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

Am I affected?

• Check your version: in wp-admin go to Plugins → Installed Plugins and read the version under Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes.
• No admin access? Run a passive check of your site. It reads public files only.

What to do

1. Update to version 5.8.2, or a newer patched version
2. Rotate administrator passwords and application secrets if the site ran a vulnerable version while publicly reachable.
3. Watch Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes to get an email when the next vulnerability is published.

Advisory

Source description from Wordfence Intelligence, credited to Blair Crawford.

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.

Exploits & references

Proof-of-concept & detection

No public proof-of-concept or detection template is known for this vulnerability.

Advisories & patches

• Advisorywordfence.com

Related CVEs

Timeline

1. Jun 5, 2025

   CVE published

   Severity medium, CVSS 4.9

2. Nov 13, 2026

   Record last updated