CVE-2026-105247 in Online Reviewer Management System
Summary
by MITRE • 10/05/2026
A vulnerability was determined in SourceCodester Online Reviewer Management System 1.0. The affected element is an unknown function of the file /reviewer_0/admins/assessments/Subject/btn_functions.php?action=course. Executing a manipulation of the argument Subject can lead to sql injection. The attack can be launched remotely. The exploit has been publicly disclosed and may be utilized.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/05/2026
The SourceCodester Online Reviewer Management System version 1.0 contains a critical security flaw within its administrative interface, specifically located in the file /reviewer_0/admins/assessments/Subject/btn_functions.php when invoked with an action parameter set to course. This vulnerability manifests as a SQL injection weakness resulting from improper validation and sanitization of user-supplied input passed via the Subject argument. The application fails to adequately filter special characters or enforce strict type checking on this specific variable before incorporating it into backend database queries, allowing attackers to inject arbitrary Structured Query Language commands that can be interpreted by the underlying database management system.
This flaw aligns with Common Weakness Enumeration identifier CWE-89, which classifies SQL injection vulnerabilities where software does not properly neutralize special elements used in SQL commands. The absence of parameterized statements or prepared queries means that malicious payloads embedded within the Subject parameter are executed directly against the database server rather than being treated as literal data values. This lack of input validation represents a fundamental failure in secure coding practices, exposing the application to unauthorized access and manipulation of stored information.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe due to its remote exploitability without requiring prior authentication for certain aspects or potentially leveraging existing session tokens if accessible through other means. An attacker can launch attacks from any network location that has connectivity to the web server hosting the vulnerable system. Successful exploitation allows for unauthorized data retrieval, modification, or deletion within the database. Attackers may extract sensitive user credentials, personal identifiable information associated with reviewers and administrators, or alter assessment records to manipulate grading outcomes. In more advanced scenarios, depending on the database engine configuration, this could potentially lead to remote code execution through out-of-band techniques such as loading malicious libraries or writing files directly to the file system if permissions allow.
The fact that an exploit for this vulnerability has been publicly disclosed significantly increases the risk landscape. Publicly available proof-of-concept codes lower the barrier to entry for less sophisticated threat actors, enabling automated scanning tools and opportunistic attackers to identify and compromise vulnerable instances rapidly. This widespread availability of exploitation material means that systems running this specific version are under constant active surveillance by malicious entities seeking easy wins against unpatched software deployments common in educational or small organizational settings where such open-source management systems might be deployed without rigorous security review.
Mitigation strategies must focus on immediate remediation and defensive hardening. The primary solution is to apply a patch provided by the vendor if available, which should involve refactoring the affected PHP code to use prepared statements with parameterized queries for all database interactions involving user input. Developers must ensure that every variable derived from HTTP requests undergoes strict validation against expected formats before being used in SQL constructs. Additionally, implementing Web Application Firewall rules can provide a temporary layer of defense by detecting and blocking known SQL injection patterns targeting the specific endpoint until permanent code fixes are deployed.
Administrators should also enforce principle of least privilege for database accounts associated with the web application to limit the potential damage if an injection is successful. This includes restricting permissions so that the application account cannot perform administrative actions like dropping tables or executing system commands unless absolutely necessary. Regular security audits and static analysis tools integrated into the development lifecycle can help identify similar vulnerabilities in other parts of the codebase before they reach production environments, ensuring a more robust defense posture against injection-based attacks across the entire platform.