Domain registrar and web hosting giant GoDaddy has been hacked and customer data for some 1.2 million WordPress users were exposed to the attacker for more than three months.
The Tempe, Arizona-based GoDaddy disclosed the breach in an SEC filing and confirmed that millions of users of its managed WordPress hosting service had sensitive data stolen, including database usernames and passwords, email addresses and private SSL keys.
GoDaddy did not provide details on the compromise beyond a note that the attacker used a compromised password to access the provisioning system in its legacy code base for Managed WordPress.
The company said the hack began on September 6 and, over the last three months, the attacker gained access to valuable customer information.
The raw details on the breach:
- Up to 1.2 million active and inactive Managed WordPress customers had email address and customer number exposed. The exposure of email addresses presents risk of phishing attacks.
- The original WordPress Admin password that was set at the time of provisioning was exposed. If those credentials were still in use, GoDaddy reset those passwords.
- For active customers, sFTP and database usernames and passwords were exposed. GoDaddy said it reset both passwords.
- For a subset of active customers, the SSL private key was exposed. GoDaddy says it is in the process of issuing and installing new certificates for those customers.
The company said its investigation is ongoing and that all impacted customers will be contacted directly with specific details.
GoDaddy security chief Demetrius Comes said the company is taking steps to strengthen its provisioning system with additional layers of protection.
This is not the first time GoDaddy has notified customers of a data breach. Back in May 2020, the company confirmed an incident exposed web hosting account credentials.
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Ryan Naraine is Editor-at-Large at SecurityWeek and host of the popular Security Conversations podcast series. He is a security community engagement expert who has built programs at major global brands, including Intel Corp., Bishop Fox and GReAT. Ryan is a founding-director of the Security Tinkerers non-profit, an advisor to early-stage entrepreneurs, and a regular speaker at security conferences around the world.
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