CVE-2025-50493: Session Hijacking Vulnerability in PHPGurukul Doctor Appointment System
Welcome to another vulnerability spotlight! Today, we're diving into CVE-2025-50493, a session hijacking vulnerability affecting PHPGurukul Doctor Appointment Management System v1. This vulnerability could allow attackers to compromise user sessions and potentially gain unauthorized access.
🔍 TL;DR Summary
PHPGurukul Doctor Appointment Management System v1 suffers from a session invalidation vulnerability in the `/doctor/change-password.php` component. This allows attackers to potentially hijack user sessions, posing a significant security risk. Immediate patching or mitigation is highly recommended.
🚨 Vulnerability Details
CVE ID
CVE-2025-50493
Description
Improper session invalidation in the component `/doctor/change-password.php` of PHPGurukul Doctor Appointment Management System v1 allows attackers to execute a session hijacking attack. This flaw occurs because the system doesn't properly invalidate existing sessions upon a password change, allowing an attacker with a previously valid session ID to continue using it even after the user has changed their password.
CVSS Score and Vector
The CVSS v3.1 score for this vulnerability is 7.5, with a severity rating of HIGH. The CVSS vector is CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
Explanation:
- AV:N (Attack Vector: Network) - The vulnerability can be exploited over the network.
- AC:L (Attack Complexity: Low) - The vulnerability is relatively easy to exploit.
- PR:N (Privileges Required: None) - No privileges are required to exploit the vulnerability.
- UI:N (User Interaction: None) - No user interaction is required to exploit the vulnerability.
- S:U (Scope: Unchanged) - The vulnerability affects only the vulnerable component.
- C:N (Confidentiality Impact: None) - There is no impact on confidentiality.
- I:N (Integrity Impact: None) - There is no impact on integrity.
- A:H (Availability Impact: High) - There is a high impact on availability, meaning the system could become unavailable.
Exploit Requirements
An attacker needs to obtain a valid session ID before the user changes their password. This could be achieved through various methods, such as network sniffing, cross-site scripting (XSS), or other means of session ID theft.
Affected Vendor, Product, Version
- Vendor: PHPGurukul
- Product: Doctor Appointment Management System
- Version: 1.0.0
CWE (Common Weakness Enumeration)
The vulnerability is related to CWE-20: Improper Input Validation.
Explanation: CWE-20 occurs when a program does not properly validate or sanitize input, leading to unexpected behavior or vulnerabilities. In this case, the session invalidation process is not properly implemented after a password change.
📅 Timeline of Events
- 2025-07-28: Vulnerability reported.
- 2025-07-28: CVE-2025-50493 assigned.
- 2025-07-28: Vulnerability details published.
🧠 Exploitability & Real-World Risk
The exploitability of this vulnerability is relatively high, given the low attack complexity. In a real-world scenario, an attacker could potentially monitor network traffic to capture session IDs. Once a valid session ID is obtained, the attacker can use it to impersonate the user, even after the user changes their password. This could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive information, modification of appointments, or other malicious activities within the doctor appointment system.
🛠️ Recommendations
To mitigate this vulnerability, the following actions are recommended:
- Apply Patch: Check for and apply the latest security patch released by PHPGurukul.
- Implement Proper Session Invalidation: Ensure that all active sessions are properly invalidated upon a password change. This can be achieved by regenerating the session ID and invalidating the old session.
- Use Secure Session Management Practices: Implement secure session management practices, such as using HTTPOnly and Secure flags for cookies, and implementing session timeouts.
- Monitor for Suspicious Activity: Monitor system logs for any suspicious activity, such as multiple logins from different IP addresses or unusual access patterns.
🧪 Technical Insight
The root cause of this vulnerability lies in the inadequate handling of session invalidation. When a user changes their password, the application fails to properly terminate existing sessions associated with the user. This leaves a window of opportunity for attackers who have previously obtained a valid session ID to continue using it, effectively bypassing the password change.
🙌 Credit to Researcher(s)
Vulnerability discovered and reported by VasilVK.
🔗 References
🧵 Tags
#CVE-2025-50493 #PHPGurukul #SessionHijacking #Vulnerability #Security #PHP #WebSecurity
Summary: PHPGurukul Doctor Appointment Management System v1 is vulnerable to session hijacking due to improper session invalidation in /doctor/change-password.php. An attacker with a valid session ID can maintain access even after a user changes their password. Patching or mitigation is essential to prevent unauthorized access and maintain system security.
CVE ID: CVE-2025-50493
Risk Analysis: Successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive information, modification of appointments, and other malicious activities within the doctor appointment system, leading to significant disruption and potential data breaches.
Recommendation: Apply the latest security patch from PHPGurukul, implement proper session invalidation upon password change, use secure session management practices, and monitor for suspicious activity.
Timeline
- 2025-07-28: Vulnerability reported and CVE-2025-50493 assigned.
- 2025-07-28: Vulnerability details published.