CVE-2026-85398 in Hospital Information System
Summary
by MITRE • 09/04/2026
A vulnerability was identified in code-projects Hospital Information System 1.0. Affected is the function viewReq of the file viewReq.php. Such manipulation of the argument ID leads to sql injection. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. The exploit is publicly available and might be used.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/04/2026
The identified vulnerability in code-projects Hospital Information System version 1.0 represents a critical security flaw within the application's backend logic, specifically located in the viewReq.php file at the viewReq function. This component is responsible for handling requests related to patient or medical records, which are inherently sensitive data sets requiring strict access controls and integrity verification. The core technical issue stems from improper input validation and sanitization of the ID argument passed by the user. Instead of treating this identifier as a simple scalar value that should be safely incorporated into database queries using parameterized statements or prepared statements, the application directly concatenates or interpolates the unsanitized user-supplied data into an SQL query string. This architectural oversight allows an attacker to inject arbitrary SQL commands that are executed by the underlying database management system with the same privileges as the web application itself.
This specific flaw is classified under CWE-89, which denotes Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command, commonly known as SQL Injection. The vulnerability enables a Remote Code Execution vector where the attacker can manipulate the structure of the backend query rather than just altering its data payload. By crafting malicious input strings containing SQL syntax such as UNION SELECT statements or boolean-based blind injection techniques, an adversary can bypass authentication mechanisms, extract sensitive information from other tables within the database schema, modify existing records, or even drop critical database objects depending on the permissions granted to the application's database user account. The presence of a publicly available exploit significantly lowers the barrier to entry for malicious actors, increasing the likelihood of automated scanning and exploitation attempts against any instance of this software running with default configurations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe given the context of a Hospital Information System. Such systems typically store Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Protected Health Information (PHI), financial records, and critical medical histories. Successful exploitation could lead to a comprehensive data breach resulting in significant regulatory penalties under frameworks like HIPAA or GDPR due to the exposure of patient privacy rights. Beyond data exfiltration, an attacker with sufficient privileges might achieve full system compromise by leveraging SQL injection techniques that interact with operating system features supported by certain database engines, such as MySQL's ability to write files to disk or execute shell commands via specific functions. This could result in complete loss of confidentiality, integrity, and availability for the hospital's digital infrastructure, potentially disrupting critical healthcare operations and patient care services.
From a threat intelligence perspective, this vulnerability aligns with MITRE ATT&CK techniques related to SQL Injection (T1190) which falls under the Initial Access or Discovery tactics depending on how it is leveraged in an attack chain. Attackers often use such vulnerabilities for reconnaissance purposes before escalating privileges or moving laterally within a network. The fact that the exploit is publicly available means that automated bots and script kiddies are likely already probing internet-facing instances of this software, making immediate remediation urgent to prevent unauthorized access without any targeted effort from sophisticated threat actors.
To mitigate this vulnerability, developers must immediately refactor the viewReq function in viewReq.php to utilize parameterized queries or prepared statements provided by the database abstraction layer being used, such as PDO for PHP or MySQLi with bound parameters. This ensures that user input is treated strictly as data and never as executable code within the SQL context. Additionally, implementing strict input validation on the ID field, ensuring it matches expected formats like integers only using regular expressions before processing, adds a necessary defense-in-depth layer. It is also recommended to apply principle of least privilege to the database account used by the web application, restricting permissions so that even if injection occurs, the attacker cannot perform destructive actions or access unrelated sensitive tables. Regular security audits and static code analysis tools should be integrated into the development lifecycle to detect such patterns early before deployment.