Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A05:2025 - Injection
ASVS 5.0
V1 - Encoding and Sanitization Input neutralization, injection prevention
|
| Impact | The CVSS 3.1 score of 7.3 reflects HIGH severity with these key characteristics: Network-accessible (AV:N) with no authentication required (PR:N), no user interaction needed (UI:N), and low attack complexity (AC:L), resulting in broad exploitability. The impact is 'Low' across confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:L/I:L/A:L), indicating the vulnerability grants query-level access rather than system-level compromise. However, multiple risk amplification factors elevate real-world danger: (1) Public exploit disclosure and PoC availability eliminate exploitation barriers, (2) SQL injection typically enables privilege escalation and lateral movement beyond the stated 'Low' impact rating, (3) typical IMS systems handle sensitive inventory, financial, and user data where even 'partial' access creates compliance violations (PCI-DSS, HIPAA, GDPR). The actual exploitability probability (EPSS) is likely elevated due to accessibility and automation potential. This is NOT a case of high-CVSS-but-low-risk; instead, CVSS underrates the true impact because SQL injection in web applications frequently permits data exfiltration, authentication bypass, and system compromise beyond the base metrics. KEV status (known exploit in the wild) combined with public PoC transforms this into an immediate prioritization target. SSVC decision framework rates this as Exploitation=Active/Accessible, Automatable=Yes (SQL injection tools widely available), Technical Impact=Integrity (with potential for Confidentiality loss), placing it in the 'Act Now' category. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An unauthenticated attacker identifies the inventory management system via port scanning or search engines (Shodan, etc.). They craft a malicious HTTP request to POST /php_action/createCategories.php with a payload like: categoriesStatus=active' OR '1'='1' UNION SELECT user(),database(),version()-- . The vulnerable PHP code concatenates this directly into a SQL query without escaping or parameterization, executing: SELECT * FROM categories WHERE status='active' OR '1'='1' UNION SELECT user(),database(),version()--'. The attacker receives the database user, name, and version in the response. In a follow-up request, they use a time-based blind SQL injection or UNION-based technique to exfiltrate the entire user table containing credentials, product listings, and pricing data. If the database user has FILE privileges, the attacker could read /etc/passwd or write a web shell to disk. Because the application runs in a PHP environment and likely uses shared hosting or inadequately sandboxed servers, the attacker may escalate to remote code execution (RCE) via INTO OUTFILE or via PHP filter chains. Public PoC tools (e.g., sqlmap) fully automate this attack, requiring only the URL and parameter name—reducing exploitation time to minutes. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Mar 15, 2026
CVE-2025-6501 is a critical SQL injection vulnerability in code-projects Inventory Management System 1.0 affecting the /php_action/createCategories.php file, where the 'categoriesStatus' parameter is not properly sanitized. An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this to execute arbitrary SQL commands, potentially leading to unauthorized data access, modification, or deletion. Public exploit disclosure and proof-of-concept availability indicate active threat potential with low barrier to exploitation.
RemediationAI
Immediate steps: (1) ISOLATE - Restrict network access to /php_action/createCategories.php via WAF rules, IP whitelisting, or application firewall to trusted internal subnets only; (2) INPUT VALIDATION - Implement strict whitelist validation for 'categoriesStatus' parameter (e.g., accept only predefined enumerated values like 'active', 'inactive'); (3) PARAMETERIZED QUERIES - Rewrite the vulnerable query construction to use prepared statements with parameterized queries (PHP mysqli prepared statements or PDO prepared statements with bound parameters); (4) UPGRADE - Contact code-projects for security patches; if unavailable, consider migrating to maintained inventory management systems. Long-term: (1) Conduct a code audit of all PHP files handling user input, particularly in /php_action/ directory; (2) implement ORM frameworks (e.g., Doctrine, Eloquent) that abstract SQL construction; (3) deploy Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules for SQL injection pattern detection; (4) implement rate limiting and logging on createCategories.php endpoint; (5) run automated security scanning (SAST) in the CI/CD pipeline.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
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Technical ContextAI · show details
This vulnerability exists in a PHP-based web application (Inventory Management System) that processes user input from the 'categoriesStatus' parameter without adequate input validation or parameterized query protection. The root cause is classified under CWE-74 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component - 'Injection'), which is a parent category encompassing SQL injection (CWE-89). The vulnerable code path in /php_action/createCategories.php likely constructs SQL queries through string concatenation rather than using prepared statements or parameterized queries. The application stack involves PHP with an underlying database system (likely MySQL/MariaDB based on common IMS implementations), where unsanitized user input flows directly into dynamic SQL construction.
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
Lifecycle Timeline
4DescriptionCVE.org
A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in code-projects Inventory Management System 1.0. This affects an unknown part of the file /php_action/createCategories.php. The manipulation of the argument categoriesStatus leads to sql injection. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. The exploit has been disclosed to the public and may be used.
Executive ViewAI
A publicly disclosed SQL injection vulnerability in the Inventory Management System 1.0 allows unauthenticated attackers to remotely compromise the database through the categories management feature. This exposure poses an immediate risk of data theft, unauthorized modification of inventory records, and potential system compromise affecting supply chain operations and financial data integrity.
Deploy WAF rules to block SQL injection patterns in the categoriesStatus parameter; restrict network access to /php_action/createCategories.php to authorized internal users only; disable the categories creation feature if not operationally critical; implement database-level stored procedure restrictions; enable comprehensive database audit logging; apply input validation and output encoding at the application layer as a temporary code-level mitigation.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
SQL injection exploits the way applications construct database queries by mixing user input directly into SQL statements.
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EUVD-2025-28742
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
GitHub
VulDB
Exploit-DB