Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Malware & Threats

Backdoor Uploaded to WordPress Sites via eCommerce Plugin Zero-Day

A zero-day vulnerability in an ecommerce plugin for WordPress has been exploited by cybercriminals to upload backdoors to affected websites, researchers warned.

A zero-day vulnerability in an ecommerce plugin for WordPress has been exploited by cybercriminals to upload backdoors to affected websites, researchers warned.

The ideal scenario for profit-driven hackers is to find and exploit security holes in plugins installed on hundreds of thousands or millions of websites. However, targeting a large number of less popular applications can also be profitable.

A good example is WP Marketplace, a WordPress shopping cart/e-commerce plugin installed on less than 500 websites. WP Marketplace is no longer maintained, which means that vulnerabilities are unlikely to ever get patched.

Last week, researchers at White Fir Design started seeing requests for a file associated with WP Marketplace. They quickly determined that attackers were most likely trying to find websites running WP Marketplace in an effort to exploit an arbitrary file upload vulnerability.

Sucuri has also observed attack attempts in the wild. According to the security firm, cybercriminals have been exploiting the vulnerability to upload a commonly used backdoor.

“Of course, it is not as valuable for hackers as vulnerabilities in popular plugins installed on every other site, but if your toolkit comprises hundreds of smaller vulnerabilities, the success rate will be comparable,” said Sucuri’s Denis Sinegubko. “That’s why plugin developers shouldn’t neglect best security practices even when developing small plugins.”

WP Marketplace, which hasn’t been updated in the last 8 months, was removed last week from the official WordPress Plugin Directory. White Fir Design pointed out that its developers also offer several other plugins, including WordPress Download Manager, which has tens of thousands of active installs. However, security doesn’t appear to be a priority. A file upload flaw discovered by White Fir Design nearly four months ago in the WordPress Download Manager is still unpatched.

Ecommerce websites are increasingly targeted by cybercriminals. Experts recently discovered thousands of compromised online shops set up to steal users’ payment card information.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Related Reading: WordPress Flaw Allows XSS Attack via Image Filenames

Related Reading: Persistent XSS Patched in WooCommerce WordPress Plugin

Related Reading: Persistent XSS Flaws Patched in Popular WordPress Plugins

Written By

Eduard Kovacs (@EduardKovacs) is a managing editor at SecurityWeek. He worked as a high school IT teacher for two years before starting a career in journalism as Softpedia’s security news reporter. Eduard holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial informatics and a master’s degree in computer techniques applied in electrical engineering.

Click to comment

Trending

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

Join the session as we discuss the challenges and best practices for cybersecurity leaders managing cloud identities.

Register

SecurityWeek’s Ransomware Resilience and Recovery Summit helps businesses to plan, prepare, and recover from a ransomware incident.

Register

Expert Insights

Related Content

Cybercrime

The changing nature of what we still generally call ransomware will continue through 2023, driven by three primary conditions.

Cybercrime

A recently disclosed vBulletin vulnerability, which had a zero-day status for roughly two days last week, was exploited in a hacker attack targeting the...

Malware & Threats

The NSA and FBI warn that a Chinese state-sponsored APT called BlackTech is hacking into network edge devices and using firmware implants to silently...

Application Security

Virtualization technology giant VMware on Tuesday shipped urgent updates to fix a trio of security problems in multiple software products, including a virtual machine...

Cyberwarfare

An engineer recruited by intelligence services reportedly used a water pump to deliver Stuxnet, which reportedly cost $1-2 billion to develop.

Malware & Threats

Unpatched and unprotected VMware ESXi servers worldwide have been targeted in a ransomware attack exploiting a vulnerability patched in 2021.

Malware & Threats

Apple’s cat-and-mouse struggles with zero-day exploits on its flagship iOS platform is showing no signs of slowing down.

Cybercrime

No one combatting cybercrime knows everything, but everyone in the battle has some intelligence to contribute to the larger knowledge base.