CVE-2020-29168 in Online Doctor Appointment Booking System
Summary
by MITRE • 02/17/2023
SQL Injection vulnerability in Projectworlds Online Doctor Appointment Booking System, allows attackers to gain sensitive information via the q parameter to the getuser.php endpoint.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/19/2025
The CVE-2020-29168 vulnerability represents a critical sql injection flaw within the Projectworlds Online Doctor Appointment Booking System, a web application designed for healthcare scheduling and management. This vulnerability specifically targets the getuser.php endpoint, which serves as a critical interface for user authentication and data retrieval within the system. The vulnerability arises from inadequate input validation and sanitization mechanisms that fail to properly filter malicious sql commands submitted through the q parameter. The affected system processes user queries without proper parameterization or input sanitization, creating an exploitable pathway for attackers to manipulate the underlying database structure.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability follows standard sql injection attack patterns where an attacker crafts malicious input to the q parameter that gets directly incorporated into sql queries executed by the backend database. When the getuser.php endpoint processes this input, the sql injection occurs because the application fails to implement proper prepared statements or parameterized queries. This flaw allows attackers to bypass authentication mechanisms, extract sensitive user data including personal health information, appointment records, and potentially administrative credentials. The vulnerability is classified as a CWE-89 - Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command, which directly maps to the fundamental weakness in sql query construction that enables this attack vector.
The operational impact of CVE-2020-29168 extends beyond simple data exfiltration to encompass severe privacy violations and potential system compromise within healthcare environments. Given that this is a doctor appointment booking system, the exposed data could include patient medical histories, appointment schedules, personal identification information, and communication records. The vulnerability creates conditions that align with ATT&CK technique T1071.004 - Application Layer Protocol: DNS, where attackers might leverage the sql injection to escalate privileges and move laterally within the network. Additionally, the weakness could enable attackers to modify or delete patient records, potentially disrupting healthcare delivery services and violating healthcare data protection regulations such as HIPAA.
Security mitigations for this vulnerability must address both immediate remediation and long-term architectural improvements to prevent similar issues. The primary fix involves implementing proper input validation and parameterized queries throughout the application's data access layer, ensuring that all user-supplied input is properly escaped or parameterized before database interaction. Organizations should deploy web application firewalls to detect and block sql injection attempts, while also implementing comprehensive logging and monitoring to detect unauthorized access attempts. The fix should include input sanitization routines that validate data types, lengths, and character sets for all parameters, particularly those used in database queries. Additionally, implementing principle of least privilege access controls, regular security code reviews, and database activity monitoring would provide layered defense against similar vulnerabilities. The remediation process should also include thorough testing of all sql query endpoints to ensure that parameterized queries are properly implemented and that no other sql injection vulnerabilities exist within the application's codebase.