WordPress.org has introduced a brand new account safety measure that may 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 thousands and thousands of WordPress websites worldwide,” the maintainers of the open-source, self-hosted model of the content material administration system (CMS) mentioned.
“Securing these accounts is important to stopping unauthorized entry and sustaining the safety and belief of the WordPress.org group.”
Apart from requiring obligatory 2FA, WordPress.org mentioned it is introducing what’s known as SVN passwords, which refers to a devoted password for committing modifications.
This, it mentioned, 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 software or extra person account password,” the crew mentioned. “It protects your primary password from publicity and permits you to simply revoke SVN entry with out having to alter your WordPress.org credentials.”
WordPress.org additionally famous that technical limitations have prevented 2FA from being utilized to current 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 security measures (similar to Launch Confirmations).”
The measures are seen as a solution to counter situations the place a malicious actor may seize management of a writer’s account, thereby introducing malicious code into official plugins and themes, leading to large-scale provide chain assaults.
The disclosure comes as Sucuri warned of ongoing ClearFake campaigns concentrating on WordPress websites that intention to distribute an data stealer known as RedLine by tricking website guests into manually working PowerShell code with the intention to repair a difficulty 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“Outdated software program is a main goal for attackers who exploit vulnerabilities in outdated plugins and themes,” safety researcher Ben Martin mentioned. “Weak admin passwords are a gateway for attackers.”
Customers are beneficial to maintain their plugins and themes up-to-date, deploy an internet software firewall (WAF), periodically assessment administrator accounts, and monitor for unauthorized modifications to web site recordsdata.