Oh no, you're thinking, yet another cookie pop-up. Well, sorry, it's the law. We measure how many people read us, and ensure you see relevant ads, by storing cookies on your device. If you're cool with that, hit “Accept all Cookies”. For more info and to customize your settings, hit “Customize Settings”.

Review and manage your consent

Here's an overview of our use of cookies, similar technologies and how to manage them. You can also change your choices at any time, by hitting the “Your Consent Options” link on the site's footer.

Manage Cookie Preferences
  • These cookies are strictly necessary so that you can navigate the site as normal and use all features. Without these cookies we cannot provide you with the service that you expect.

  • These cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you. They perform functions like preventing the same ad from continuously reappearing, ensuring that ads are properly displayed for advertisers, and in some cases selecting advertisements that are based on your interests.

  • These cookies collect information in aggregate form to help us understand how our websites are being used. They allow us to count visits and traffic sources so that we can measure and improve the performance of our sites. If people say no to these cookies, we do not know how many people have visited and we cannot monitor performance.

See also our Cookie policy and Privacy policy.

This article is more than 1 year old

50,000 sites backdoored through shoddy WordPress plugin

Not running WordPress? Better hope your neighbour isn't

Some 50,000 sites have been sprayed with backdoors from shonky malware targeting a popular and vulnerable WordPress plugin, according to researcher Daniel Cid.

Sucuri founder Cid says the bodged malware can infect any site that resides on the server of a hacked WordPress website. The flawed plugin allowed attackers to "inject anything" into sites including malware, defacements and spam.

"The malware code had some bugs: it was breaking many websites, overwriting good files and appending various statements in loops at the end of files," Cid said in a blog.

"All the hacked sites were either using MailPoet or had it installed on another sites within the same shared account -- cross-contamination still matters.

"To be clear, the MailPoet vulnerability is the entry point, it doesn't mean your website has to have it enabled or that you have it on the website; if it resides on the server, in a neighbouring website, it can still affect your website."

Cid urged WordPress sites to update their vulnerable plugins.

Admins could look for an obvious sign of infection with the error: "Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ‘)’ in /home/user/public_html/site/wp-config.php on line 91". More technical detail was available on the Sucuri blog. ®

 

Similar topics

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like