CVE-2023-4185 in Online Hospital Management System
Summary
by MITRE • 08/06/2023
A vulnerability was found in SourceCodester Online Hospital Management System 1.0. It has been classified as critical. Affected is an unknown function of the file patientlogin.php. The manipulation of the argument loginid/password leads to sql injection. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. The exploit has been disclosed to the public and may be used. The identifier of this vulnerability is VDB-236220.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/30/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-4185 represents a critical sql injection flaw within the SourceCodester Online Hospital Management System version 1.0. This system, designed for healthcare administration purposes, contains a fundamental security weakness in its patient authentication mechanism that directly impacts patient data confidentiality and system integrity. The vulnerability resides within the patientlogin.php file where an unvalidated input parameter is processed without proper sanitization or parameterization, creating an exploitable entry point for malicious actors. The flaw specifically manifests when the application processes loginid and password arguments, allowing attackers to inject malicious sql commands through these parameters.
This sql injection vulnerability operates at the application layer and can be exploited remotely without requiring local system access or elevated privileges. The attack vector leverages the improper handling of user-supplied input where the application directly incorporates login credentials into sql query construction without adequate validation or escaping mechanisms. The vulnerability classification as critical stems from its potential to enable complete database compromise, allowing attackers to extract sensitive patient information including medical records, personal identification details, and authentication credentials. The public disclosure of this exploit, as indicated by the VDB-236220 identifier, means that threat actors have access to working attack code that can be readily deployed against vulnerable systems.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft to encompass potential system compromise and regulatory violations. Healthcare systems are subject to stringent compliance requirements including hipaa, which mandates the protection of patient health information and imposes severe penalties for data breaches. Successful exploitation could result in unauthorized access to patient medical histories, treatment records, and personal details, potentially enabling identity theft, insurance fraud, or targeted attacks against individuals. The remote exploit capability means that attackers can target the system from anywhere on the internet without physical access to the network infrastructure. This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-89 sql injection and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1190 for exploitation of remote services, while also representing a critical failure in the application's input validation and data sanitization processes.
Organizations utilizing this system should immediately implement multiple layers of mitigation strategies to address this vulnerability. The primary remediation involves implementing proper parameterized queries or prepared statements throughout the application codebase, particularly in the patientlogin.php file and related authentication modules. Input validation and sanitization should be strengthened at the application level to reject or escape potentially malicious characters before processing user credentials. Network-level protections including web application firewalls and intrusion prevention systems should be deployed to detect and block sql injection attempts. Additionally, access controls should be reviewed to ensure that authentication mechanisms are properly secured, and regular security audits should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities throughout the application. System administrators should also implement monitoring and logging of authentication attempts to detect suspicious activities and maintain compliance with healthcare regulatory requirements. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of secure coding practices and proper input validation in healthcare applications where the stakes of data compromise are exceptionally high.