A critical SQL injection vulnerability has been identified in Apache Fineract, an open-source core banking software widely used for financial services.
This flaw, tracked as CVE-2024-32838, affects versions 1.4 through 1.9 and has been classified as important, with a CVSS score of 9.4, indicating its severity.
The vulnerability resides in several REST API endpoints, such as those handling “offices” and “dashboards.” An authenticated attacker can exploit this flaw by injecting malicious SQL code into the query parameters of these API endpoints.
This could lead to unauthorized data access, data manipulation, or even database compromise if exploited.
Critical SQL Injection Vulnerability
SQL injection occurs when unvalidated user input is embedded directly into SQL queries, allowing attackers to manipulate the database’s behavior.
The vulnerability in Apache Fineract stems from improper input validation and the lack of parameterized queries in its API implementation.
“Apache Fineract versions 1.9 and before have a vulnerability that allows an authenticated attacker to inject malicious data into some of the REST API endpoints’ query parameter”, read the advisory.
The vulnerability was discovered by Kabilan S, a security engineer at Zoho, and remediated by Aleksandar Vidakovic. Apache Fineract’s development team has thanked both contributors for their efforts in identifying and resolving this critical issue.
To address the issue, Apache has released version 1.10.1, which includes a robust SQL Validator.
This validator introduces a series of configurable tests and checks to ensure SQL queries are sanitized before execution, effectively mitigating potential injection attacks.
Download the latest version (1.10.1) from the official Apache Fineract website, follow the upgrade instructions provided in the documentation, and verify that all custom extensions or integrations are compatible with the updated version.
Users of affected versions are strongly advised to upgrade immediately.
Mitigations
To prevent SQL injection vulnerabilities in general:
- Use parameterized queries or prepared statements for all database interactions.
- Implement input validation to ensure user-supplied data conforms to expected formats.
- Employ an ORM (Object-Relational Mapping) framework to abstract database interactions securely.
- Regularly audit code for direct SQL queries and sanitize inputs where necessary.
Apache Fineract is widely deployed in financial services, especially among organizations serving unbanked and underbanked populations.
A successful attack exploiting this vulnerability could have severe consequences, including financial loss, reputational damage, and regulatory penalties.
Organizations using affected versions should prioritize upgrading to version 1.10.1 without delay to ensure their systems remain secure against this critical threat.
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