filter interface, potentially compromising the entire database infrastructure.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when an attacker manipulates the Lifestyle demographic filter parameters to inject malicious SQL payloads. The flaw stems from improper parameter handling within the clinical rules processing module, where user inputs are directly concatenated into SQL statements without adequate sanitization. This type of vulnerability maps directly to CWE-89 SQL Injection, which is classified as a high-severity weakness in the Common Weakness Enumeration catalog. The attack vector operates through the web interface where users can configure clinical rules based on patient demographic criteria, making it accessible to authenticated users with appropriate privileges.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft, potentially enabling full database compromise including unauthorized access to patient records, data modification, and even privilege escalation within the application. Attackers could leverage this vulnerability to extract sensitive medical information, modify patient data, or establish persistent access points within the healthcare network. The affected OpenEMR system represents a critical asset for healthcare providers, and exploitation of this vulnerability could violate healthcare privacy regulations such as HIPAA, resulting in significant legal and financial consequences for organizations. The vulnerability affects the core patient demographic filtering functionality, which is fundamental to clinical decision support systems and patient management workflows.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the official security patches released by OpenEMR developers, implementing web application firewalls to detect and block SQL injection attempts, and conducting thorough security assessments of the clinical rules configuration. Database access controls should be strengthened through principle of least privilege enforcement, ensuring that application database accounts have minimal required permissions. Additionally, input validation should be enhanced at multiple layers including application code, database level, and network level controls. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under T1071.004 Application Layer Protocol and T1046 Network Service Scanning, highlighting the reconnaissance and exploitation phases that attackers would typically employ. Regular security monitoring and log analysis should be implemented to detect anomalous database query patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts.