Overview
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) system has recently identified a significant security vulnerability, designated CVE-2025-3836, in Zohocorp’s ManageEngine ADAudit Plus. This flaw, affecting versions 8510 and prior, exposes these systems to authenticated SQL injection attacks specifically within the logon events aggregate report. As a cybersecurity expert, it is essential to understand the potential threats posed by this vulnerability and adopt prompt and efficient mitigation strategies. SQL injections are a recurrent issue in the cybersecurity landscape, often leading to severe consequences such as unauthorized system access, data breaches, and potential system compromises.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-3836
Severity: High (8.3 CVSS Score)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: User-level
User Interaction: Required
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
Zohocorp ManageEngine ADAudit Plus | 8510 and prior versions
How the Exploit Works
An attacker, having authenticated access, can exploit this vulnerability by inserting malicious SQL code into the input fields of the logon events aggregate report. The application’s lack of proper input sanitization and validation allows the attacker’s SQL code to pass through and be executed by the backend database. This SQL injection can lead to unauthorized data access, manipulation, or even potential system compromise.
Conceptual Example Code
Here is a conceptual example of how an attacker might exploit this vulnerability using a manipulated SQL query. This is merely illustrative, and the actual attack may vary based on the specifics of the system environment.
POST /ADAuditPlus/logonEventsReport HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/json
{
"report_parameters": "1 OR 1=1; DROP TABLE users;"
}In this example, the attacker injects a malicious SQL command (`1 OR 1=1; DROP TABLE users;`) as a report parameter. The `1 OR 1=1` part always evaluates to true, potentially revealing all records, while the `DROP TABLE users;` command could lead to the deletion of the ‘users’ table, causing severe damage.
Mitigation Guidance
Zohocorp has released a vendor patch to rectify this vulnerability. It is strongly recommended to apply this patch promptly to all affected systems. If immediate patching is not possible, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can serve as a temporary mitigation strategy. These systems can help detect and prevent SQL injection attacks. However, they should not be considered as long-term solutions as they do not fix the underlying vulnerability.