The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-50493 affects the PHPGurukul Doctor Appointment Management System, specifically within the /doctor/change-password.php component. The issue is an improper session invalidation flaw, which means that when a user changes their password, the system fails to properly terminate or invalidate the existing session tokens associated with that user. This oversight allows an attacker who has obtained or intercepted a valid session token prior to the password change to continue using that session, effectively hijacking the user's session. Session hijacking can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive patient data, appointment details, and potentially administrative functions within the system. Since the vulnerability resides in a critical component related to user authentication and password management, it undermines the integrity of user sessions and the overall security posture of the application. The absence of a CVSS score and lack of known exploits in the wild suggest that this vulnerability is newly disclosed and may not yet be actively exploited, but the nature of the flaw indicates a significant risk if left unaddressed. No specific affected versions are listed, which may imply the issue is present in all current versions or that version details are not yet fully disclosed. The vulnerability does not require user interaction beyond normal use of the password change feature, and exploitation likely requires the attacker to have access to a valid session token, which could be obtained through other means such as network interception or cross-site scripting attacks.

For European organizations, especially healthcare providers using the PHPGurukul Doctor Appointment Management System, this vulnerability poses a serious risk to patient confidentiality and data integrity. Unauthorized session hijacking could lead to exposure of sensitive personal health information (PHI), violating GDPR regulations and potentially resulting in significant legal and financial penalties. The compromise of appointment management systems could disrupt healthcare delivery, causing operational downtime and loss of trust among patients. Given the critical nature of healthcare services, any unauthorized access could also facilitate further attacks, such as data manipulation or ransomware deployment. The impact extends beyond confidentiality to integrity and availability, as attackers could alter appointment data or block legitimate users from accessing their accounts. The lack of known exploits currently reduces immediate risk, but the vulnerability's presence in a widely used healthcare management system means European healthcare entities must act promptly to prevent exploitation.

To mitigate this vulnerability, organizations should implement immediate session invalidation upon password changes, ensuring all active sessions for the user are terminated and new sessions require re-authentication. This can be achieved by regenerating session identifiers and clearing session data server-side when a password update occurs. Additionally, enforcing secure session management practices such as using HttpOnly and Secure flags on cookies, implementing short session timeouts, and monitoring for anomalous session activity can reduce risk. Organizations should also conduct a thorough code review of the /doctor/change-password.php component and related authentication modules to identify and remediate similar session management issues. Deploying web application firewalls (WAFs) with rules to detect session hijacking attempts and educating users on secure password practices will further strengthen defenses. Since no patch links are currently available, organizations should engage with the vendor for updates or consider temporary compensating controls such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) to limit the impact of compromised sessions.