CVE-2025-6868: Simple Company Website SQLi Vulnerability

CVE-2025-6868 Overview

CVE-2025-6868 is a SQL injection vulnerability in SourceCodester Simple Company Website 1.0, developed by oretnom23. The flaw resides in the /admin/clients/manage.php script, where the ID parameter is passed to a database query without proper sanitization. Authenticated remote attackers can manipulate the parameter to inject arbitrary SQL statements. The exploit has been publicly disclosed, increasing the likelihood of opportunistic abuse against exposed installations. The vulnerability is tracked under CWE-74: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component (Injection).

Critical Impact
Authenticated attackers can manipulate the ID parameter on /admin/clients/manage.php to execute arbitrary SQL queries against the backend database, potentially exposing or altering stored client records.

Affected Products

SourceCodester Simple Company Website 1.0
oretnom23 simple_company_website (CPE: cpe:2.3:a:oretnom23:simple_company_website:1.0)
All deployments exposing /admin/clients/manage.php

Discovery Timeline

2025-06-29 - CVE-2025-6868 published to NVD
2026-04-29 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-6868

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability affects the administrative client management script located at /admin/clients/manage.php. The script accepts an ID argument from the request and concatenates it into a SQL statement without parameterization or input validation. This allows an attacker with administrative session access to break out of the intended query context and execute arbitrary SQL.

Exploitation requires network access and authenticated privileges on the administrative interface. The published proof of concept on GitHub demonstrates remote exploitation against the affected endpoint. Because the injection occurs in administrative functionality, successful attacks can read, modify, or delete client records stored in the application database.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper neutralization of user-controlled input before it is incorporated into a SQL query. The ID parameter received by manage.php is not bound through prepared statements or sanitized against SQL metacharacters. Any string passed to this parameter is treated as part of the query syntax, enabling classic SQL injection patterns such as boolean-based, UNION-based, and error-based extraction.

Attack Vector

The attack is delivered over the network through standard HTTP(S) requests to the vulnerable administrative endpoint. An attacker authenticated to the admin panel sends a crafted request manipulating the ID parameter. Refer to the GitHub PoC Issue #24 and VulDB entry #314340 for technical details on the injection payload structure.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-6868

Indicators of Compromise

HTTP requests to /admin/clients/manage.php containing SQL metacharacters such as ', --, UNION, SELECT, or SLEEP in the ID parameter
Web server access logs showing unusually long or URL-encoded ID values
Database error messages returned to the client referencing syntax errors or table structures
Unexpected administrative session activity from external IP addresses

Detection Strategies

Deploy web application firewall (WAF) rules that inspect query string and POST parameters for SQL injection signatures on the /admin/ path
Enable database query logging and alert on queries containing UNION SELECT or stacked statements originating from the web application user
Correlate authentication events with subsequent administrative actions to detect compromised admin accounts

Monitoring Recommendations

Monitor PHP error logs for SQL syntax errors generated by manage.php
Track outbound data volumes from the database server for signs of bulk extraction
Review admin panel access logs daily for requests originating from unexpected geographic locations or networks

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-6868

Immediate Actions Required

Restrict access to the /admin/ directory using IP allowlisting or VPN-only access until a patch is available
Rotate all administrative credentials and enforce multi-factor authentication on the admin interface
Audit the clients database table for unauthorized modifications or unexpected entries
Consider taking the application offline if it processes sensitive client data and cannot be isolated

Patch Information

No official vendor patch has been published for SourceCodester Simple Company Website 1.0 at the time of disclosure. Organizations running this application should evaluate migration to an actively maintained alternative or implement source-level fixes by converting affected queries to use prepared statements with bound parameters in PHP Data Objects (PDO) or MySQLi.

Workarounds

Modify /admin/clients/manage.php to cast the ID parameter to an integer before use, for example $id = (int)$_GET['ID'];
Replace dynamic SQL concatenation with parameterized queries using PDO prepared statements
Deploy a WAF rule blocking SQL injection patterns targeting the ID parameter on the admin endpoint
Disable or remove the affected administrative module if client management functionality is not required

bash

# Example ModSecurity rule to block SQLi patterns on the vulnerable endpoint
SecRule REQUEST_URI "@contains /admin/clients/manage.php" \
    "chain,id:1006868,phase:2,deny,status:403,msg:'CVE-2025-6868 SQLi attempt'"
    SecRule ARGS:ID "@detectSQLi" "t:none,t:urlDecodeUni"