As one of the most popular content management systems powering millions of websites, it comes as no surprise that WordPress is a prime target for hackers. Unfortunately, a new vulnerability has surfaced that could put as many as 48,000 WordPress sites at risk. As such, webmasters responsible for keeping their sites secure are urged to update their installs as soon as possible.
The vulnerability in question, known as a cross-site request forgery (CSRF) exploit, was discovered by the security research firm Sucuri. The exploit affects versions of WordPress which are running versions of the File Manager plugin prior to 6.9. It is estimated that up to 48,000 WordPress sites are running an affected version of the plugin.
A CSRF exploit is a type of attack which aims to trick a user into performing malicious tasks on a website without their knowledge. In this particular case, an attacker could use the exploit to change a WordPress site’s file permissions and execute malicious code.
The File Manager plugin has now been updated to version 6.9 in order to patch the exploit. However, it’s important to remember that applying the latest security patches can be a time-consuming task and is often overlooked by webmasters. Therefore, it is recommended that all WordPress sites running versions of the File Manager plugin prior to 6.9 update as soon as possible.
For WordPress users who are worried about their website’s security, it is advised to utilize further security measures such as two-factor authentication and use of a web-application firewall. Additionally, it is also important to keep all WordPress plugins, themes and other components updated; failing to do so may result in further vulnerabilities that could lead to a site being compromised.
Given the huge popularity of WordPress, it is no surprise that the CMS is a common target for hackers and cybercriminals. Consequently, it is essential for webmasters to keep their WordPress sites safe and secure by applying the latest security patches whenever they are released. If you’re running a WordPress site and have not applied the latest security patches, it is highly recommended to do so as soon as possible in order to protect against the latest CSRF exploit.
