Readers of this blog will know that attackers are constantly finding new ways to hide their malware and avoid detection; after all, that’s what good malware does best! We have recently observed attackers leveraging both excessive amounts of unicode as well as peculiar includes and file extensions within their WordPress backdoors to conceal their malware […]
Tag Archives: WordPress Security
New WooCommerce Security Best Practices Guide
WooCommerce is a widely used e-commerce platform, powering nearly 6 million online stores worldwide. Its popularity makes it a prime target for cybercriminals looking to exploit vulnerabilities and steal sensitive data and credit card information. In fact, according to data from our latest 2022 hacked website report, the top three most common cleanup signatures for […]
What Are WordPress Salts & Security Keys?
In the realm of WordPress security, there’s a powerful tag team working tirelessly behind the scenes to safeguard your website’s login process. Meet salts and security keys, the cryptographic wonders responsible for protecting the sensitive information housed within the cookies that WordPress depends on for authentication. Think about it: when you log into your WordPress […]
What is a 403 Error & How to Fix It
A 403 error can be a frustrating interruption to anyone’s day; it can lead to exasperated website visitors, even leading to lost traffic and website revenue depending on the affected page. When you (or your site visitors) encounter an unexpected 403, it’s vital to assess the issue promptly in the event that it’s the symptom […]
How to Update, Install & Remove WordPress Plugins & Themes With WP-CLI
WordPress, like other open-source content management systems, allows you to enhance your website’s appearance and functionality through custom code and third-party components like plugins and themes. It’s these extensions that allow you to publish content with added functionality for your visitors and facilitate the unique look of your brand. While the developers who build these […]
WordPress Vulnerability & Patch Roundup May 2023
Vulnerability reports and responsible disclosures are essential for website security awareness and education. Automated attacks targeting known software vulnerabilities are one of the leading causes of website compromises. To help educate website owners on emerging threats to their environments, we’ve compiled a list of important security updates and vulnerability patches for the WordPress ecosystem this […]
Vulnerability in Essential Addons for Elementor Leads to Mass Infection
On May 11th, 2023, the very popular WordPress plugin Essential Addons for Elementor released a patch for a critical privilege escalation vulnerability, initially discovered by PatchStack. The technical details of this vulnerability can be found on their recent blog post. Over one million websites use this plugin and the fallout from this has been absolutely […]
WordPress 6.2.1 Security & Maintenance Release
On May 16, 2023, the WordPress core team released a crucial update — WordPress 6.2.1. This latest security and maintenance release addresses a number of bug fixes and vulnerability patches, including an unauthenticated Directory Traversal vulnerability, unauthenticated Cross-Site Scripting vulnerability, and several other lower-severity vulnerabilities. To mitigate risk, we highly recommend verifying that your WordPress […]
Xjquery Wave of WordPress SocGholish Injections
In November, 2022, my colleague Ben Martin described how hackers were using zipped files and encrypted WordPress options stored in the database to inject SocGholish scripts into compromised WordPress sites. A bit later, we documented minor changes in the way this malware worked. By the end of March, 2023, we started noticing a new wave […]
What is XML-RPC? Security Risks & How to Disable
XML-RPC is a protocol designed for WordPress to standardize communication between different systems, allowing external applications (such as other blogging platforms and desktop clients) to interact with WordPress. This feature has been a part of WordPress since its early days, enabling seamless integration with the rest of the online world. However, the xmlrpc.php file, which […]
