CVE-2025-45953 is a critical security vulnerability identified in the PHPGurukul Hostel Management System version 2.1, specifically within the /hostel/change-password.php file of the user panel's Change Password component. The vulnerability arises due to improper handling of session data, which enables an attacker to perform a remote Session Hijacking attack. Session Hijacking involves an adversary taking over a valid user session by stealing or predicting a valid session token, thereby gaining unauthorized access to the victim's account without needing to authenticate themselves. In this case, the vulnerability is rooted in CWE-384 (Session Fixation), indicating that the application does not properly regenerate or validate session identifiers during critical operations such as password changes. The CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.1 (critical) reflects the high severity, with an attack vector of network (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:N), no user interaction (UI:N), and impacts on confidentiality and integrity (C:H/I:H) but not availability (A:N). This means an attacker can exploit this remotely without any authentication or user interaction, leading to full compromise of user accounts. Although no known exploits are currently reported in the wild, the vulnerability's nature and ease of exploitation make it a significant threat. The lack of vendor or product information beyond PHPGurukul Hostel Management System 2.1 limits the scope of affected deployments but highlights a critical flaw in session management within this software.

For European organizations, especially educational institutions, student housing providers, and universities that utilize the PHPGurukul Hostel Management System, this vulnerability poses a severe risk. Successful exploitation could allow attackers to hijack user sessions, leading to unauthorized access to sensitive personal data such as student identities, contact information, and potentially financial details related to hostel payments. This breach of confidentiality could result in privacy violations under GDPR regulations, leading to legal and financial penalties. Integrity of user accounts is also compromised, allowing attackers to change passwords or manipulate user data, potentially disrupting hostel management operations. While availability is not directly impacted, the loss of trust and potential operational disruptions could indirectly affect service continuity. Given the criticality and ease of exploitation, attackers could leverage this vulnerability for espionage, identity theft, or to gain footholds within institutional networks, which may be strategically valuable in the European context where educational infrastructure is often targeted for cyber espionage or ransomware campaigns.

To mitigate this vulnerability, organizations should immediately review and update their PHPGurukul Hostel Management System installations to the latest patched version once available. In the absence of an official patch, administrators should implement the following specific measures: 1) Ensure session identifiers are regenerated upon any privilege elevation or sensitive operations such as password changes to prevent session fixation. 2) Implement secure session management practices including setting the 'HttpOnly' and 'Secure' flags on cookies, and enforcing strict session timeout policies. 3) Use server-side session validation to verify session tokens against user IP addresses or user-agent strings to detect anomalies. 4) Employ multi-factor authentication (MFA) to reduce the impact of session hijacking. 5) Conduct regular security audits and penetration testing focusing on session management components. 6) Monitor logs for unusual session activities or multiple concurrent sessions from different locations. 7) Educate users on recognizing suspicious activities and encourage immediate reporting of anomalies. These targeted actions go beyond generic advice by focusing on session management hardening and proactive detection tailored to this vulnerability's nature.