CVE-2025-25875 - SQL Injection Vulnerability in ITSourcecode Simple ChatBox ≤ 1. – Exploit Details and Remediation Guide

The digital world relies on the security of web applications, but sometimes even simple chat scripts can open the door to serious risks. One such issue is tracked as CVE-2025-25875, exposing users of ITSourcecode's Simple ChatBox (versions up to 1.) to sensitive data leaks through SQL Injection. In this exclusive post, we will break down how this vulnerability works, how to exploit it, and most importantly — how to protect against it.

What is CVE-2025-25875?

CVE-2025-25875 refers to a vulnerability found in ITSourcecode’s Simple ChatBox (versions ≤ 1.). The flaw lives in the message.php file, which improperly handles user-supplied input. An attacker can manipulate database queries via SQL injection, potentially grabbing usernames, messages, or even user passwords (depending on how the chat box is set up).

The Vulnerable File and Code

The main issue lies in how user input is passed directly to SQL queries without proper sanitization. Let’s look at a typical message submission function in message.php (simplified for illustration):

<?php
if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "POST") {
    $name = $_POST['name'];
    $message = $_POST['message'];
    // Vulnerable SQL query
    $sql = "INSERT INTO chatbox (name, message) VALUES ('$name', '$message')";
    mysqli_query($conn, $sql);
}
?>

What’s wrong?

Inputs $name and $message are put directly into the SQL command. If an attacker sends

name: eviluser
message: '); DROP TABLE chatbox; --

The resulting SQL would break the syntax and could even delete your whole chat history!

How the SQL Injection Works

SQL Injection means an attacker can send crafted input that changes the meaning of your SQL commands. If the code doesn’t sanitize or escape these entries, attackers can do things like:

For example, to dump the list of all users, an attacker might send

name: ' OR 1=1; --
message: test

Which could trick the SQL query into selecting all data from the table.

Exploit Example

Here’s a proof-of-concept (PoC) that demonstrates the vulnerability using a basic curl command.

Suppose the chat input form POSTs to /message.php

curl -X POST http://example.com/message.php \
  -d "name=attacker' OR 1=1-- " \
  -d "message=hello"

What happens?

This transforms the SQL query to effectively always be true

INSERT INTO chatbox (name, message) VALUES ('attacker' OR 1=1-- ', 'hello')

Even allow UNION statements to extract other tables (with more advanced payloads)

A more dangerous exploit could steal all message history (if the script supports results or echoes database error messages).

Apply parameterized queries to guarantee user input is handled securely

<?php
if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "POST") {
    $stmt = $conn->prepare("INSERT INTO chatbox (name, message) VALUES (?, ?)");
    $stmt->bind_param("ss", $_POST['name'], $_POST['message']);
    $stmt->execute();
}
?>

Always sanitize and validate all user data before using it in your application

$name = htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($_POST['name']));
$message = htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($_POST['message']));

3. Limit Database Privileges

Never let your web application's database user have DROP or ALTER permissions unless absolutely needed.

References

- ITSourcecode Simple ChatBox Project Page
- OWASP SQL Injection Guide
- PHP mysqli Prepared Statements
- CVE Details for CVE-2025-25875 (link will become live after official publishing)

Conclusion

CVE-2025-25875 is a simple but critical flaw. If you use ITSourcecode's Simple ChatBox, patch your code immediately using prepared statements, or consider switching to a more maintained and secure chat solution.

Take action now to protect your users — and your data.
If you discovered this vulnerability in your software, always notify the vendor or developer so they can issue an update.

Timeline

Published on: 02/21/2025 18:16:12 UTC
Last modified on: 03/17/2025 19:15:26 UTC