Submit #992051: SourceCodester Drug Recommendation System Using Machine Learning 1.0 (SourceCodester Release 18278) Improper Authentication (Broken Access Control)

Every protected Admin page uses the same flawed auth guard: it sends a `Location` redirect when `$_SESSION['user_id']` is empty, but then **fails to call `exit()`/`die()`**. In PHP, `header("Location: ...")` merely queues an HTTP header; it does **not** stop execution. As a result the sensitive code that follows the guard — reading datasets, deleting users/patients/symptoms, enabling/disabling accounts, changing passwords, executing SQL — runs even for anonymous, unauthenticated requests. This single class of defect is the linchpin that makes VULN-01 (unauthenticated SQLi), stored XSS rendering, and all destructive operations reachable from outside.

• Source: ⚠️ https://github.com/hackliu/Vulnerability-Reports/blob/master/Drug-Recommender-Web-App/VULN-02-Broken-Access-Control.md
• User: BI1IHA (UID 69245)
• Submission: 09/19/2026 11:27 (1 month ago)
• Moderation: 10/05/2026 20:23 (16 days later)
• Status: Accepted
• VulDB entry: 413697 [SourceCodester Drug Recommendation System 1.0 Auth Guard user_id improper authentication]
• Points: 20