CVE-2023-45017 in Online Bus Booking System
Summary
by MITRE • 11/02/2023
Online Bus Booking System v1.0 is vulnerable to multiple Unauthenticated SQL Injection vulnerabilities. The 'destination' parameter of the search.php resource does not validate the characters received and they are sent unfiltered to the database.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/02/2023
The Online Bus Booking System version 1.0 presents a critical security vulnerability through multiple unauthenticated SQL injection flaws that compromise the integrity and confidentiality of the underlying database infrastructure. This vulnerability specifically targets the search.php resource where the 'destination' parameter fails to implement proper input validation and sanitization mechanisms. The absence of input filtering allows malicious actors to inject arbitrary SQL commands directly into the database query execution process without requiring authentication credentials.
The technical flaw manifests through the improper handling of user-supplied input within the application's backend processing logic. When the destination parameter is submitted through the search functionality, the system directly incorporates these values into SQL queries without appropriate sanitization or parameterization. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-89 category of SQL Injection, where attacker-controlled data is concatenated into SQL command strings, enabling unauthorized database access and manipulation. The unauthenticated nature of this vulnerability means that any remote user can exploit it without requiring valid credentials, significantly expanding the attack surface and potential impact.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data exfiltration to encompass complete database compromise and potential system takeover. An attacker could extract sensitive information including user credentials, booking records, personal identification details, and payment information stored within the database. The vulnerability also permits data modification and deletion operations, potentially leading to service disruption and financial losses. Additionally, this weakness creates opportunities for privilege escalation and lateral movement within the network infrastructure, as demonstrated by ATT&CK technique T1078.004 which covers legitimate accounts used for persistence and access.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability must address both immediate remediation and long-term security architecture improvements. The primary fix involves implementing proper input validation and parameterized queries throughout the application's database interaction layer. All user-supplied parameters, particularly those used in search and filtering functions, should undergo strict sanitization and validation before being processed. The implementation of prepared statements or parameterized queries prevents malicious SQL code from being executed within the database context. Additionally, the system should enforce proper access controls and implement input length restrictions to minimize the attack surface. Network-level protections including web application firewalls and intrusion detection systems should be deployed to monitor and block suspicious SQL injection attempts. Regular security assessments and code reviews should be conducted to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities across the entire application codebase, following industry standards such as OWASP Top Ten and NIST cybersecurity frameworks to ensure comprehensive protection against similar threats.