CVE-2025-63878 Overview
CVE-2025-63878 is a SQL injection vulnerability in Hackerwhale Restaurant Website Restoran v1.0, an open-source restaurant website project distributed on GitHub. The flaw resides in the Contact Form page, where user-supplied input is passed into a backend SQL query without proper sanitization or parameterization. An unauthenticated remote attacker can inject arbitrary SQL statements through the contact form fields to read database contents or tamper with stored records. The vulnerability is classified under [CWE-89] Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command.
Critical Impact
Unauthenticated attackers can inject SQL statements through the Contact Form to disclose or modify database contents over the network with no user interaction.
Affected Products
- Hackerwhale Restaurant Website Restoran 1.0
- Deployments cloned from the restaurant_website_restoran GitHub repository
- Any downstream fork that reuses the vulnerable Contact Form handler
Discovery Timeline
- 2025-11-19 - CVE-2025-63878 published to NVD
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2025-63878
Vulnerability Analysis
The vulnerability is a classic SQL injection reachable through the public-facing Contact Form page of the Restoran v1.0 application. User input submitted through the contact form is concatenated directly into a SQL statement executed against the backend database. Because the application does not use prepared statements or parameterized queries, attackers can break out of the intended string context and append additional SQL syntax. Exploitation does not require authentication or user interaction, and the attack is delivered over the network via standard HTTP requests.
Successful exploitation allows attackers to read arbitrary rows from database tables, including any credentials, contact records, or administrative data stored by the application. Attackers can also modify records if the underlying database user holds write permissions. The Restoran project is a learning-focused GitHub codebase, and deployments are most likely to appear in demo environments, portfolios, or small-business restaurant sites.
Root Cause
The root cause is the lack of input neutralization in the Contact Form handler. Fields such as name, email, and message are inserted into a SQL query using string concatenation rather than bound parameters. No server-side validation, allowlisting, or type coercion is applied before query execution.
Attack Vector
An attacker submits a crafted HTTP POST request to the Contact Form endpoint with SQL metacharacters (for example, single quotes, UNION SELECT clauses, or boolean-based payloads) embedded in form fields. The backend concatenates the payload into a database query, causing the injected SQL to execute. Refer to the GitHub CVE Research Document for the reporter's technical writeup.
Detection Methods for CVE-2025-63878
Indicators of Compromise
- HTTP POST requests to the Contact Form endpoint containing SQL syntax such as UNION SELECT, OR 1=1, SLEEP(, or unbalanced single quotes.
- Unusual database query error messages, stack traces, or 500 responses returned from the contact submission handler.
- Anomalous outbound data volumes or long response times from the web server following contact form submissions.
Detection Strategies
- Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with SQL injection signatures in front of the Restoran application and log all matches.
- Enable verbose database query logging and alert on queries originating from the Contact Form handler that contain UNION, comment sequences (--, #), or stacked statements.
- Perform authenticated dynamic application security testing (DAST) against the /contact endpoint to confirm remediation.
Monitoring Recommendations
- Monitor web server access logs for repeated POST requests to the contact form from a single source IP with varying payload lengths.
- Track database service accounts used by the web application for spikes in row-read counts or schema enumeration queries against information_schema.
- Correlate WAF blocks, web server 4xx/5xx responses, and database errors to surface exploitation attempts.
How to Mitigate CVE-2025-63878
Immediate Actions Required
- Take publicly reachable Restoran v1.0 instances offline or place them behind authentication until code-level fixes are applied.
- Rewrite the Contact Form database access code to use prepared statements with bound parameters instead of string concatenation.
- Rotate any database credentials that were accessible to the vulnerable application and audit tables for unauthorized changes.
Patch Information
No official vendor patch or advisory is available for Hackerwhale Restaurant Website Restoran v1.0 at the time of publication. Operators must apply source-level fixes themselves. See the reporter's writeup at the GitHub CVE Research Document for the vulnerable code location.
Workarounds
- Deploy a WAF rule set (for example, OWASP Core Rule Set) in blocking mode to filter SQL injection payloads targeting the contact endpoint.
- Restrict the database account used by the application to least privilege, denying write access to non-essential tables and blocking access to information_schema where feasible.
- Add server-side input validation that rejects contact form submissions containing SQL metacharacters or excessive length before they reach the database layer.
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
