Overview
The cyber-landscape is fraught with myriad vulnerabilities, and the recently discovered CVE-2023-41522 is no exception. This security flaw exists in the Student Attendance Management System v1, a software widely used by educational institutions to manage and track student attendance. The vulnerability, which lies in the createStudents.php file, affects multiple parameters and can potentially lead to system compromise or data leakage.
The severity and potential impact of this vulnerability make it a prime target for malicious entities. As such, understanding CVE-2023-41522, its mechanisms, and mitigation strategies is crucial for any institution utilizing the Student Attendance Management System.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2023-41522
Severity: High (8.8 CVSS Score)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Impact: System compromise and potential data leakage
Affected Products
Escape the Surveillance Era
Most apps won’t tell you the truth.
They’re part of the problem.
Phone numbers. Emails. Profiles. Logs.
It’s all fuel for surveillance.
Ameeba Chat gives you a way out.
- • No phone number
- • No email
- • No personal info
- • Anonymous aliases
- • End-to-end encrypted
Chat without a trace.
Product | Affected Versions
Student Attendance Management System | v1
How the Exploit Works
The vulnerabilities are SQL injections, which occur when a malicious user inputs SQL statements in a web application’s user input fields to manipulate the application’s database. In this scenario, the vulnerabilities lie in createStudents.php, specifically in the Id, firstname, and admissionNumber parameters.
By exploiting these SQL injection vulnerabilities, an attacker can execute arbitrary SQL code in the application’s database. This can lead to unauthorized viewing of data, data manipulation, and in worst-case scenarios, complete system compromise.
Conceptual Example Code
A potential exploitation of this vulnerability might look something like this:
POST /createStudents.php HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Id=1' OR '1'='1'; DROP TABLE students; -- &firstname=John&admissionNumber=123456In this example, the attacker attempts to delete the ‘students’ table from the database. The ‘OR ‘1’=’1′ ensures the query always returns true, while the ‘;’ allows for a new command to be started, in this case, to drop the ‘students’ table. The ‘–‘ comments out the rest of the query to avoid syntax errors.
An important note: The above is a conceptual example and should not be executed or utilized for malicious purposes. It’s presented to illustrate the potential danger of the vulnerability.