CVE-2024-47487 in HikCentral Professional
Summary
by MITRE • 10/18/2024
There is a SQL injection vulnerability in some HikCentral Professional versions. This could allow an authenticated user to execute arbitrary SQL queries.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/19/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-47487 represents a critical SQL injection flaw within HikCentral Professional software versions, posing significant security risks to organizations relying on this platform for video surveillance and access control management. This vulnerability specifically affects the authentication and authorization mechanisms within the system, creating a pathway for malicious actors who have already gained legitimate access to escalate their privileges and execute unauthorized database operations. The flaw exists in the handling of user input within database query construction processes, where insufficient validation and sanitization allows crafted payloads to be interpreted as part of the SQL command rather than as data.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from improper input validation within the application's backend processing components that handle user authentication and administrative functions. When authenticated users submit specific inputs through the web interface or API endpoints, the system fails to adequately escape or parameterize these values before incorporating them into SQL queries. This design flaw aligns with CWE-89 which specifically addresses SQL injection vulnerabilities where untrusted data is directly concatenated into SQL command strings without proper sanitization. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it requires only authenticated access, meaning that an attacker who has obtained legitimate credentials can exploit this weakness to gain deeper system access than originally intended.
The operational impact of CVE-2024-47487 extends beyond simple data theft, as it enables attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands against the underlying database systems. This capability allows for complete database enumeration, data modification, deletion of critical records, and potential privilege escalation within the application. Attackers could leverage this vulnerability to access sensitive surveillance data, manipulate access control records, or even extract user credentials stored within the database. The vulnerability also creates opportunities for lateral movement within the network infrastructure, as database access often provides access to other connected systems. From an attack framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to multiple ATT&CK techniques including T1078 for valid accounts and T1046 for network service scanning, while also supporting T1566 for credential harvesting and T1005 for data from local systems.
Organizations utilizing HikCentral Professional software must implement immediate mitigations to address this vulnerability, including applying the latest security patches provided by Hikvision, implementing proper input validation at all application layers, and establishing robust database access controls. Network segmentation and monitoring of database connections can help detect anomalous SQL query patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. Security teams should also conduct comprehensive audits of all authenticated API endpoints and web interfaces to identify similar input validation issues. Additionally, implementing database activity monitoring solutions and establishing proper logging of database queries can provide early detection capabilities. The vulnerability highlights the importance of defense-in-depth strategies and proper application security testing, particularly for critical infrastructure management systems that handle sensitive security data. Organizations should also consider implementing multi-factor authentication and principle of least privilege access controls to minimize the potential impact of such vulnerabilities in their environments.