CVE-2024-41250 in Responsive School Management System
Summary
by MITRE • 08/07/2024
An Incorrect Access Control vulnerability was found in /smsa/view_students.php in Kashipara Responsive School Management System v3.2.0, which allows remote unauthenticated attackers to view STUDENT details.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/15/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-41250 represents a critical access control flaw within the Kashipara Responsive School Management System version 3.2.0. This issue specifically affects the /smsa/view_students.php endpoint which serves student information to unauthorized users. The flaw stems from inadequate authentication and authorization checks that permit any remote attacker to access sensitive student data without providing valid credentials or proper access permissions. The vulnerability exists in the web application's privilege management system where the application fails to verify user identity or role before exposing student records. This misconfiguration allows attackers to directly access the student viewing functionality through simple HTTP requests, bypassing the intended security controls that should restrict access to authorized personnel only.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability demonstrates a classic improper access control weakness that aligns with CWE-285, which addresses insufficient authorization in software applications. The flaw operates at the application layer where the system should have enforced role-based access control mechanisms but instead provides unrestricted access to student data. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by directly accessing the vulnerable endpoint without authentication, potentially retrieving comprehensive student information including personal details, academic records, and other sensitive data that should remain protected within a school management system. The vulnerability's impact is particularly severe given that student information often contains personally identifiable information that could be used for identity theft, social engineering attacks, or other malicious activities. This weakness represents a failure in the application's security architecture where proper access control validation should have been implemented at the entry point of the student data retrieval functionality.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data exposure to encompass serious privacy and compliance violations. Schools and educational institutions handling student data are typically subject to regulations such as FERPA in the united states or similar privacy laws in other jurisdictions that mandate protection of student information. The unauthorized access to student records creates significant risk of data breaches that could result in legal consequences, regulatory penalties, and reputational damage. Attackers could potentially aggregate student data from multiple institutions or use the information for targeted phishing campaigns, credential stuffing attacks, or other forms of cybercrime. The vulnerability's remote exploitability means that attackers do not require physical access to the system or network, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited from anywhere on the internet. The lack of authentication requirements for accessing student information indicates a fundamental flaw in the application's security model that should have been addressed through proper input validation, session management, and access control enforcement.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2024-41250 should focus on implementing robust authentication and authorization controls within the affected application. The primary remediation involves adding proper access control checks to the /smsa/view_students.php endpoint to ensure that only authenticated users with appropriate privileges can access student data. This includes implementing session management controls, role-based access control mechanisms, and proper input validation to prevent unauthorized access attempts. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security measures such as rate limiting to prevent automated exploitation attempts, logging and monitoring of access attempts to detect suspicious activities, and regular security assessments to identify similar vulnerabilities. The vulnerability's classification under ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1566 for credential harvesting highlights the importance of comprehensive security controls that address both authentication and access control weaknesses. System administrators should also ensure that the application follows security best practices including principle of least privilege, regular security updates, and proper configuration management to prevent similar access control issues in other parts of the application.