CVE-2025-63717 Overview
CVE-2025-63717 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in SourceCodester Pet Grooming Management Software 1.0 developed by Mayurik. The flaw resides in the change password functionality at /pet_grooming/admin/change_pass.php. The application fails to implement anti-CSRF tokens or SameSite cookie restrictions on password change requests. Attackers can craft malicious web pages that force authenticated administrators to submit password change requests without their knowledge. Successful exploitation results in account takeover of the administrator panel. The weakness is tracked under CWE-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery.
Critical Impact
An attacker who lures an authenticated admin to a malicious page can silently reset the admin password and hijack the pet grooming management application.
Affected Products
- Mayurik Pet Grooming Management Software 1.0
- SourceCodester distribution of Pet Grooming Management Software
- /pet_grooming/admin/change_pass.php endpoint
Discovery Timeline
- 2025-11-07 - CVE-2025-63717 published to NVD
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2025-63717
Vulnerability Analysis
The change password endpoint at /pet_grooming/admin/change_pass.php accepts state-changing POST requests without validating request origin. The application does not generate or verify a per-session anti-CSRF token. Session cookies are also issued without the SameSite=Lax or SameSite=Strict attribute, allowing cross-site inclusion of authentication cookies. An attacker who convinces a logged-in administrator to visit a hostile page can trigger an automatic form submission to the vulnerable endpoint. The browser attaches the valid session cookie, and the server processes the password change as legitimate.
Root Cause
The root cause is missing origin validation on a security-sensitive state-changing request. The password change handler does not enforce token-based CSRF defenses, does not verify the Origin or Referer header, and does not require re-authentication before updating credentials. The application also relies on default cookie flags that do not restrict cross-site request inclusion.
Attack Vector
Exploitation requires an authenticated admin session in the victim's browser and social engineering to load attacker-controlled content. The attacker hosts an HTML page containing an auto-submitting form targeting /pet_grooming/admin/change_pass.php with attacker-chosen password fields. When the victim visits the page, the browser issues the POST with the victim's session cookie attached, and the backend updates the administrator password. No user interaction beyond visiting the malicious page is required. See the GitHub CVE Research Repository for technical details and the SourceCodester Software Download page for the affected build.
Detection Methods for CVE-2025-63717
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected successful POST requests to /pet_grooming/admin/change_pass.php with Referer or Origin headers pointing to third-party domains.
- Administrator password changes that occur without corresponding legitimate admin console navigation events in access logs.
- Sudden admin lockouts or failed logins by legitimate operators immediately after a password change entry in the audit trail.
Detection Strategies
- Inspect web server access logs for POST requests to change_pass.php where the Referer header is missing, malformed, or external to the application domain.
- Correlate password change events with prior GET requests to the admin change password page from the same session; a missing precursor request suggests forged submission.
- Deploy a web application firewall (WAF) rule to alert on state-changing POSTs lacking an anti-CSRF token parameter.
Monitoring Recommendations
- Forward PHP application access logs and authentication events to a centralized logging platform for cross-session correlation.
- Alert on any successful password change for administrator accounts and require out-of-band confirmation.
- Monitor for anomalous outbound admin activity following credential updates, such as new user creation or role escalation.
How to Mitigate CVE-2025-63717
Immediate Actions Required
- Restrict access to /pet_grooming/admin/ to trusted management networks or a VPN until a fix is applied.
- Force administrator password resets and terminate all active sessions to invalidate any credentials that may have been silently changed.
- Enable SameSite=Strict on session cookies at the web server or PHP configuration layer as an interim defense.
Patch Information
No official vendor patch has been published for CVE-2025-63717 at the time of NVD publication. Administrators should apply source-level changes to add anti-CSRF token generation and validation on the change_pass.php handler, enforce Origin/Referer checks, and require the current password before accepting a new password.
Workarounds
- Add a hidden per-session CSRF token to the change password form and validate it server-side on every POST.
- Set the session cookie with SameSite=Strict, Secure, and HttpOnly attributes to prevent cross-site cookie inclusion.
- Require re-authentication with the current password on the change password form to block silent forced submissions.
- Place the admin interface behind IP allow-listing or a reverse proxy that enforces Origin header validation.
# Configuration example - enforce SameSite and Secure session cookies in php.ini
session.cookie_samesite = "Strict"
session.cookie_secure = 1
session.cookie_httponly = 1
session.use_strict_mode = 1
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
