CVE-2023-5007 in Student Information System
Summary
by MITRE • 12/20/2023
Student Information System v1.0 is vulnerable to multiple Authenticated SQL Injection vulnerabilities. The 'id' parameter of the marks.php resource does not validate the characters received and they are sent unfiltered to the database.
Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/20/2025
The Student Information System v1.0 presents a critical security weakness through its handling of user input in the marks.php resource where the 'id' parameter lacks proper validation mechanisms. This vulnerability stems from the application's failure to implement adequate input sanitization before processing database queries, creating an environment where malicious actors can exploit the system through carefully crafted SQL injection payloads. The flaw exists within the application's data validation layer where the 'id' parameter is directly incorporated into database queries without proper filtering or escaping mechanisms, allowing attackers to manipulate the underlying database operations through authenticated access.
This authenticated SQL injection vulnerability falls under the CWE-89 category, which specifically addresses SQL injection flaws where untrusted data is incorporated into SQL commands without proper validation or escaping. The attack vector requires an authenticated user context, meaning that adversaries must first establish legitimate credentials to exploit this weakness, though the impact remains significant given the potential for unauthorized data access and manipulation. The vulnerability demonstrates poor input validation practices that violate fundamental security principles outlined in the OWASP Top Ten, specifically addressing the prevention of injection flaws that can lead to complete system compromise.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft to encompass potential system compromise and unauthorized data manipulation. An attacker with valid credentials could extract sensitive information including student records, grades, personal details, and potentially administrative credentials from the database. The vulnerability also enables privilege escalation attacks where malicious actors might attempt to elevate their access rights within the system, and in severe cases could lead to complete database compromise through data modification or deletion operations. The authenticated nature of the vulnerability means that even if the system implements other security controls, this weakness provides a direct path for attackers to bypass certain access restrictions.
Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing comprehensive input validation and parameterized queries to prevent SQL injection attacks. The system requires immediate patching through proper input sanitization where all user-provided data is validated against expected formats and ranges before database processing occurs. Database access should be restricted to the minimum required privileges for each application function, implementing the principle of least privilege as outlined in the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. Additionally, the application should employ prepared statements and parameterized queries to ensure that user input is never directly interpreted as SQL commands, which would eliminate the vulnerability entirely. Regular security assessments and code reviews should be conducted to identify similar input validation weaknesses throughout the application, and proper logging mechanisms should be implemented to detect and respond to potential exploitation attempts.