CVE-2025-3530 in Simple Shopping Cart Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 04/23/2025
The WordPress Simple Shopping Cart plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to product price manipulation in all versions up to, and including, 5.1.2. This is due to a logic flaw involving the inconsistent use of parameters during the cart addition process. The plugin uses the parameter 'product_tmp_two' for computing a security hash against price tampering while using 'wspsc_product' to display the product, allowing an unauthenticated attacker to substitute details from a cheaper product and bypass payment for a more expensive item.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/23/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-3530 represents a critical logic flaw within the WordPress Simple Shopping Cart plugin that exposes online stores to financial loss through unauthorized price manipulation. This weakness affects all plugin versions up to and including 512, demonstrating a fundamental failure in the plugin's security implementation that directly impacts the integrity of the shopping cart system. The flaw exists in the plugin's handling of product data during the cart addition process, where inconsistent parameter usage creates exploitable conditions that allow attackers to manipulate transaction values without authentication. The vulnerability specifically targets the security hash computation mechanism that should prevent unauthorized modifications to product pricing information during checkout processes.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the plugin's inconsistent use of parameter names during different stages of the cart processing workflow. During security hash computation, the plugin relies on the 'product_tmp_two' parameter which contains the original product pricing information, but when displaying products to users, it utilizes the 'wspsc_product' parameter that may contain manipulated data. This inconsistency creates a window of opportunity for attackers to substitute product details from cheaper items while maintaining the security hash validation that should prevent such modifications. The flaw operates at the application layer and demonstrates poor input validation and parameter handling practices that violate fundamental security principles. This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-284 Access Control Bypass and CWE-345 Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity, as the system fails to properly validate the integrity of product information throughout the transaction lifecycle.
The operational impact of CVE-2025-3530 extends beyond simple price manipulation to represent a significant financial risk for e-commerce platforms utilizing the affected plugin. An unauthenticated attacker can exploit this vulnerability to substitute expensive products with cheaper alternatives, potentially resulting in substantial revenue loss for online retailers. The attack requires no authentication credentials, making it particularly dangerous as it can be executed by anyone with access to the affected website. This vulnerability affects the core payment processing functionality of the plugin and could potentially be leveraged in combination with other attack vectors to compromise additional system components. The flaw undermines the trust model of the e-commerce platform by allowing unauthorized modification of transaction values, which could lead to fraudulent transactions and customer disputes. Security researchers have noted that such vulnerabilities often remain undetected for extended periods due to the subtle nature of parameter handling inconsistencies that may appear benign during routine testing.
Organizations using the Simple Shopping Cart plugin should immediately implement mitigations to address this vulnerability, including updating to the latest available version that contains proper parameter validation and consistent security hash computation. The recommended approach involves verifying that all product parameters used in security hash calculations match those displayed to users, eliminating the possibility of data substitution attacks. System administrators should also implement additional monitoring mechanisms to detect unusual transaction patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, particularly around product price discrepancies during checkout processes. Network segmentation and web application firewalls can provide additional layers of protection by monitoring for suspicious parameter manipulation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of consistent parameter handling in security-critical applications and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1213 Data from Information Repositories, as it involves unauthorized access to product pricing information through manipulation of application parameters. Organizations should conduct thorough security audits of their e-commerce systems to identify similar parameter handling inconsistencies that could create analogous vulnerabilities in their digital infrastructure.