Jizhicms, also known as A_CMS, is a popular content management system (CMS) deployed in web applications. Recently, a severe SQL injection vulnerability was discovered in Jizhicms version 2.4.9. In this blog post, we will outline the details about this exploitation, provide a code snippet, and share links to original references. The CVE identifier given to this vulnerability is CVE-2023-43836.

What is SQL Injection?

SQL injection refers to a code injection technique used by an attacker to exploit security vulnerabilities in a web application. The attacker typically enters malicious SQL statements into the application's input fields, which can lead to unauthorized data access, modification, or complete control of the affected database.

The Exploit Details

In Jizhicms version 2.4.9, the backend is susceptible to an SQL injection attack. This vulnerability occurs because of insecure input validation when handling user-provided data. The exploit can be performed by an attacker without any authentication, meaning that even unregistered users can take advantage of this weakness.

This vulnerability allows the attacker to obtain sensitive information, such as database credentials, user accounts, emails, hashed passwords, and potentially other valuable data. Additionally, the attacker can potentially manipulate the data and even gain unauthorized administrative access to the CMS.

Code Snippet

The following code snippet demonstrates the SQL injection vulnerability in Jizhicms 2.4.9, located in the db.php file:

$db = new SafeMySQL(array(
    'host' => 'localhost',
    'user' => 'db_user',
    'pass' => 'db_password',
    'db' => 'jizhicms'
));

$input = $_GET['input'];
$sql = "SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE column_name='{$input}'";
$result = $db->getRow($sql);

The input parameter, in this case, is not being sanitized or validated before being included in the SQL query, making it vulnerable to SQL injection attacks.

For example, an attacker can send a payload like this

input: test' OR '1' = '1

The resulting SQL query would be

SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE column_name='test' OR '1' = '1'

This query would return all rows from the table, potentially leaking sensitive data or granting unauthorized access to the CMS.

Mitigation

To mitigate this vulnerability, the developer should update their Jizhicms installation to a secure version that fixes the SQL injection issue. Additionally, it's essential to always validate and sanitize user input before including it in SQL queries, either by using prepared statements or using input validation libraries such as PDO.

1. Jizhicms Official Website
2. CVE-2023-43836 - NVD
3. SQL Injection Mitigation Techniques

Conclusion

SQL injection vulnerabilities are a common security risk in web applications, and the Jizhicms 2.4.9 vulnerability, CVE-2023-43836, is a critical example. Awareness and proactive mitigation of this exploit can help protect sensitive information and maintain secure web applications. Be sure to update your Jizhicms installation, implement proper input validation and sanitization, and follow industry-standard security practices.

Timeline

Published on: 10/02/2023 21:15:34 UTC
Last modified on: 10/04/2023 17:04:16 UTC