Overview
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) system has recently identified a significant security vulnerability, CVE-2025-31397, in the Bus Ticket Booking with Seat Reservation plugin for WooCommerce by smartcms. This plugin, widely used by eCommerce businesses operating in the transportation sector, is subject to an SQL Injection exploit, a type of vulnerability that can have severe consequences for both businesses and their customers.
The severity of this vulnerability cannot be underestimated. Its successful exploitation could lead to system compromise and potential data leakage, seriously damaging the reputation of the affected companies, and potentially leading to financial losses. Therefore, it’s crucial for businesses using this plugin to understand the nature of the vulnerability, how it can be exploited, and how to mitigate the risks associated.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-31397
Severity: Critical (CVSS: 9.3)
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
Bus Ticket Booking with Seat Reservation for WooCommerce | n/a through 1.7
How the Exploit Works
This vulnerability stems from the improper neutralization of special elements used in an SQL (Structured Query Language) command within the Bus Ticket Booking with Seat Reservation plugin for WooCommerce. As a result, an attacker could manipulate the SQL queries by injecting malicious SQL code, thereby exploiting the system.
The attacker does not require any special privileges to exploit this vulnerability, and no user interaction is needed, which significantly broadens the potential attack surface. Once exploited, the attacker could potentially gain unauthorized access to sensitive data or even take control of the affected system.
Conceptual Example Code
Here is a conceptual example of how this vulnerability might be exploited using a malicious HTTP request:
POST /bus_ticket_booking/endpoint HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/json
{ "ticket_reservation": "'; DROP TABLE users; --" }In the above example, the attacker injects a malicious SQL command (`’; DROP TABLE users; –`) as part of the ticket reservation request. This command would effectively delete the ‘users’ table from the system’s database, disrupting the normal operation of the service and potentially leading to data loss.
Mitigation
Users of the affected plugin are urged to apply the vendor-supplied patch as soon as possible to mitigate the risks associated with this vulnerability. If the patch cannot be applied immediately, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can serve as temporary mitigation measures. However, these should not be seen as long-term solutions, as they do not address the root cause of the vulnerability.