CVE-2025-4353

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-4353 is a critical SQL injection vulnerability discovered in the Brilliance Golden Link Secondary System, affecting versions up to 20250424. The flaw resides in the /paraframework/queryTsDictionaryType.htm endpoint, where the dictCn1 parameter is improperly sanitized, allowing remote attackers to inject arbitrary SQL commands. The exploit has been publicly disclosed, increasing the risk of active exploitation. No official patch or vendor advisory has been released, leaving systems exposed. This vulnerability could lead to unauthorized data access, data manipulation, or complete database compromise.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability is not related to NPM, PyPI, Go, or Ruby packages. It is a custom web application component of the Brilliance Golden Link Secondary System.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

While no official CVSS vector is provided, based on the critical classification and remote exploitability, a reasonable assessment is:

• 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 vulnerability affects only the database.
• Confidentiality (C): High (H) – Full database read access possible.
• Integrity (I): High (H) – Data can be modified or deleted.
• Availability (A): High (H) – Database can be disrupted.

Estimated CVSS Score: 9.8 (Critical)

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

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability is a classic SQL injection in the dictCn1 parameter of the queryTsDictionaryType.htm page. The application likely constructs a SQL query by directly concatenating user input without proper sanitization or parameterized queries. For example, the backend code might look like:

SELECT * FROM dictionary WHERE type = '" + request.getParameter("dictCn1") + "'

An attacker can inject SQL commands by providing input such as:

' OR '1'='1

This would result in:

SELECT * FROM dictionary WHERE type = '' OR '1'='1'

Returning all rows from the table. More sophisticated payloads can extract data, modify records, or execute system commands if the database has sufficient privileges.

The exploit is publicly available, meaning threat actors can easily weaponize it. The lack of a patch makes all systems running the affected version (up to 20250424) vulnerable.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (Conceptual Java/JSP):

String dictCn1 = request.getParameter("dictCn1");
String query = "SELECT * FROM dictionary WHERE type = '" + dictCn1 + "'";
Statement stmt = connection.createStatement();
ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery(query);

Patched Code (Using PreparedStatement):

String dictCn1 = request.getParameter("dictCn1");
String query = "SELECT * FROM dictionary WHERE type = ?";
PreparedStatement pstmt = connection.prepareStatement(query);
pstmt.setString(1, dictCn1);
ResultSet rs = pstmt.executeQuery();

The patched version uses parameterized queries, which prevent SQL injection by treating user input as data, not executable code. No official patch is available from the vendor.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Offensive)

Lab Setup:

• Target: A virtual machine running Brilliance Golden Link Secondary System (version up to 20250424).
• Attacker: Kali Linux with Burp Suite or sqlmap.

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify the vulnerable endpoint:

   http://target/paraframework/queryTsDictionaryType.htm
   

2. Test for SQL injection using a simple payload:

   http://target/paraframework/queryTsDictionaryType.htm?dictCn1='
   

   If an error is returned, the endpoint is vulnerable.

3. Use sqlmap for automated exploitation:

   sqlmap -u "http://target/paraframework/queryTsDictionaryType.htm?dictCn1=1" --batch --dbs
   

4. Manual exploitation example:

   http://target/paraframework/queryTsDictionaryType.htm?dictCn1=' UNION SELECT 1,2,3,4,5--
   

Expected Outcome: Full database enumeration, data exfiltration, and potential command execution if the database user has high privileges.

Blue Team (Defensive)

Detection Steps:

• Monitor web server logs for suspicious dictCn1 parameter values containing SQL keywords (e.g., UNION, SELECT, OR, AND, --).
• Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with rules to block SQL injection patterns.
• Implement input validation and parameterized queries in the application code.

Honeypot Setup:

• Deploy a decoy instance of the vulnerable application to capture attacker behavior.
• Log all requests to /paraframework/queryTsDictionaryType.htm and analyze for injection attempts.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network IOCs:

  • HTTP requests to /paraframework/queryTsDictionaryType.htm with unusual dictCn1 values.
  • SQL 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.

• File IOCs:

  • Suspicious entries in web server access logs (e.g., ' OR '1'='1 in the query string).
  • Modified or new files in the web root (e.g., webshells).

• System IOCs:

  • Unusual database queries or high CPU usage on the database server.
  • New user accounts or privileges in the database.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_4353_SQLi_Detection {
    meta:
        description = "Detects SQL injection attempts targeting CVE-2025-4353"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-25"
        reference = "CVE-2025-4353"
    strings:
        $sqli1 = "dictCn1=" nocase
        $sqli2 = "' OR " nocase
        $sqli3 = "UNION SELECT" nocase
        $sqli4 = "1=1" nocase
        $sqli5 = "admin'--" nocase
    condition:
        $sqli1 and any of ($sqli2, $sqli3, $sqli4, $sqli5)
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-4353 SQL Injection Attempt
id: 8a9b3c4d-5e6f-7a8b-9c0d-1e2f3a4b5c6d
status: experimental
description: Detects SQL injection attempts against the dictCn1 parameter in queryTsDictionaryType.htm
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-25
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
detection:
    selection:
        cs-uri-query|contains: 
            - "dictCn1='"
            - "dictCn1=%27"
            - "dictCn1=1'"
            - "dictCn1=' OR"
            - "dictCn1=UNION"
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of single quotes in input (unlikely)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2025-4353 SQL Injection Attempt"; flow:to_server,established; content:"/paraframework/queryTsDictionaryType.htm"; http_uri; content:"dictCn1="; http_uri; pcre:"/dictCn1=.*(\%27|%22|%3B|%23|--|UNION|SELECT|OR|AND)/i"; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Isolate affected systems from the network if possible.
2. Apply virtual patching using a WAF to block SQL injection patterns.
3. Disable the vulnerable endpoint if not essential.

Long-term Fix:

• Update the application to use parameterized queries (prepared statements) for all database interactions.
• Conduct a full security audit of the application code.
• Implement input validation and output encoding.

Workaround:

• If source code is available, modify the queryTsDictionaryType.htm handler to use prepared statements.
• If not, restrict access to the endpoint via firewall rules or authentication.

Monitoring:

• Enable detailed logging for all web requests.
• Set up alerts for SQL injection patterns.

Valters IT
Senior DevSecOps & Cyber Threat Intelligence Expert