CVE-2026-115247 in online-clinic-management-system
Summary
by MITRE • 10/22/2026
A security vulnerability has been detected in subhajitkhan online-clinic-management-system up to e9ee77a8827a1446220fa07ee693dc4d9a29a578. This vulnerability affects unknown code of the file patientregistration.php. The manipulation of the argument pat_pswd/doc_pswd leads to missing encryption of sensitive data. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. The exploit has been disclosed publicly and may be used. The project was informed of the problem early through an issue report but has not responded yet.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/22/2026
The online-clinic-management-system, specifically versions up to commit e9ee77a8827a1446220fa07ee693dc4d9a29a578 developed by subhajitkhan, contains a critical security flaw within the patientregistration.php file. This vulnerability stems from improper handling of sensitive input arguments, specifically pat_pswd and doc_pswd, which are intended to store passwords for patients and doctors respectively. The core technical deficiency lies in the absence of cryptographic protection during data storage or transmission. Instead of applying robust hashing algorithms such as bcrypt, Argon2, or PBKDF2 before persisting these credentials into a database, the system appears to store them in plaintext or with insufficient obfuscation that does not constitute meaningful encryption. This architectural oversight represents a fundamental failure in implementing secure coding practices for authentication data management.
From an industry standard perspective, this vulnerability aligns directly with CWE-798: Use of Hard-coded Credentials and more accurately CWE-256: Unprotected Storage of Credentials. The lack of proper hashing means that if the underlying database is compromised through SQL injection or direct file access, all user passwords are immediately exposed in their original form. This violates the principle of least privilege and fails to meet basic security requirements outlined in OWASP Top 10 categories related to sensitive data exposure. Furthermore, because the exploit has been disclosed publicly, threat actors can readily identify this weakness and target instances running these specific versions without needing custom tooling or complex exploitation techniques.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe due to its remote exploitable nature. An attacker with network access to the application server can potentially extract credential dumps if they gain any level of database access, which is a common outcome in web application attacks involving SQL injection vulnerabilities often present alongside such misconfigurations. The consequences extend beyond simple account compromise; since many users reuse passwords across multiple services, this breach could lead to identity theft and unauthorized access to other critical systems belonging to patients or medical staff. In the context of healthcare applications, this also raises significant compliance concerns with regulations like HIPAA in the United States or GDPR in Europe, which mandate strict protection measures for personal health information including authentication credentials.
The fact that the project maintainers have been notified via an issue report but have not yet responded exacerbates the risk landscape. Without a timely patch or mitigation strategy provided by the developers, users of this open-source system are left vulnerable to ongoing exploitation attempts. The public disclosure serves as both a warning and a catalyst for malicious activity, allowing attackers to automate scans targeting known affected versions. This situation highlights the importance of proactive security maintenance in open-source projects where community reliance is high but response times may vary significantly based on developer availability and prioritization.
To mitigate this vulnerability, immediate action must be taken by system administrators and developers utilizing this software. The primary remediation step involves updating the patientregistration.php script to implement strong password hashing mechanisms before storing any user credentials in the database. Developers should utilize established libraries such as PHP's built-in password_hash function which defaults to bcrypt or Argon2 depending on the environment configuration. Additionally, implementing salting techniques automatically handled by modern hashing functions ensures that even identical passwords result in unique hash outputs, preventing rainbow table attacks. It is also advisable to enforce strong password policies requiring complexity and length to reduce the effectiveness of brute-force attempts against any remaining weak credentials.
Beyond immediate code fixes, organizations should consider deploying Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) configured with rulesets that detect common exploitation patterns associated with credential theft vulnerabilities. Regular security audits and static application security testing (SAST) scans can help identify similar misconfigurations in other parts of the application before they are exploited. For existing deployments where an immediate patch is not feasible, restricting database access to only necessary service accounts and ensuring network-level isolation between the web server and database server can provide a layer of defense-in-depth. Ultimately, relying on unpatched open-source software with known public exploits poses unacceptable risks for handling sensitive medical data, necessitating either urgent community engagement or migration to more secure alternatives if updates remain unavailable.