Critical Blind SQL Injection in Akilli E-Commerce Website (CVE-2025-11024)

Executive Summary

A critical blind SQL injection vulnerability (CVE-2025-11024) has been disclosed in the Akilli Commerce Software Technologies Ltd. Co. E-Commerce Website platform. The flaw carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 and allows unauthenticated remote attackers to extract arbitrary data from the backend database through time-based or boolean-based blind injection techniques.

All deployments running versions prior to 4.5.001 are vulnerable. Operators should update immediately or apply mitigations to restrict database query surface until a patch can be applied.

Vulnerability Overview

Affected Versions

Technical Analysis

Root Cause

The vulnerability stems from unsanitized user input being incorporated directly into SQL queries executed against the backend database. The application fails to implement parameterized queries or prepared statements in one or more endpoints — allowing user-supplied data to alter query logic.

The "blind" classification means the database does not return query results directly in the application response. Instead, attackers infer data by:

• Boolean-based blind SQLi: Submitting payloads that cause the application to respond differently depending on whether a condition is true or false
• Time-based blind SQLi: Using SLEEP() or equivalent functions to introduce measurable delays, inferring data character-by-character based on response timing

Attack Flow

1. Attacker identifies a vulnerable input field (e.g., product ID, search query, category parameter)
2. Attacker submits a crafted payload: e.g., ' OR SLEEP(5)-- or ' AND 1=1--
3. Application passes the unsanitized input directly into the SQL query
4. Database executes the attacker-controlled query logic
5. Attacker iterates through characters using binary search:
   - e.g., ' AND ASCII(SUBSTRING(username,1,1)) > 64 AND SLEEP(3)--
6. Attacker extracts: usernames, passwords (hashes), email addresses, payment tokens, session data
7. Extracted credentials enable full account takeover or lateral movement

What Attackers Can Extract

Because this vulnerability provides arbitrary SQL read access, attackers can retrieve:

• Admin and user credentials (usernames, password hashes)
• Customer PII (names, emails, addresses, phone numbers)
• Payment information (card data if stored, order details)
• Session tokens (enabling account takeover without needing passwords)
• Internal configuration data (database structure, table contents)

Impact Assessment

Immediate Remediation

Step 1: Apply the Vendor Patch

Update the Akilli E-Commerce Website platform to version 4.5.001 or later. Contact Akilli Commerce Software Technologies Ltd. Co. for upgrade instructions and release notes.

Step 2: Web Application Firewall (WAF) Rules

While patching is in progress, deploy WAF rules to block common SQL injection patterns:

# Block time-based SQLi patterns
SLEEP\s*\(
WAITFOR\s+DELAY
BENCHMARK\s*\(
pg_sleep

# Block boolean-based patterns
\bOR\b\s+\d+=\d+
\bAND\b\s+\d+=\d+
UNION\s+SELECT
information_schema

# Block comment sequences
--|#|/\*.*\*/

Step 3: Database User Privilege Restriction

Ensure the application's database user has minimum required privileges only:

-- Remove unnecessary privileges from the app DB user
REVOKE FILE ON *.* FROM 'appuser'@'%';
REVOKE SUPER ON *.* FROM 'appuser'@'%';
REVOKE PROCESS ON *.* FROM 'appuser'@'%';
 
-- Verify remaining grants
SHOW GRANTS FOR 'appuser'@'%';

Step 4: Audit for Compromise

# Review database slow query log for suspicious timing-based queries
grep -E "SLEEP|BENCHMARK|WAITFOR" /var/log/mysql/slow-query.log
 
# Check web server access logs for repeated parameter manipulation
grep -E "(%27|'|%22|\"|SLEEP|UNION|SELECT)" /var/log/nginx/access.log | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn | head -50
 
# Look for bulk data extraction patterns (high query volume from single IP)
awk '{print $1}' /var/log/nginx/access.log | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn | head -20

Detection Indicators

Post-Remediation Checklist

1. Update to Akilli E-Commerce Website version 4.5.001 or later
2. Rotate all database credentials — assume they may have been extracted
3. Force password reset for all customer accounts
4. Invalidate all active sessions to evict any hijacked session tokens
5. Audit database contents for evidence of bulk read operations in query logs
6. Review web access logs for signs of prior exploitation (SQLi patterns)
7. Deploy WAF with SQL injection rule sets
8. Implement parameterized queries as a long-term code fix across all endpoints
9. Enable monitoring for anomalous database query patterns
10. Notify affected users if customer PII was reachable

References

• NVD — CVE-2025-11024
• CWE-89 — Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in SQL Commands
• OWASP SQL Injection Prevention Cheat Sheet