CVE-2019-6497 in Hotels_Server
Summary
by MITRE
Hotels_Server through 2018-11-05 has SQL Injection via the controller/fetchpwd.php username parameter.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/03/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-6497 affects Hotels_Server version 2018-11-05 and earlier, presenting a critical SQL injection flaw that could enable attackers to execute arbitrary database commands. This vulnerability specifically manifests through the controller/fetchpwd.php endpoint where the username parameter is improperly validated and sanitized, creating an avenue for malicious input manipulation. The flaw represents a classic case of inadequate input validation that allows attackers to inject SQL commands directly into the application's database layer.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the application's failure to properly escape or parameterize user input before incorporating it into SQL queries. When a user submits a username through the fetchpwd.php controller, the system directly concatenates this input into database queries without appropriate sanitization measures. This design flaw aligns with CWE-89, which categorizes SQL injection as a weakness where untrusted data is incorporated into SQL commands without proper validation or escaping. The vulnerability exists at the application logic level where input handling occurs, making it particularly dangerous as it can potentially expose sensitive database information including user credentials, personal data, and system configurations.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to hotel management systems that rely on the affected software for customer authentication and password recovery functions. Attackers could exploit this weakness to extract confidential information from the database, potentially gaining access to customer records, reservation details, and administrative credentials. The impact extends beyond simple data theft as successful exploitation could enable attackers to modify or delete database entries, potentially disrupting hotel operations and compromising guest privacy. The vulnerability's location within the password recovery mechanism makes it particularly attractive to threat actors who seek to compromise user accounts and establish persistent access to the system.
The exploitation of this vulnerability follows standard SQL injection attack patterns where malicious payloads are crafted to manipulate database queries through the username parameter. Attackers could leverage techniques such as union-based queries, time-based blind injection, or error-based exploitation to extract information from the database. This vulnerability also maps to several ATT&CK techniques including T1071.004 for application layer protocol usage and T1213.002 for data from information repositories, highlighting the multi-faceted nature of the threat. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including input validation, parameterized queries, and web application firewall rules to prevent exploitation attempts. The remediation process requires thorough code review of the fetchpwd.php endpoint to ensure all user inputs are properly sanitized and that database interactions utilize prepared statements or parameterized queries to prevent any possibility of SQL command injection.