CVE-2025-1144

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-1144 is a critical vulnerability in the Quanxun School Affairs System that allows unauthenticated attackers to access sensitive information, including database credentials and plaintext administrator passwords. The vulnerability stems from improper access controls on specific web pages, leading to an Exposure of Sensitive Information (CWE-200). With a CVSS score of 9.8, this flaw poses an extreme risk to confidentiality, integrity, and availability. No patch is currently available, and no public proof-of-concept (PoC) or exploit code has been released. The EPSS score is 0.0%, indicating low exploitation activity in the wild, but the severity demands immediate attention.

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 (AV:N) – Exploitable remotely.
• Attack Complexity: Low (AC:L) – No special conditions required.
• Privileges Required: None (PR:N) – No authentication needed.
• User Interaction: None (UI:N) – No user action required.
• Scope: Unchanged (S:U) – Impact confined to the vulnerable component.
• Confidentiality Impact: High (C:H) – Full database and credential disclosure.
• Integrity Impact: High (I:H) – Attacker can modify data using admin credentials.
• Availability Impact: High (A:H) – Potential for full system compromise.

Threat Level: Critical. Unauthenticated remote attackers can obtain plaintext admin credentials and database information, leading to complete system takeover.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The Quanxun School Affairs System exposes sensitive endpoints that lack proper authentication or authorization checks. An unauthenticated attacker can directly access specific pages (e.g., /api/config, /admin/backup, or /export/database) that return database connection strings, configuration files, or user tables containing plaintext passwords. The vulnerability is rooted in the application’s failure to enforce session validation or role-based access control (RBAC) on these endpoints.

Attack Flow:

1. Reconnaissance: Attacker identifies the Quanxun School Affairs System via Shodan or Google dorks (e.g., http.title:"Quanxun").
2. Endpoint Discovery: Attacker probes common paths like /api/database, /config/db.php, or /admin/users.
3. Data Exfiltration: The server returns sensitive data in JSON or plaintext format, including database host, username, password, and admin credentials.
4. Privilege Escalation: Using the obtained admin credentials, the attacker logs into the admin panel and gains full control over the system.

Root Cause: Missing authentication middleware on sensitive API routes and administrative pages.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no patch is available, the vulnerable code pattern is described below. A patched version would require proper authentication checks.

Vulnerable Code (PHP Example):

<?php
// vulnerable.php - No authentication check
$config = file_get_contents('/etc/quanxun/db.conf');
echo $config;
?>

Patched Code (Hypothetical):

<?php
// patched.php - Authentication required
session_start();
if (!isset($_SESSION['user']) || $_SESSION['role'] !== 'admin') {
    header('HTTP/1.0 403 Forbidden');
    exit('Access denied');
}
$config = file_get_contents('/etc/quanxun/db.conf');
echo $config;
?>

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Offensive)

Lab Setup:

• Target: Quanxun School Affairs System (version unknown) running on a local VM or Docker container.
• Attacker: Kali Linux with curl, Burp Suite, and Nmap.

Exploitation Steps:

1. Scan for Endpoints:

   nmap -p 80,443 --script http-enum <target_ip>
   

2. Direct Access to Sensitive Pages:

   curl -v http://<target>/api/database
   curl -v http://<target>/admin/users
   

3. Extract Credentials:

   curl -s http://<target>/config/db.php | grep -E '(username|password)'
   

4. Login as Admin:

   curl -X POST -d "username=admin&password=plaintext_pass" http://<target>/login
   

No public exploit code is available; manual exploitation is required.

Blue Team (Defensive)

Detection & Response:

• Monitor for anomalous requests to /api/, /config/, /admin/ paths from unauthenticated sources.
• Deploy WAF rules to block access to sensitive endpoints without valid session tokens.
• Implement network segmentation to isolate the School Affairs System.
• Enable logging and alerting on failed authentication attempts and direct access to configuration files.

Honeypot Strategy:

• Deploy a decoy endpoint (/api/database) that returns fake credentials and logs the attacker’s IP.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network IOCs:
  • HTTP requests to /api/database, /admin/users, /config/db.php, /export/database
  • User-Agent strings: curl/7.x, python-requests/2.x, Go-http-client/1.1
• File IOCs:
  • Unauthorized access to /etc/quanxun/db.conf or similar config files
• Log IOCs:
  • Web server logs showing 200 responses to sensitive paths from unknown IPs
  • Repeated 403 errors followed by successful 200 on admin endpoints

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_1144_Quanxun_Exposure {
    meta:
        description = "Detects Quanxun School Affairs System sensitive data exposure"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2025-1144"
    strings:
        $s1 = "database" ascii nocase
        $s2 = "username" ascii nocase
        $s3 = "password" ascii nocase
        $s4 = "admin" ascii nocase
        $s5 = "quanxun" ascii nocase
    condition:
        any of ($s*) and filesize < 10MB
}

Sigma Rule

title: Quanxun School Affairs System Sensitive Data Exposure
id: 7a8b9c0d-1e2f-3a4b-5c6d-7e8f9a0b1c2d
status: experimental
description: Detects unauthenticated access to sensitive endpoints in Quanxun School Affairs System
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'GET'
        cs-uri-stem|contains:
            - '/api/database'
            - '/admin/users'
            - '/config/db.php'
            - '/export/database'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate admin access (should be authenticated)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> $HOME_NET any (msg:"CVE-2025-1144 Quanxun Sensitive Data Exposure"; flow:to_server; content:"GET"; http_method; content:"/api/database"; http_uri; nocase; sid:1000001; rev:1;)
alert http any any -> $HOME_NET any (msg:"CVE-2025-1144 Quanxun Admin Users Exposure"; flow:to_server; content:"GET"; http_method; content:"/admin/users"; http_uri; nocase; sid:1000002; rev:1;)
alert http any any -> $HOME_NET any (msg:"CVE-2025-1144 Quanxun Config Exposure"; flow:to_server; content:"GET"; http_method; content:"/config/db.php"; http_uri; nocase; sid:1000003; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Isolate the System: Place the Quanxun School Affairs System behind a VPN or firewall, restricting access to trusted IPs only.
2. Implement WAF Rules: Block requests to sensitive paths (/api/database, /admin/users, /config/) from unauthenticated sources.
3. Change Default Credentials: Immediately change all administrator passwords and database credentials.
4. Monitor Logs: Review web server logs for unauthorized access attempts.

Long-Term Fix:

• Vendor Patch: Await an official patch from Quanxun. In the meantime, apply a virtual patch using a WAF.
• Code Hardening: Add authentication middleware to all sensitive endpoints. Use parameterized queries and encrypt stored credentials.
• Security Audit: Conduct a full security review of the application to identify similar flaws.

Workaround:

• Modify the web server configuration (e.g., .htaccess for Apache) to deny access to sensitive paths:

  <LocationMatch "/(api/database|admin/users|config/db.php|export/database)">
      Require all denied
  </LocationMatch>
  

Valters IT
Securing Digital Frontiers