CVE-2025-58768: Thinkinai Deepchat RCE Vulnerability

CVE-2025-58768 Overview

DeepChat, a smart assistant powered by artificial intelligence developed by ThinkInAI, contains a critical Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in its Mermaid chart rendering component. Prior to version 0.3.5, the application directly uses innerHTML to render user-supplied content within Mermaid charts, enabling attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript code. This XSS vulnerability chains with exposed Inter-Process Communication (IPC) interfaces, ultimately allowing arbitrary command execution on the underlying system.

Critical Impact

This vulnerability enables attackers to execute arbitrary commands on systems running vulnerable DeepChat installations through a chained XSS-to-RCE exploit via exposed IPC interfaces.

Affected Products

• ThinkInAI DeepChat versions prior to 0.3.5
• DeepChat installations using the Mermaid chart rendering component
• All platforms running vulnerable DeepChat builds

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-09-09 - CVE CVE-2025-58768 published to NVD
• 2025-09-18 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-58768

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability represents an incomplete fix for a previously identified XSS issue (tracked as GHSA-hqr4-4gfc-5p2j) in DeepChat. The root cause lies in the Mermaid chart rendering component, which unsafely handles user-controlled content through the dangerous innerHTML property. When rendering Mermaid diagrams, the application fails to properly sanitize input before injecting it into the DOM, allowing malicious script payloads to execute in the context of the application.

The vulnerability is classified under CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation) and CWE-94 (Improper Control of Generation of Code). The exploit chain leverages the initial XSS foothold to access exposed IPC interfaces within the Electron-based application, escalating from client-side script execution to full system command execution.

Root Cause

The vulnerability stems from the direct assignment of user-controlled content to the innerHTML property within the Mermaid chart rendering logic. This unsafe DOM manipulation bypasses browser security mechanisms designed to prevent script injection. The application lacks proper input sanitization, content security policies, or use of safer DOM APIs such as textContent or sanitization libraries. The previous security fix for GHSA-hqr4-4gfc-5p2j was incomplete, leaving this attack vector exposed.

Attack Vector

The attack requires user interaction, specifically triggering the rendering of a malicious Mermaid chart containing crafted JavaScript payloads. An attacker can inject malicious content through any input vector that feeds into the Mermaid rendering pipeline. Once the XSS payload executes, it leverages DeepChat's exposed IPC interfaces—a common security weakness in Electron applications—to invoke system-level commands. This transforms a client-side scripting vulnerability into a full remote code execution scenario.

The network-based attack vector with scope change indicates that successful exploitation can impact resources beyond the vulnerable component, affecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the host system.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-58768

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected JavaScript execution or DOM modifications within DeepChat Mermaid chart elements
• Suspicious IPC calls originating from renderer processes in DeepChat
• Unusual child processes spawned by the DeepChat application
• Network connections initiated by DeepChat to unexpected external hosts

Detection Strategies

• Monitor for anomalous process creation chains where DeepChat spawns unexpected system commands or shells
• Implement application-level logging to track IPC message patterns and flag unusual command invocations
• Deploy endpoint detection rules to identify JavaScript-to-IPC exploitation patterns in Electron applications
• Review Mermaid chart content for embedded script tags, event handlers, or encoded JavaScript payloads

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable verbose logging in DeepChat deployments to capture rendering events and IPC communications
• Configure endpoint protection solutions to monitor Electron application behavior for privilege escalation attempts
• Implement content inspection for user-supplied Mermaid chart definitions before processing
• Establish baseline behavior profiles for DeepChat process activity to detect anomalous command execution

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-58768

Immediate Actions Required

• Upgrade DeepChat to version 0.3.5 or later immediately
• Restrict access to DeepChat instances until patching is complete
• Review system logs for signs of exploitation or suspicious activity
• Implement network segmentation to limit the impact of potential command execution

Patch Information

ThinkInAI has released version 0.3.5 of DeepChat which contains an updated fix addressing this vulnerability. The patch properly sanitizes user content before rendering in Mermaid charts, eliminating the unsafe innerHTML usage. Organizations should update to this version through their standard deployment channels. For detailed patch information, refer to the GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-f7q5-vc93-wp6j.

Workarounds

• Disable Mermaid chart rendering functionality if the feature is not required until patching is feasible
• Implement strict Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict script execution within the application
• Deploy application sandboxing to limit the impact of potential exploitation
• Restrict DeepChat usage to trusted content sources only until the update can be applied

# Verify DeepChat version to ensure patched release is installed
# Check the installed version against the fixed version 0.3.5
deepchat --version
# Expected output should show 0.3.5 or higher