A critical security flaw could affect thousands of WordPress sites

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Forminator can be used to upload malware to the site

WordPress
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Hundreds of thousands of WordPress websites are vulnerable to a critical severity flaw which allows threat actors to upload malware to the site through a bug in a plugin. 

As reported by BleepingComputer, Japan’s CERT recently found a critical severity flaw (9.8) in the Forminator plugin, built by WPMU DEV. The flaw, now tracked as CVE-2024-28890, allows threat actors to obtain sensitive information by accessing files on the server.

The researchers also said the flaw could be used to change the contents of the site, mount denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, and more. 

No evidence of abuse

Forminator is a plugin that allows WordPress operators to add custom contact, feedback, quizzes, surveys, polls, and payment forms. Everything is drag-and-drop and thus user-friendly, and plays well with many other plugins. 

WPMU DEV has addressed the issue and released a patch. Users are advised to apply it and bring their Forminator plugin to version 1.29.3 as soon as possible. At press time, the WordPress.org website shows at least 500,000 active downloads, of which 56% run the latest version. That leaves at least 230,000 websites that are possibly still vulnerable.

So far, there is no evidence of CVE-2024-28890 being exploited in the wild, but given its destructive potential, and the simplicity to be abused, chances are abuse is just a matter of time. 

While WordPress itself is generally considered a safe platform, its various plugins and add-ons present a unique opportunity for hackers looking for a way in. As a general rule of thumb, WordPress admins are advised to keep the platform, the plugins, themes, and add-ons updated at all times, and to deactivate all of the add-ons that they don’t actively use.

WordPress is the world’s number one website builder platform, with almost half of all websites on the internet being powered by the builder.

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Sead Fadilpašić

Sead is a seasoned freelance journalist based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He writes about IT (cloud, IoT, 5G, VPN) and cybersecurity (ransomware, data breaches, laws and regulations). In his career, spanning more than a decade, he’s written for numerous media outlets, including Al Jazeera Balkans. He’s also held several modules on content writing for Represent Communications.