CVE-2025-57892 Overview
CVE-2025-57892 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability [CWE-352] in the Jeff Starr Simple Statistics for Feeds WordPress plugin. The flaw affects all versions of simple-feed-stats up to and including version 20250322. An attacker can trick an authenticated user into submitting a forged request that performs unintended state-changing actions in the plugin. Exploitation requires user interaction, typically by luring a victim to a malicious page or link while they are authenticated to the target WordPress site.
Critical Impact
An attacker can leverage a victim's authenticated session to trigger unauthorized actions in the Simple Statistics for Feeds plugin, resulting in limited integrity impact on affected WordPress installations.
Affected Products
- Jeff Starr Simple Statistics for Feeds (simple-feed-stats) plugin for WordPress
- All versions from n/a through <= 20250322
- WordPress sites running the vulnerable plugin
Discovery Timeline
- 2025-08-22 - CVE-2025-57892 published to NVD
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2025-57892
Vulnerability Analysis
The vulnerability is a Cross-Site Request Forgery weakness in the Simple Statistics for Feeds plugin. The plugin fails to validate the origin or authenticity of state-changing HTTP requests. As a result, an attacker-controlled page can cause a logged-in administrator's browser to submit forged requests to the target WordPress site. Because the browser automatically attaches session cookies, the request executes with the victim's privileges.
The attack succeeds without the attacker possessing the victim's credentials. The impact is limited to integrity — an attacker cannot directly read plugin data or trigger denial of service through this issue. Confidentiality and availability are not affected. The Patchstack advisory documents the flaw and tracks the affected version range.
Root Cause
The root cause is missing or improperly implemented anti-CSRF protections on privileged plugin actions. WordPress provides the wp_nonce_field() and check_admin_referer() primitives to defend against CSRF, but the vulnerable plugin endpoints do not enforce nonce validation. Without a nonce check, any request bearing valid session cookies is accepted, regardless of origin.
Attack Vector
Exploitation is network-based and requires user interaction. An attacker crafts a malicious HTML page containing a hidden form or img/fetch request targeting a vulnerable plugin endpoint on the victim's WordPress site. The attacker then delivers the page via phishing, a comment link, or a compromised third-party site. When an authenticated administrator visits the page, the browser submits the forged request. The plugin processes the request as if the administrator initiated it, applying the attacker-controlled changes.
For technical details, refer to the Patchstack Vulnerability Report.
Detection Methods for CVE-2025-57892
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected changes to Simple Statistics for Feeds plugin settings without corresponding administrator activity in access logs.
- HTTP POST requests to plugin endpoints containing Referer headers pointing to external or unrelated domains.
- Administrator sessions accessing plugin admin URLs in immediate succession after visiting external links.
Detection Strategies
- Inspect web server access logs for state-changing requests to wp-admin plugin pages that lack an on-site Referer header.
- Monitor WordPress audit logs for plugin configuration changes and correlate them with administrator browsing sessions.
- Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule that flags cross-origin POST requests to WordPress admin endpoints without a valid nonce parameter.
Monitoring Recommendations
- Enable a WordPress activity logging plugin to record all administrative changes with source IP and referer metadata.
- Alert on repeated failed nonce validation events across any installed plugins to identify broader CSRF probing.
- Track outbound clicks from administrator accounts to untrusted domains during authenticated sessions.
How to Mitigate CVE-2025-57892
Immediate Actions Required
- Deactivate the Simple Statistics for Feeds plugin until the maintainer releases a patched version addressing the CSRF flaw.
- Restrict administrative access to WordPress from dedicated, hardened browsers that do not visit untrusted third-party sites.
- Review the plugin configuration and recent changes to identify any unauthorized modifications.
Patch Information
At the time of the last NVD update on 2026-06-17, no fixed version beyond 20250322 is listed in the referenced advisory. Monitor the Patchstack Vulnerability Report and the plugin's official page for an updated release, and apply it as soon as it becomes available.
Workarounds
- Remove or disable the plugin if feed statistics are not business-critical.
- Enforce two-factor authentication for all WordPress administrators to reduce the value of a hijacked session.
- Deploy a WAF rule that requires a matching same-origin Referer or Origin header for POST requests to wp-admin endpoints.
- Use browser session isolation so administrators only authenticate to WordPress in a browser profile that does not visit external content.
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
