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 modifications to plugins and themes utilized by tens of millions 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 crucial to stopping unauthorized entry and sustaining the safety and belief of the WordPress.org group.”
Moreover requiring obligatory 2FA, WordPress.org stated it is introducing what’s known as SVN passwords, which refers to a devoted password for committing modifications.
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 capabilities like an utility or further consumer account password,” the staff stated. “It protects your fundamental password from publicity and means that you can 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 present code repositories, because of which it has opted for a “mixture of account-level two-factor authentication, high-entropy SVN passwords, and different deploy-time safety features (reminiscent of Launch Confirmations).”
The measures are seen as a strategy to counter eventualities the place a malicious actor might seize management of a writer’s account, thereby introducing malicious code into reputable 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 known as RedLine by tricking website guests into manually operating PowerShell code with the intention to repair a difficulty with rendering the online web page.
Menace 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“Outdated software program is a major goal for attackers who exploit vulnerabilities in previous plugins and themes,” safety researcher Ben Martin stated. “Weak admin passwords are a gateway for attackers.”
Customers are really useful to maintain their plugins and themes up-to-date, deploy an internet utility firewall (WAF), periodically evaluate administrator accounts, and monitor for unauthorized modifications to web site information.
