Blind SQL injection in Kolay Talentics — urgent patching and ISO 27001 steps

Blind SQL injection in Kolay Talentics (20 minutes ago), severity 9.8 — patch now before your database starts answering back

What happened

Twenty minutes ago a critical vulnerability was disclosed affecting Kolay Software Inc.’s Talentics product, recorded as CVE-2025-10970. The flaw is a Blind SQL Injection, rated 9.8 critical, and the advisory says the issue affects Talentics through 20022026. The reporter also notes the vendor was contacted early about the disclosure but did not respond.

Although the disclosure does not list further technical detail, Blind SQL Injection typically allows attackers to infer or extract data from a database by sending crafted requests and observing application responses or timings. Since this is an internet-facing product used by organisations, the potential for data exposure or integrity problems is real, and you should treat the report as urgent.

Why this matters to business leaders

While developers worry about queries and parameter binding, boards worry about measurable harm. A successful SQL injection can let an attacker read records, alter data or perform administrative actions in the database. That means customer or employee records, configuration data and business-critical information could be at risk.

Given regulators take data protection seriously, a vulnerability with this severity can trigger mandatory reporting obligations, fines, contractual fallout and expensive remediation, not to mention the slow-motion reputational damage that costs more than a new firewall. And no, hoping the attacker will ignore you is not a strategy.

What can go wrong if you ignore it

Although not every exploit ends in headlines, the scenarios that keep sensible people awake are straightforward and upsetting.

• Quiet data theft that is only noticed months later when fraud or phishing using real data starts happening.
• Rapid manipulation of records that breaks downstream processes, causing outages and lost revenue.
• Regulatory action and customer compensation claims when personal data is exposed.

Since backups are often untested, recovery can take longer than you expect, and that multiplies costs. And yes, your incident response team will sound much less convincing if they never ran the playbook once.

How recognised standards help, and where Synergos can fit in

Although technical fixes are essential, the root causes are often procedural. An ISO 27001 information security management system builds the processes that catch these issues early, for example through regular risk assessment, secure development policies, vulnerability management and supplier oversight.

Since vendor responsiveness is part of a healthy supply chain, ISO 27001 controls around supplier management and contract clauses for timely vulnerability handling would have forced clearer expectations on Kolay or any third party, and given organisations a defined escalation route.

Following a serious web or application vulnerability, organisations that have an ISO 22301 business continuity plan are more likely to keep serving customers while they isolate and remediate vulnerable services. That matters when downtime equals lost invoices and irate partners.

For quick, practical baseline controls, consider Cyber Essentials and IASME certifications, and for the human factor, check out security awareness training, because even the best application security can be undermined by a poorly guarded admin credential.

Immediate steps every organisation running Talentics or similar apps should take right now

While you wait for a vendor patch or guidance, the following actions will materially reduce risk. They aren’t glamorous, but they work.

• Confirm which versions you run, and prioritise inventory and exposure checks.
• Isolate or limit network access to the application, using IP restrictions or a VPN where possible.
• Apply virtual patches temporarily, for example rules on a Web Application Firewall, but test carefully to avoid breaking legitimate functionality.
• Harden database access with least privilege, and rotate any service credentials that might have been exposed.
• Increase logging and watch for unusual queries or slow response patterns that indicate Blind SQL techniques are being tried.
• Activate your incident response plan and legal team to check notification duties and contractual obligations.

Although these steps help immediately, you should also plan for longer term fixes, such as code remediation, secure coding reviews, automated testing and regular third party pentests.

Supplier and disclosure governance

Since the vendor reportedly did not respond to the disclosure, treat the supplier relationship as a risk item to be escalated. Put vulnerability disclosure clauses into contracts, demand patch timelines, and have fallback plans, such as isolation or replacement, if a supplier will not engage.

Longer term fixes that stop this happening again

Given SQL injection is a well understood class of vulnerability, prevention is mostly disciplined work not wizardry. Start with parameterised queries, prepared statements and input validation, then add runtime protections like least privilege and monitoring. Automate dependency checks and include security requirements in your procurement process so you don’t inherit this problem next time.

Since management systems build repeatable behaviour, consider formalising what you do with an ISO 27001 programme, supported by continuous improvement and regular assurance activities from an external specialist or a support package, such as those described on Synergos’ support pages. For practical, certificated basics, Cyber Essentials is a good step that buys you immediate, demonstrable control maturity.

Although this disclosure is fresh, the lesson is not new: treat application security like plumbing. Ignore it and things get very messy, quickly.

Think about the simple habit changes you can make tomorrow morning, and the policies you should put in place this quarter to stop a similar hole showing up again.