WordPress.org has introduced a brand new account safety measure that can require accounts with capabilities to replace plugins and themes to activate two-factor authentication (2FA) mandatorily.
The enforcement is predicted to come back into impact beginning October 1, 2024.
“Accounts with commit entry can push updates and adjustments to plugins and themes utilized by thousands and thousands of WordPress websites worldwide,” the maintainers of the open-source, self-hosted model of the content material administration system (CMS) stated.
“Securing these accounts is important to stopping unauthorized entry and sustaining the safety and belief of the WordPress.org neighborhood.”
Moreover requiring obligatory 2FA, WordPress.org stated it is introducing what’s referred to as SVN passwords, which refers to a devoted password for committing adjustments.
This, it stated, is an effort to introduce a brand new layer of safety by separating customers’ code commit entry from their WordPress.org account credentials.
“This password features like an utility or extra consumer account password,” the crew stated. “It protects your important password from publicity and permits you to simply revoke SVN entry with out having to vary your WordPress.org credentials.”
WordPress.org additionally famous that technical limitations have prevented 2FA from being utilized to current code repositories, on account of which it has opted for a “mixture of account-level two-factor authentication, high-entropy SVN passwords, and different deploy-time security measures (akin to Launch Confirmations).”
The measures are seen as a approach to counter eventualities the place a malicious actor may seize management of a writer’s account, thereby introducing malicious code into legit plugins and themes, leading to large-scale provide chain assaults.
The disclosure comes as Sucuri warned of ongoing ClearFake campaigns focusing on WordPress websites that goal to distribute an data stealer referred to as RedLine by tricking website guests into manually operating PowerShell code as a way to repair a problem with rendering the online web page.
Risk actors have additionally been noticed leveraging contaminated PrestaShop e-commerce websites to deploy a bank card skimmer to siphon monetary data entered on checkout pages.
“Outdated software program is a main goal for attackers who exploit vulnerabilities in outdated plugins and themes,” safety researcher Ben Martin stated. “Weak admin passwords are a gateway for attackers.”
Customers are beneficial to maintain their plugins and themes up-to-date, deploy an internet utility firewall (WAF), periodically evaluate administrator accounts, and monitor for unauthorized adjustments to web site recordsdata.
