CVE-2024-25305 is a high-severity vulnerability identified in the Code-projects Simple School Management System version 1.0. This vulnerability allows an attacker to bypass authentication controls via manipulation of the username and password parameters at the School/index.php endpoint. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-89, which indicates it is related to SQL Injection. The CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8 reflects the critical nature of this flaw, with an attack vector of network (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), requiring low privileges (PR:L), no user interaction (UI:N), and impacting confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H). The vulnerability enables an attacker to gain unauthorized access to the system without valid credentials, potentially allowing full control over the application and access to sensitive data. Since the vulnerability is an authentication bypass via SQL injection, it likely exploits improper input sanitization or parameterized queries in the login mechanism. No patches or fixes have been linked yet, and there are no known exploits in the wild at the time of publication. However, the presence of this vulnerability in a school management system is concerning due to the sensitive nature of educational data and the critical role such systems play in daily operations.

For European organizations, particularly educational institutions using the affected Simple School Management System, this vulnerability poses a significant risk. Successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized access to student records, staff information, grades, and other confidential data, violating data protection regulations such as GDPR. The attacker could manipulate or delete data, disrupt school operations, or use the compromised system as a foothold for further network intrusion. The high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability means that the breach could result in reputational damage, legal penalties, and operational downtime. Given the critical role of school management systems in Europe’s education sector, exploitation could also affect multiple stakeholders, including students, parents, and staff, potentially leading to widespread disruption.

Organizations should immediately assess whether they use the Code-projects Simple School Management System version 1.0 or any unpatched versions. Since no official patch is currently available, mitigation should focus on implementing compensating controls: 1) Restrict network access to the affected application, limiting it to trusted IPs or VPN users only. 2) Employ Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with rules specifically designed to detect and block SQL injection attempts targeting the login parameters. 3) Conduct code reviews and apply input validation and parameterized queries to the authentication mechanism to prevent SQL injection. 4) Monitor logs for suspicious login attempts or unusual query patterns. 5) Plan for an urgent update or migration to a patched or alternative system once available. 6) Educate IT staff and users about the risks and signs of exploitation. These steps will help reduce the attack surface and protect sensitive data until an official fix is released.