CVE-2022-24646 in Hospital Management System
Summary
by MITRE • 02/11/2022
Hospital Management System v4.0 was discovered to contain a SQL injection vulnerability in /Hospital-Management-System-master/contact.php via the txtMsg parameters.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/16/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-24646 represents a critical security flaw within the Hospital Management System version 4.0, specifically affecting the contact.php script through the txtMsg parameter. This SQL injection vulnerability arises from insufficient input validation and sanitization mechanisms within the web application's data handling processes. The flaw allows attackers to manipulate database queries by injecting malicious SQL code through the text message parameter, potentially compromising the entire backend database infrastructure. The vulnerability stems from the application's failure to properly escape or parameterize user inputs before incorporating them into database queries, creating an exploitable entry point for unauthorized data access and manipulation. This type of vulnerability falls under the Common Weakness Enumeration category CWE-89, which specifically addresses SQL injection flaws that occur when user-supplied data is directly concatenated into SQL commands without proper sanitization. The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft, as it can enable attackers to execute arbitrary database commands, potentially leading to complete system compromise and unauthorized access to sensitive patient information. The healthcare environment presents particularly concerning implications for this vulnerability, as it could expose confidential medical records, patient histories, and other protected health information. Attackers leveraging this vulnerability could employ techniques such as union-based queries or error-based exploitation to extract database schema information, user credentials, and sensitive patient data. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under the T1190 technique for exploiting vulnerabilities in web applications, specifically targeting the persistence and privilege escalation phases of an attack lifecycle. Organizations utilizing this system face significant risks including regulatory compliance violations under HIPAA standards, potential financial penalties, and reputational damage from data breaches. The vulnerability's exploitation requires minimal technical expertise, making it particularly dangerous as it can be targeted by both skilled and unskilled attackers. The attack surface is limited to the specific contact.php endpoint, but its impact can be devastating due to the sensitive nature of healthcare data. The vulnerability demonstrates a fundamental lack of secure coding practices and input validation controls that should be implemented as part of standard web application security measures. Remediation efforts must include implementing proper parameterized queries, input sanitization, and output encoding mechanisms to prevent SQL injection attacks. Additionally, organizations should conduct comprehensive security assessments of their healthcare information systems to identify similar vulnerabilities across their entire infrastructure. Regular security updates, proper access controls, and database activity monitoring should be implemented as part of a comprehensive security posture to protect against such exploitation vectors. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of adhering to secure development lifecycle practices and implementing automated security testing tools to detect such issues during the development phase rather than after deployment.