CVE-2026-93997 in Drug Recommendation System
Summary
by MITRE • 09/20/2026
A weakness has been identified in SourceCodester Drug Recommendation System 1.0. Affected by this issue is some unknown functionality of the file /Admin/edit_symptom.php. This manipulation of the argument ID causes sql injection. The attack is possible to be carried out remotely. The exploit has been made available to the public and could be used for attacks.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/28/2026
The SourceCodester Drug Recommendation System version 1.0 contains a critical security flaw within its administrative interface, specifically located in the file /Admin/edit_symptom.php. This vulnerability manifests as an SQL injection weakness resulting from improper validation and sanitization of user-supplied input. The specific point of failure involves the ID argument passed to this script, which is directly incorporated into database queries without adequate protection mechanisms such as prepared statements or parameterized queries. Because the application fails to distinguish between executable code and data when processing this identifier, an attacker can manipulate the input structure to alter the intended logic of the backend SQL query.
This flaw allows for remote exploitation by any authenticated user who has access to the administrative panel, although in many cases involving sourcecode projects like this, authentication mechanisms may be weak or easily bypassed if default credentials are not changed. The ability to inject arbitrary SQL commands enables a wide range of malicious activities beyond simple data retrieval. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability to extract sensitive information from the database, including user credentials, personal health data associated with drug recommendations, and internal system configurations. Furthermore, depending on the underlying Database Management System configuration, such as MySQL running with certain privileges, an attacker might escalate their access to execute operating system commands or modify application logic by injecting code into files stored on the server disk.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe due to its potential for data exfiltration and integrity compromise. Since the affected functionality deals with symptom management within a drug recommendation context, compromising this module could lead to inaccurate medical advice being generated if underlying reference tables are tampered with. Additionally, the exposure of patient or user data violates privacy standards and trust principles essential in healthcare-related software applications. The fact that public exploits exist significantly lowers the barrier for entry, allowing less sophisticated attackers to leverage automated tools against vulnerable instances rather than requiring custom development skills. This increases the likelihood of widespread compromise across unpatched deployments found on internet-facing servers.
From a classification perspective, this issue aligns with CWE-89 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command and falls under MITRE ATT&CK technique T1059 Command Line Interface or T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application depending on the specific payload execution method. To mitigate this risk, immediate remediation is required by refactoring the affected PHP code to utilize prepared statements with parameterized queries for all database interactions involving user input. Developers must ensure that every variable passed from HTTP requests to SQL operations is strictly typed and validated against expected formats before being processed. Additionally implementing Web Application Firewall rules can provide a temporary layer of defense by detecting common SQL injection patterns in request parameters while the codebase is updated. Regular security audits and static analysis tools should be integrated into the development lifecycle to prevent similar oversights in future releases.