CVE Alert: CVE-2025-9740 – code-projects – Human Resource Integrated System

Risk verdict

High risk; remote unauthenticated SQL injection with a publicly available exploit increases likelihood of active exploitation; urgent remediation recommended.

Why this matters

The HRIS stores personnel, payroll and attendance data, so exploitation could lead to data disclosure or manipulation and disruption of HR operations. Successful abuse may enable data access, exfiltration or pivoting to other systems, with regulatory and reputational impact.

Most likely attack path

An attacker can target the log_query.php endpoint over the network using the ID parameter to trigger SQL injection without authentication. The vulnerability permits data access or modification if the DB is reachable from the app server; preconditions align with AV:N, PR:N, UI:N and scope unchanged, making lateral movement dependent on database permissions and network controls.

Who is most exposed

Organisations hosting an internet-facing HRIS web app are most at risk, particularly small to mid-size enterprises that deploy HRIS on public or poorly segmented networks.

Detection ideas

• Unusual requests to log_query.php containing crafted ID parameters or SQLi payloads
• Database errors or stack traces appearing in application logs
• Repeated failed or highly verbose queries causing performance spikes
• WAF/IDS alerts for SQL injection patterns targeting log_query.php
• Unexplained data access or export activity from HR tables

Mitigation and prioritisation

• Apply vendor patch or upgrade to a fixed version; if unavailable, implement compensating controls and code changes
• Enforce parameterised queries/prepared statements and disable dynamic SQL in the affected path
• Deploy WAF rules to block SQL injection attempts on log_query.php; monitor for suspicious payloads
• Restrict database access to the app server and apply least-privilege DB accounts; segment HRIS from sensitive networks
• Plan a change-management runbook: test fix in staging, back up data, and schedule patching with minimal downtime; document incident response procedures.