CVE-2023-3458 in Shopping Website
Summary
by MITRE • 06/29/2023
A vulnerability was found in SourceCodester Shopping Website 1.0. It has been declared as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown functionality of the file forgot-password.php. The manipulation of the argument contact leads to sql injection. The attack can be launched remotely. The exploit has been disclosed to the public and may be used. The associated identifier of this vulnerability is VDB-232675.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/21/2023
This critical vulnerability exists in the SourceCodester Shopping Website version 1.0 application where the forgot-password.php file contains a SQL injection flaw that can be exploited remotely. The vulnerability specifically manifests when the contact argument is manipulated, allowing attackers to inject malicious SQL code that can compromise the underlying database system. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-89 which represents improper neutralization of special elements used in an SQL command, making it a classic SQL injection attack vector. The remote exploitation capability means that attackers do not need physical access to the system and can leverage this vulnerability from external networks, significantly expanding the attack surface and potential impact. The disclosure of the exploit to the public community poses an immediate threat to organizations using this vulnerable software version.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and sanitization within the forgot-password.php script. When user-provided contact information is directly incorporated into SQL queries without proper parameterization or escaping mechanisms, it creates an opening for attackers to manipulate the database query structure. This allows malicious actors to execute unauthorized database operations such as data extraction, modification, or deletion. The attack chain typically involves crafting specially formatted contact inputs that alter the intended SQL command flow, potentially enabling full database compromise. From an operational security perspective, this vulnerability represents a severe risk to customer data confidentiality and system integrity, as it could lead to unauthorized access to user credentials, personal information, and transactional data stored within the application's database.
Organizations utilizing this vulnerable software must implement immediate mitigations to protect their systems from exploitation. The primary remediation strategy involves implementing proper parameterized queries or prepared statements in the forgot-password.php file to ensure that user input cannot influence the SQL command structure. Input validation and sanitization measures should be strengthened to filter out potentially malicious characters and patterns that could be used in SQL injection attacks. Additionally, network-level protections such as web application firewalls and intrusion detection systems should be deployed to monitor and block suspicious traffic patterns. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities within the application codebase, as this vulnerability likely represents a broader pattern of insecure coding practices that may exist elsewhere in the system. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this as a database attack vector under the technique of SQL injection, specifically targeting the credential access and persistence phases of an attack lifecycle, making it a critical concern for enterprise security teams.