CVE-2025-30572: Simple Rating CSRF & XSS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-30572 Overview

CVE-2025-30572 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Simple Rating WordPress plugin developed by Igor Yavych. This security flaw allows attackers to leverage CSRF to inject and store malicious cross-site scripting (XSS) payloads, creating a chained attack that can compromise WordPress site visitors and administrators.

Critical Impact

Attackers can exploit this CSRF vulnerability to inject persistent XSS payloads that execute in the context of authenticated users, potentially leading to session hijacking, administrative account compromise, and malicious content injection on affected WordPress sites.

Affected Products

• Simple Rating WordPress Plugin version 1.4 and earlier
• WordPress installations using Simple Rating plugin (all versions through 1.4)

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-03-24 - CVE-2025-30572 published to NVD
• 2026-04-23 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-30572

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability represents a chained attack scenario where Cross-Site Request Forgery serves as the entry point for Stored Cross-Site Scripting. The Simple Rating plugin fails to implement proper CSRF token validation on sensitive form submissions, allowing attackers to craft malicious requests that are executed when an authenticated administrator visits an attacker-controlled page. The lack of input sanitization then allows the injected content to be stored persistently in the database, where it executes whenever other users view the affected content.

The attack requires user interaction—specifically, an authenticated administrator must be tricked into visiting a malicious page while logged into the WordPress dashboard. However, once the payload is stored, it persists and affects all subsequent visitors, amplifying the potential damage significantly.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2025-30572 lies in two interconnected security failures within the Simple Rating plugin:

1. Missing CSRF Protection: The plugin does not implement WordPress nonce verification on administrative form submissions, allowing cross-origin requests to be processed as legitimate actions.

2. Insufficient Input Sanitization: User-supplied input is stored in the database without proper escaping or sanitization, enabling XSS payloads to persist and execute in victim browsers.

These combined weaknesses create a vulnerability chain where CSRF enables the initial attack vector, and the lack of output encoding allows the stored XSS to execute.

Attack Vector

The attack follows a network-based vector requiring user interaction. An attacker crafts a malicious HTML page containing a hidden form that automatically submits to the vulnerable Simple Rating plugin endpoint. When an authenticated WordPress administrator visits this page (via social engineering, phishing, or other means), the malicious form is submitted using the administrator's authenticated session.

The form submission includes JavaScript payloads in rating-related fields that the plugin stores without sanitization. Once stored, these payloads execute whenever any user views content containing the compromised rating elements, enabling session theft, credential harvesting, or further malicious actions.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-30572

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected or suspicious rating entries containing JavaScript code or HTML tags
• Database entries in Simple Rating tables containing <script>, onerror=, onclick=, or similar XSS patterns
• Administrator session tokens being sent to external domains
• Unusual outbound requests from the WordPress frontend to unknown third-party servers

Detection Strategies

• Review WordPress database tables associated with the Simple Rating plugin for entries containing JavaScript or HTML injection patterns
• Monitor web server logs for suspicious form submissions to Simple Rating plugin endpoints from external referrers
• Implement Content Security Policy (CSP) headers and monitor for CSP violation reports indicating XSS execution attempts
• Use Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block requests containing common XSS patterns in rating-related parameters

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable WordPress audit logging to track all plugin-related administrative actions and form submissions
• Configure real-time alerts for database modifications to Simple Rating tables that contain script tags or event handlers
• Monitor for unusual patterns in referrer headers on administrative endpoints that may indicate CSRF attacks
• Review browser console errors and CSP reports from site administrators and visitors

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-30572

Immediate Actions Required

• Deactivate and remove the Simple Rating plugin (simple-rating) from affected WordPress installations immediately
• Audit the WordPress database for any stored XSS payloads in Simple Rating related tables and remove malicious entries
• Invalidate all active WordPress administrator sessions to prevent exploitation of potentially stolen session tokens
• Review alternative rating plugins that implement proper CSRF protection and input sanitization

Patch Information

As of the last NVD update, no official patch has been confirmed for Simple Rating versions 1.4 and earlier. Organizations should monitor the Patchstack WordPress Plugin Vulnerability Database for updates on remediation status and any future security releases from the plugin developer.

Workarounds

• Remove the Simple Rating plugin entirely until a patched version is available
• Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with rules to block CSRF attacks and XSS payloads targeting the plugin's endpoints
• Add Content Security Policy headers to prevent inline script execution, which can mitigate the impact of stored XSS
• Restrict administrative access to trusted IP addresses to reduce the likelihood of successful CSRF exploitation

# WordPress CLI commands to deactivate and remove the vulnerable plugin
wp plugin deactivate simple-rating
wp plugin delete simple-rating

# Search database for potential XSS payloads (adjust table prefix as needed)
wp db query "SELECT * FROM wp_options WHERE option_value LIKE '%<script%' OR option_value LIKE '%onerror=%'"