WordPress Exploit – AMP Plugin

Posted on by Echo Diaz
Category: Security Bulletins | Tags: , ,

AMP for WP -Accelerated Mobile Pages allows your site to be faster for mobile visitors. Along with last week’s report, the AMP plugin has also been added to the list exploited. The AMP for WP plugin was reported on October 20, 2018, by its developers. Luckily, the newest version, 0.9.97.20, of this plugin has patched for their known security flaws. This exploit has the means of putting 100,000+ users at potential risk, so its best to check if you are utilizing this plugin. In this tutorial, we will be checking if you use this plugin. Along with updating, we will also show you how to check if your site for compromises.

In the vein of the WP GDPR plugin exploit, the AMP hack allows code vulnerability to make site-wide changes. Bots scan for sites using the AMP plugin and use an XSS security bug to create a new user that has admin-like privileges. The vulnerable versions’ (below 0.9.97.20) code didn’t cross check to see if registered users had the permissions to perform some actions. With administrative like privileges a hacker can hide their code within your WordPress files to use to take over your website. Additionally, they can upload files, update plugins, read files, and inject posts.

Identify If You Use AMP for WP

By logging into your WordPress backend you can easily see if you are subject to this exploit.

Step 1: Enter the WordPress backend by going to yourdomain.com/wp-login.php in your browser.
Step 2: Login with your WordPress username and password and navigate to Plugins and click on Installed Plugins on the left-hand side of your screen.
Step 3: Scroll down through any installed plugins to see if you have Accelerated Mobile Pages within your list, followed by its version. Any version below 0.9.97.20 is still vulnerable and you’ll have to perform a few actions to protect yourself.
The Plugins section in WordPress will allow you to see if you are utilizing AMP.

Upgrade AMP – Accelerated Mobile Pages

Note: It’s recommended to backup your website before pushing any updates.

Step 1: Follow the steps above in the section “Identify If You Use AMP for WP” to login and locate your Plugins menu.

Step 2: Locate Accelerated Mobile Pages. If you are running an outdated version you’ll see a message providing you a link to update. Click “update now” to automatically update to the latest version.

 

In the WordPress backend click the "update now" link to protect yourself from the AMP hack.

Have You Been Hacked?

A site hack is possible even without noticing any visual differences to your site. For a closer inspection below are some of the characteristics of the AMP exploit.

  • Characteristics of the AMP hack:
  • External Calls to sslapis.com
  • New creation of WordPress admin user “supportuuser”
  • Post injections
  • Registered user can manipulate code
  • Code vulnerability in ajax hooks
    • ampforwp_save_steps_data
    • wp_ajax_ampforwp_get_licence_activate_update
    • wp_ajax_ampforwp_deactivate_license
    • wp_ajax_ampforwp_save_installer
    • wp_ajax_amppb_export_layout_data
    • wp_ajax_amppb_save_layout_data
    • wp_ajax_ampforwp_get_image

If have identified your site is compromised from above characteristics, you’ll want to remedy it immediately since other sites on the same server can potentially be affected.

  • Liquid Web customer can purchase a Malware Clean Up package
  • Manually remove the code from the infected files
  • Restore from a backup dated before October 20, 2018 (keep in mind this will still have the old version and your site will still be in danger).

As time goes by, more plugins will give way to more vulnerabilities but there are some proactive steps to ensure your site’s security. For insight into ways of protecting your WordPress site look into our article on the subject, The Best Ways to Protect Your WordPress Site.

 

WordPress GDPR Plugin Exploit – All You Need To Know

Posted on by Echo Diaz | Updated:
Category: Featured Articles, Tutorials | Tags: , , ,

As of November 9, 2018, the WP GDPR Compliance plugin has been exploited by hackers. This plugin aids e-commerce site owners in compliance with European privacy standards. Since the very nature of GDPR is to protect the personal data and privacy of EU citizens, it should be tended to as soon as possible to avoid a costly cleanup. WP GDPR Compliance is also known for working in conjunction with many forms including Contact Form 7, Gravity Forms, and WordPress Comments.

The main characteristic of this hack is the addition of new users, users with admin privileges. These administrative users have full access to your WordPress site. With Admin users a hacker can alter your site without your knowledge, including making rouge pages or selling your visitor’s information.

This article shows WP GDPR users how to:

 

If you are familiar with how to log in to your WordPress backend you can easily see if you are using this plugin.

Step 1: Enter the WordPress backend by going to yourdomain.com/wp-login.php in your browser.

Step 2: Login with your WordPress username and password and navigate to Plugins and click on Installed Plugins on the left-hand side of your screen.

Step 3: Scroll down through any installed plugins to see if WP GDPR Compliance is within your list.  On this screen, you’ll be able to see the version of the plugin to the right of the plugin name. Any version less than 1.4.3 is vulnerable and should be updated.

Indentify if you are vulnerable to WP GDPR by locating the plugins menu in WordPress.

Note:
Documented evidence shows an inactive GDPR plugin is not vulnerable to the exploit.

 

Although this is a severe exploit, it is easy to patch and protect yourself by performing a simple update.

Step 1: Follow the steps above in the section “How to Identify if you use the WP GDPR plugin” to login and locate your Plugins menu.

Step 2: Afterwards, find WP GDPR Compliance, if you are running an outdated version you’ll see a message letting you know you can update. Selecting the “update now” link will automatically upgrade to the newest version.

Update the WP GDPR plugin to avoid a hacked WordPress site.

 

There is a couple of routes for identifying this hack, listed below, but you can also use the Wordfence Security Scanner or our read our blog article on the subject of exploitation.

Indicators of Compromise include the following characteristics:

  • Creation of new users with Admin privileges
  • A database user in the wp-users table named t2trollherten and t3trollherten
  • URL’s inserted into the code have seen as pornmam.com
  • Installation of the 2MB Autocode plugin, executed by WP-Cron via WooCommerce’s woocommerce_plugin_background_installer
  • The wp_options table within your database has an entry starting with 2mb_autocode or default_role  is set to anything other than “subscriber”
  • Recent edits to the wp-super-cache/wp-cache.php file
  • Creation of a backdoor file, /wp-content/uploads/…/wp-upd.php
  • Incoming IPs from:
    • 109.234.39.250
    • 109.234.37.214
    • 195.123.213.91
    • 46.39.65.176

 

If you deduced your site is compromised from previously mentioned characteristics, then you’ll want to remedy it immediately since other sites on the same server can be affected.

  • Liquid Web customer can purchase a Malware Clean Up package
  • Manually remove the code from the infected files
  • Restore from a backup dated before November 8, 2018 (keep in mind this will still have the old version, and your site will still be in danger)

 

Information on CVE-2015-5154

Posted on by J. Mays
Category: Security Bulletins | Tags: , , , ,

Overview

Information on CVE-2015-5154 was made public on July 27, 2015. The vulnerability is in QEMU, a generic and open source machine emulator and virtualizer that is utilized by Xen, KVM, and other modern hypervisors / virtualization platforms.

Impact

Specifically a flaw with how QEMU’s IDE subsystem handles buffer access while processing certain ATAPI commands, exploitation can allow for the execution of arbitrary code on the host with the privileges of the host’s QEMU process corresponding to the guest.

Summary

  • Made public on July 27, 2015
  • This flaw exploits QEMU, a generic and open source machine emulator.
  • Allows for an attacker to execute arbitrary code outside of their own virtual machine.

Resolution

A patch is available, and Liquid Web’s Heroic Support has proactively scheduled a reboot to patch all affected servers.

Continue reading “Information on CVE-2015-5154” →

Information on CVE-2015-3456 QEMU Vulnerability (VENOM)

Posted on by J. Mays | Updated:
Category: Security Bulletins, Technical Support | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Overview

VENOM, or Virtualized Environment Neglected Operations Manipulation, was made public on May 13, 2015. The vulnerability is in QEMU, a generic and open source machine emulator and virtualizer that is utilized by Xen, KVM, and other modern hypervisors / virtualization platforms.

Impact

Specifically a flaw with how QEMU handles out-of-bounds memory access, exploitation can cause the entire hypervisor to crash and may allow an attacker to access other virtual machines outside of their own.

Summary
  • Made public on May 13, 2015
  • This flaw exploits QEMU, a generic and open source machine emulator.
  • Allows for an attacker to access other virtual machines outside of their own.
Resolution

A patch is available, and Liquid Web’s Heroic Support has proactively scheduled a reboot to patch all affected servers.

Continue reading “Information on CVE-2015-3456 QEMU Vulnerability (VENOM)” →

How to Prevent Being Hacked by the Cross-site Scripting Vulnerability in WP Super Cache

Posted on by J. Mays | Updated:
Category: Security Bulletins, Technical Support, Tutorials | Tags: , , , , , ,

The popular WordPress plugin WP Super Cache has been found to have a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in versions prior to 1.4.4. On sites with outdated versions, it is possible for an attacker to take complete control of the WordPress site. Please note: this vulnerability only affects users which have installed WP Super Cache. However, if you are unsure if you use the plugin or not you should still take precautions to protect your site.

Thankfully, this is vulnerability is simple to address; version 1.4.4, available now, contains a patch.

This tutorial is very similar to our tutorial on updating any WordPress plugin: How To Update a WordPress Plugin

Continue reading “How to Prevent Being Hacked by the Cross-site Scripting Vulnerability in WP Super Cache” →

How to Update a WordPress Plugin

Posted on by J. Mays | Updated:
Category: Technical Support, Tutorials | Tags: , , , ,
Step 1: Login to WordPress as Administrator

Hopefully, you’re already well-versed in logging into your WordPress site as an administrator!

Step 2: Access Updates

If there is an update for a plugin or a theme, then you’ll likely have a number in the top bar and next to Updates as shown below (the number 5). Click on Updates!

How To Update a WordPress Plugin - 01

Step 3: Select All the Plugins

Check the box for Select All:

How To Update a WordPress Plugin - 02

Step 4: Update the Plugins

Click on Update Plugins:

How To Update a WordPress Plugin

And at the end of the update process you should receive something similar to, All updates have been completed.

How To Update a WordPress Plugin

Information on CVE-2014-6271 and CVE-2014-7169 Bash Vulnerabilities (Shell Shock)

Posted on by J. Mays | Updated:
Category: Security Bulletins, Technical Support | Tags: , , , , , , ,

On September 24th, a vulnerability was reported in the GNU Bourne-Again-Shell (BASh, or Bash), specifically a flaw with how Bash processes values of environment variables, that allows remote code execution of varying types in many common configurations. The overall risk is severe due to bash being configured for use, by default, on most Linux servers.

While Liquid Web immediately began working to proactively patch this vulnerability, some servers may remain vulnerable depending on their update settings or other unforeseen intervening factors. Thus, we’ve provided the instruction below.

To Summarize:

  • This flaw exploits Bash, a Unix command-line shell run by default on most Linux servers.
  • Allows for remote code execution, and many types of command-line based attacks.
  • A patch is available, and your server can be easily updated.
  • We have tutorials on How to Update Bash on Red Hat and CentOS and How to Update Bash on Debian and Ubuntu.
  • Test the vulnerability of your server with the information below.

Continue reading “Information on CVE-2014-6271 and CVE-2014-7169 Bash Vulnerabilities (Shell Shock)” →