WordPress Security January Roundup: Core XSS and 4 Plugin vulnerabilities
This has certainly been an eventful month in WordPress security. January 6th saw a WordPress core security update. Upgrade immediately to version 4.4.1 of WordPress core if you haven’t already.
The vulnerability that WordPress 4.4.1 fixes is a cross site scripting or XSS vulnerability. The Automattic team did not release details of the vulnerability in the announcement, but the patch was reverse engineered by several security teams and they used the code change to come up with a proof of concept exploit. The exploit has also been posted on twitter. The result is that the exploit for this security issue is now in the wild so it’s very important that you update asap.
The following plugins also had vulnerabilities reported and in most cases, fixed, this month:
- Commentator plugin version 2.5.2 and older is affected by a reflected XSS vulnerability. Fixed in version 2.5.3.
- WordPress Download Manager 2.8.7 and older suffer from multiple vulnerabilities including privilege escalation, directory listing and unauthorized file download. Fixed in version 2.8.8.
- Simple Download Monitor 3.2.8 has multiple vulnerabilities that allows users to list all uploaded files, delete file thumbnails and download password protected files without a password. 3.2.9 fixes this issue.
- Simple Ads Manager 2.9.4.116 contains a SQL injection vulnerability (details here) that allows a remote attacker to access the administrator’s hashed password and other sensitive database data. Version 2.9.4.118 fixes the issue.
If you have not updated the plugins above, do so immediately.
In other news, we will be releasing a beta of a major new version of Wordfence in the coming days. If you are interested in running a beta version of Wordfence to try out new features – and to help us test new releases – you can join our Wordfence Beta mailing list on this page. We announce beta releases to our beta mailing list and include instructions on where to download the release.
Have a productive and secure week!
Comments
8:51 am
I had no idea Simple Ads Manager had vulnerabilities. I am going to update it right now...
Thank you for the post!
8:55 am
Thank's for great plugin, i use it on all mu sites.
9:15 am
As usual a very informative read.
Thanks Guys
Dave
9:19 am
Please remember that WordPress is not an Automattic product. http://wptavern.com/sixty-three-percent-of-wordpress-core-committers-are-not-employed-by-automattic
11:33 am
I use "Ads Manager Pro". It's awesome plugin. :D
1:47 pm
Thank you for the update guys. We've been informing our developers of XML vulnrebilities since a previous article of yours last year. We also recommend the WordFence plugin as the no. 1 plugin when using WordPress websites. Please keep these good updates and tips coming! :)
12:31 am
I will update my wordpress blog. Thank you!
2:44 am
hellow admin one more plugin is need to add in this section which is, Responsvie light box wordpress plugin.It is also effected.Recently i have removed that one from my blog.
1:47 pm
Hi, This one is another widely used plugin if you can reach them to inform and fix - WP Google Fonts <= 3.1.3 - Authenticated Reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) -- View details
5:10 am
Thank you for keeping us informed.