Simple History <= 5.8.1 - Authenticated (Administrator+) Sensitive Information Exposure via Detective Mode

2025-06-05 21:58
Blair Crawford

Strategic Overview

Vulnerability Overview

The Simple History plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to sensitive data exposure via Detective Mode due to improper sanitization within the append_debug_info_to_context() function in versions prior to 5.8.1. When Detective Mode is enabled, the plugin’s logger captures the entire contents of $_POST (and sometimes raw request bodies or $_GET) without redacting any password‐related keys. As a result, whenever a user submits a login form, whether via native wp_login or a third‐party login widget, their actual password is written in clear text into the logs. An authenticated attacker or any user whose actions generate a login event will have their password recorded; an administrator (or anyone with database read access) can then read those logs and retrieve every captured password.

Technical Analysis

REMEDIATION: Update to version 5.8.2, or a newer patched version --- IDENTIFIER: CWE-256 (Plaintext Storage of a Password) The product stores a password in plaintext within resources such as memory or files.

External References

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