CVE-2025-30528: Awesome Logos CSRF Vulnerability

CVE-2025-30528 Overview

CVE-2025-30528 is a critical vulnerability affecting the wpshopee Awesome Logos WordPress plugin that combines Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) with SQL Injection capabilities. This chained attack vector allows remote attackers to bypass CSRF protections and execute arbitrary SQL queries against the WordPress database without requiring authentication.

Critical Impact

Attackers can exploit this vulnerability to perform unauthorized database operations including data exfiltration, modification, or deletion by tricking authenticated administrators into executing malicious requests.

Affected Products

• wpshopee Awesome Logos plugin versions 1.2 and earlier
• WordPress installations running vulnerable Awesome Logos plugin versions
• All WordPress configurations utilizing the affected plugin without additional security controls

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-03-24 - CVE CVE-2025-30528 published to NVD
• 2025-03-27 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-30528

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability represents a dangerous combination of two attack techniques: Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) and SQL Injection. The Awesome Logos plugin fails to implement proper CSRF token validation on endpoints that process database queries. When combined with insufficient input sanitization, this creates a pathway for attackers to inject malicious SQL statements through forged requests.

The attack requires social engineering to trick an authenticated WordPress administrator into visiting a malicious webpage or clicking a crafted link. Once triggered, the forged request bypasses the lack of CSRF protection and delivers SQL injection payloads directly to the vulnerable plugin endpoint, executing arbitrary database commands with the privileges of the WordPress database user.

The network-accessible nature of this vulnerability means that attackers can craft and host malicious pages anywhere on the internet, then target administrators through phishing or other social engineering methods to trigger the exploit.

Root Cause

The root cause stems from CWE-352 (Cross-Site Request Forgery) where the plugin developers failed to implement WordPress nonce verification on sensitive administrative actions that interact with the database. Additionally, user-supplied input parameters are passed directly to SQL queries without proper sanitization, parameterization, or prepared statements, enabling SQL injection attacks once the CSRF protection is bypassed.

Attack Vector

The attack follows a multi-stage exploitation chain:

1. An attacker crafts a malicious HTML page containing a hidden form that targets a vulnerable endpoint in the Awesome Logos plugin
2. The form includes SQL injection payloads embedded in parameter values expected by the plugin
3. The attacker lures an authenticated WordPress administrator to visit the malicious page
4. JavaScript automatically submits the form, or the administrator is tricked into clicking a submit button
5. The victim's browser sends the forged request to the WordPress site, including valid session cookies
6. Without CSRF token validation, the plugin processes the request and executes the injected SQL statements

The vulnerability requires no authentication from the attacker's perspective, only that the victim administrator is logged into their WordPress dashboard when they trigger the malicious request.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-30528

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual database queries in MySQL/MariaDB logs originating from the Awesome Logos plugin endpoints
• Unexpected HTTP POST requests to WordPress admin-ajax.php with Awesome Logos action parameters
• Signs of data exfiltration or unauthorized database modifications in WordPress tables
• Web server logs showing unusual referrer headers pointing to external domains for plugin-related requests

Detection Strategies

• Monitor WordPress access logs for POST requests to admin-ajax endpoints associated with the Awesome Logos plugin from unexpected referrers
• Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect SQL injection patterns in request parameters targeting logo management functions
• Enable MySQL query logging and audit for suspicious SQL statements containing UNION, SELECT, or data extraction commands from WordPress connections
• Deploy intrusion detection signatures for CSRF attack patterns combined with SQL injection payloads

Monitoring Recommendations

• Configure real-time alerting for database error logs indicating SQL syntax errors or injection attempts
• Establish baseline behavior for administrative actions in the Awesome Logos plugin and alert on anomalies
• Monitor for unexpected changes to WordPress options, user tables, or custom post types managed by the plugin
• Review WordPress security audit logs for administrative actions performed without corresponding user activity in the admin dashboard

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-30528

Immediate Actions Required

• Deactivate and remove the Awesome Logos plugin immediately if running version 1.2 or earlier
• Audit WordPress database for signs of unauthorized access, data modification, or injected content
• Review WordPress user accounts for any unauthorized administrator accounts or privilege changes
• Implement Web Application Firewall rules to block SQL injection patterns targeting WordPress installations

Patch Information

No official patch has been confirmed at this time. WordPress administrators should consult the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for the latest remediation guidance and check for plugin updates in the WordPress repository.

Workarounds

• Remove or deactivate the Awesome Logos plugin until a security patch is available from the developer
• Implement a Web Application Firewall with CSRF and SQL injection protection rules enabled
• Restrict WordPress admin access to trusted IP addresses only using .htaccess or server-level configurations
• Deploy WordPress security plugins that provide additional CSRF validation and SQL injection filtering
• Educate administrators about phishing risks and avoiding clicking untrusted links while logged into WordPress

# Deactivate plugin via WP-CLI
wp plugin deactivate awesome-logos --path=/var/www/html/wordpress

# Verify plugin is disabled
wp plugin list --status=inactive --path=/var/www/html/wordpress

# Optional: Remove plugin entirely
wp plugin delete awesome-logos --path=/var/www/html/wordpress