CVE-2024-42556

Executive Summary

CVE-2024-42556 is a SQL injection vulnerability in the Hotel Management System, identified in commit 91caab8, specifically affecting the room_type parameter in admin_room_removed.php. An unauthenticated or low-privileged attacker can manipulate this parameter to inject arbitrary SQL queries, leading to data exfiltration, authentication bypass, or full database compromise. The system is likely deployed as a web-based hotel administration panel, making it accessible over the network and a prime target for attackers seeking to compromise hospitality infrastructure. While no public proof-of-concept or exploit code has been confirmed, the well-documented nature of SQL injection and the simplicity of the vulnerable parameter make exploitation highly probable in the wild.

Technical Analysis

The vulnerability resides in admin_room_removed.php, a script used by hotel staff to remove room records from the database. The room_type parameter, presumably passed via HTTP GET or POST request, is concatenated directly into a SQL query without proper sanitization, parameterization, or escaping. This is a classic in-band SQL injection (error-based or union-based) where the attacker controls the structure of the query.

Attack surface: The endpoint is part of the administrative panel, which may or may not require authentication depending on the deployment. However, many Hotel Management System implementations expose admin scripts with weak or default credentials, and some fail to implement session checks properly, allowing direct access to the PHP file. Even if authentication is required, a compromised low-privilege account can escalate to full database control.

Mechanism: A typical vulnerable snippet would resemble:

$room_type = $_GET['room_type'];
$query = "DELETE FROM rooms WHERE room_type = '$room_type'";
$result = mysqli_query($conn, $query);

Because the user input is interpolated directly into the query string, an attacker can terminate the SQL statement and append their own payload. For instance, sending 1' OR 1=1-- - would truncate the remainder of the query, potentially deleting all rooms or, if combined with UNION SELECT, extracting credentials from the user table.

Underlying conditions: The application is likely built on PHP with MySQL, which is standard for such niche management systems. No use of prepared statements is evident from the limited information, and the error output may expose verbose database errors, accelerating exploitation.

Exploitation Scenarios

Scenario 1: Unauthenticated Data Exfiltration

1. Reconnaissance: The attacker scans the internet using Shodan or Google dorks (e.g., inurl:admin_room_removed.php) to identify exposed Hotel Management System instances.
2. Weaponization: The attacker sends a crafted HTTP request to the vulnerable endpoint:

   GET /admin_room_removed.php?room_type=1' UNION SELECT username,password,3,4 FROM users-- -
   

   Assuming the query has 4 columns, this payload retrieves admin credentials.
3. Payload Execution: The application processes the request, executes the stacked SELECT, and returns the results in the HTTP response due to error-based or union-based injection.
4. Post-Exploitation: Using the extracted admin credentials, the attacker logs into the admin panel, enables write access to the filesystem (if the panel supports template editing), and uploads a web shell to gain full server control.

Scenario 2: Authentication Bypass

1. Reconnaissance: The attacker identifies that admin_room_removed.php does not enforce session validation, or that login fails are not logged.
2. Weaponization: The attacker injects room_type=1' OR '1'='1 to manipulate a WHERE clause, potentially bypassing a permission check or deleting all rooms (denial of service).
3. Payload Execution: The crafted parameter alters the SQL logic, either granting indirect access to other admin functions or corrupting the database.
4. Post-Exploitation: If the injection is leveraged in a cookie or session parameter, the attacker might escalate privileges.

Scenario 3: Time-Based Blind Injection (if error output is disabled)

1. Reconnaissance: The attacker confirms the injection by sending room_type=1' AND SLEEP(5)-- - and observing a 5-second delay.
2. Weaponization: Using sqlmap or manual requests, the attacker extracts the database schema and contents character-by-character.
3. Payload Execution: Auto-tools handle the extraction efficiently.
4. Post-Exploitation: The attacker obtains all customer records, payment data, and admin hashes, leading to ransomware or credential stuffing attacks.

Impact Assessment

The primary impact is confidentiality loss, as SQL injection allows reading of the entire database. In a Hotel Management System, this database contains personally identifiable information (PII) for guests, including names, national ID numbers, phone numbers, email addresses, and payment card details (if stored without PCI-DSS compliance). The secondary impact is integrity loss, where an attacker can modify or delete room bookings, pricing, and user accounts. The availability risk is also significant — a malicious actor can truncate tables, causing operational shutdown of reservation systems.

The CVSS score is officially N/A, but based on the vector (network, low complexity, no privileges, no interaction), the actual severity would likely fall in the High range (7.0-8.9) if it targets a public-facing admin panel, or Medium (4.0-6.9) if authentication is required. The blast radius extends beyond the single host, as the compromised server could be used as a pivot to the internal hotel network, affecting booking engines, payment gateways, and backend databases.

Detection Guidance

Sigma Rule

title: SQL Injection Attempt - admin_room_removed.php
id: 5d8c9b10-2f1a-4a9e-8b7c-0b6c9d0e2f3a
status: experimental
description: Detects SQL injection payloads in requests to admin_room_removed.php
author: Valters IT Security Team
date: 2025/04/10
logsource:
  category: webserver
  product: apache
  service: access
detection:
  selection:
    cs-uri-path|contains: 'admin_room_removed.php'
    cs-uri-query|contains|all:
      - 'room_type='
      - '%27'  # URL-encoded single quote
  selection_manual:
    cs-uri-query|contains:
      - 'union select'
      - 'sleep('
      - 'or 1=1'
      - 'information_schema'
  condition: selection and selection_manual
falsepositives:
  - Legitimate room type names containing apostrophes (e.g., O'Brien)
  - Internal testing tools
level: high

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2024_42556_SQLi
{
    meta:
        author = "Valters IT Security Team"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        description = "Detects SQL injection payloads targeted at Hotel Management System admin_room_removed.php"
        cve_id = "CVE-2024-42556"
    strings:
        $php_endpoint = "admin_room_removed.php" ascii fullword
        $param = "room_type=" ascii fullword
        $sqli_quote = "%27" ascii
        $sqli_union = "union select" ascii nocase
        $sqli_sleep = "sleep(" ascii nocase
        $sqli_or = "or 1=1" ascii nocase
    condition:
        any of ($php_endpoint, $param) and any of ($sqli_quote, $sqli_union, $sqli_sleep, $sqli_or)
}

Suricata IDS Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2024-42556 SQL Injection Attempt in admin_room_removed.php"; flow:established,to_server; http.uri; content:"admin_room_removed.php"; http.uri; content:"room_type="; distance:0; pcre:"/room_type=[^&]*(?:%27|'|union\s+select|sleep\s*\(|or\s+1\s*=\s*1)/i"; classtype:web-application-attack; sid:2024042556; rev:1; metadata:cve CVE-2024-42556;)

Elastic Detection

sequence by source.ip, user.name with maxspan=5m
  [network where dns.question.name == "*" and process.name == "httpd" and
   url.path == "/admin_room_removed.php" and
   url.query : "*room_type=*" and
   (url.query : "*%27*" or url.query : "*'*" or url.query : "*union*select*" or url.query : "*sleep(*")]

Splunk SPL Query

index=web sourcetype=access_combined uri_path="/admin_room_removed.php" uri_query="*room_type=*"
    (uri_query="*%27*" OR uri_query="*union*select*" OR uri_query="*sleep(*" OR uri_query="*or%201%3D1*")
    | stats count by src_ip, uri_query, status
    | where count > 3

Wazuh OSSEC Rule

<group name="web,sql_injection,">
  <rule id="100456" level="12">
    <if_sid>31122</if_sid>
    <match>admin_room_removed.php</match>
    <regex>room_type=(.*)(%27|union.*select|sleep\(|or.*1.*=.*1)</regex>
    <description>CVE-2024-42556 - SQL injection attempt against admin_room_removed.php</description>
    <group>attack,sqli,</group>
    <mitre>
      <id>T1190</id>
    </mitre>
  </rule>
</group>

Mitigation & Patch Guidance

Patch confidence: 2/4 (CLAIMED — single source claims patch (not independently confirmed)). No official vendor advisory, patch commit, or versioned fix has been confirmed. The NVD entry identifies commit 91caab8 as vulnerable, but no later commit is referenced. Until a verified fix is released, treat this as unpatched.

1. Immediate Mitigations:

   • Restrict access to admin_room_removed.php via web server access controls — allow only known admin IP addresses (e.g., via .htaccess or firewall rules).
   • Disable database error output in the application (display_errors off in PHP).
   • If the application is not business-critical, take the endpoint offline entirely.

2. Patch/Upgrade Steps:

   • Monitor the vendor's repository for commits subsequent to 91caab8 that address parameter validation.
   • If no patch is available, manually fix the code by replacing the dynamic query with a prepared statement:

     $stmt = $conn->prepare("DELETE FROM rooms WHERE room_type = ?");
     $stmt->bind_param("s", $room_type);
     $stmt->execute();
     

   • Apply proper input validation, whitelisting allowed room type values.

3. Long-term Hardening:

   • Perform a full code audit of the Hotel Management System for other SQL injection points.
   • Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with rules blocking SQLi payloads (e.g., ModSecurity CRS).
   • Enforce least-privilege database accounts — the web app should not connect as MySQL root.
   • Ensure the admin panel is protected with strong multi-factor authentication and never exposed to the public internet without a VPN.

References

1. NVD — CVE-2024-42556: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-42556
2. MITRE ATT&CK — T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1190/
3. OWASP — SQL Injection Prevention Cheat Sheet: https://cheatsheetseries.owasp.org/cheatsheets/SQL_Injection_Prevention_Cheat_Sheet.html
4. FIRST.org — EPSS: https://www.first.org/epss/ (not yet scored)
5. CISA KEV Catalog: https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog (not listed)

Threat actor activity: As of this report, CISA has not listed this CVE in the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, and there are no confirmed in-the-wild attacks or documented threat actor campaigns targeting this specific vulnerability. However, the popularity of PHP-based hotel management systems in Southeast Asia and the Middle East makes them attractive targets for financially motivated actors using automated SQLi scanners, so exploitation attempts are likely occurring silently.