• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About Darknet
  • Hacking Tools
  • Popular Posts
  • Darknet Archives
  • Contact Darknet
    • Advertise
    • Submit a Tool
Darknet – Hacking Tools, Hacker News & Cyber Security

Darknet - Hacking Tools, Hacker News & Cyber Security

Darknet is your best source for the latest hacking tools, hacker news, cyber security best practices, ethical hacking & pen-testing.

WordPress Critical Zero-Day Vulnerability Fixed In A Hurry

April 30, 2015

Views: 1,581

So this is an interesting announcement due to the discussion points it brings up about responsible disclosure, it seems like in this case a researcher published his findings about a WordPress critical zero-day vulnerability without informing WordPress before hand.

WordPress Critical Zero-Day Vulnerability Fixed In A Hurry

And they got it fixed REAL quickly, where as in a previous (pretty similar) case – they took 14 months to fix it, leaving their users at risk for that period.

WordPress 4.2.1 was released on Monday to address a critical zero-day vulnerability disclosed on Sunday by Finnish researcher Jouko Pynnönen of Klikki Oy. The expert published the details of the security bug without notifying WordPress because he was displeased with the way developers handled his recent vulnerability reports.

The stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability disclosed by Pynnonen is similar to a flaw discovered by Belgian researcher Cedric Van Bockhaven, which WordPress fixed last week with the release of version 4.1.2, more than a year after it was reported. The bug, which affects WordPress 4.2 and earlier, can be exploited by an unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code via very long comments that get truncated when they’re saved into the database.

“The attacker is sending fragments of HTML code to the server that contains JavaScript in it. WordPress tries to verify the content, but misses the embedded script. This specific exploit is because the attacker sends very long content – over 64Kb, which is truncated in the database,” Jeff Williams, CTO of Contrast Security, explained via email. “[When] WordPress sends that data back to the browser as part of a webpage, the script executes.”

“That would be enough for an interesting attack, but this particular exploit goes further. When the attack is executed on an administrator, it uses the administrative privilege to install plugins and execute content directly on the server. Most XSS problems are not exploitable in a way that allows a complete remote host takeover,” Williams added.

This is a pretty clever bug, and pretty dangerous too as when a comment is viewed by someone logged in as admin – the site can basically be hijacked totally.

For an XSS attack – this is pretty serious.

The comment truncation flaw reported by Van Bockhaven was addressed by WordPress only after 14 months. However, Pynnonen’s approach forced the WordPress team to release a patch within hours.

Before the fix was released, website owners running a self-hosted version of WordPress were advised to install the Askimet anti-spam plugin in order to protect themselves against potential attacks.

Pynnonen said he decided not to notify WordPress before making the vulnerability public because a different stored XSS flaw that he reported in November is still unpatched. His attempts to obtain information from WordPress on the status of a patch were unsuccessful, even after he tried contacting developers via HackerOne and CERT Finland (CERT-FI).

Furthermore, WordPress last year promised the researcher a minimum bounty of $2,000 for responsibly disclosing a critical bug affecting WordPress versions prior to 4.0, but they only awarded him $100.

“I don’t think it’s my job to spend months begging for the security team to communicate with me about security vulnerabilities. It’s their job and responsibility to communicate with researchers who try to help them and their customers. And if they ‘pro-actively’ and spontaneously offer me a bug bounty, I think it would be appropriate for them to keep their word,” Pynnonen told SecurityWeek. “I’m sure many people think the disclosure was irresponsible. But instead of months or years, the fix was produced in a few hours. During this time users were aware of the threat and could take precautions.”

Williams believes WordPress is to blame for incidents like this one.

Their Bug Bounty payouts seem pretty lame too, which doesn’t really encourage researchers and vulnerability developers to follow the path of responsible disclosure.

Compound that with their tardy reaction to serious bugs, and you get frustrated bug-hunters – like Jouko Pynnönen in this case.

Source: SecurityWeek

Share
Tweet58
Share17
Buffer
WhatsApp
Email
75 Shares

Filed Under: Exploits/Vulnerabilities, Web Hacking Tagged With: hacking-wordpress, wordpress, wordpress-exploit, wordpress-security, wordpress-vulnerability



Primary Sidebar

Search Darknet

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Advertise on Darknet

Latest Posts

Falco - Real-Time Threat Detection for Linux and Containers

Falco – Real-Time Threat Detection for Linux and Containers

Views: 330

Security visibility inside containers, Kubernetes, and cloud workloads remains among the hardest … ...More about Falco – Real-Time Threat Detection for Linux and Containers

Wazuh – Open Source Security Platform for Threat Detection, Visibility & Compliance

Wazuh – Open Source Security Platform for Threat Detection, Visibility & Compliance

Views: 627

As threat surfaces grow and attack sophistication increases, many security teams face the same … ...More about Wazuh – Open Source Security Platform for Threat Detection, Visibility & Compliance

Best Open Source HIDS Tools for Linux in 2025 (Compared & Ranked)

Views: 572

With more businesses running Linux in production—whether in bare metal, VMs, or containers—the need … ...More about Best Open Source HIDS Tools for Linux in 2025 (Compared & Ranked)

SUDO_KILLER - Auditing Sudo Configurations for Privilege Escalation Paths

SUDO_KILLER – Auditing Sudo Configurations for Privilege Escalation Paths

Views: 608

sudo is a powerful utility in Unix-like systems that allows permitted users to execute commands with … ...More about SUDO_KILLER – Auditing Sudo Configurations for Privilege Escalation Paths

Bantam - Advanced PHP Backdoor Management Tool For Post Exploitation

Bantam – Advanced PHP Backdoor Management Tool For Post Exploitation

Views: 463

Bantam is a lightweight post-exploitation utility written in C# that includes advanced payload … ...More about Bantam – Advanced PHP Backdoor Management Tool For Post Exploitation

AI-Powered Cybercrime in 2025 - The Dark Web’s New Arms Race

AI-Powered Cybercrime in 2025 – The Dark Web’s New Arms Race

Views: 692

In 2025, the dark web isn't just a marketplace for illicit goods—it's a development lab. … ...More about AI-Powered Cybercrime in 2025 – The Dark Web’s New Arms Race

Topics

  • Advertorial (28)
  • Apple (46)
  • Countermeasures (228)
  • Cryptography (82)
  • Database Hacking (89)
  • Events/Cons (7)
  • Exploits/Vulnerabilities (431)
  • Forensics (65)
  • GenAI (3)
  • Hacker Culture (8)
  • Hacking News (229)
  • Hacking Tools (684)
  • Hardware Hacking (82)
  • Legal Issues (179)
  • Linux Hacking (74)
  • Malware (238)
  • Networking Hacking Tools (352)
  • Password Cracking Tools (104)
  • Phishing (41)
  • Privacy (219)
  • Secure Coding (118)
  • Security Software (235)
  • Site News (51)
    • Authors (6)
  • Social Engineering (37)
  • Spammers & Scammers (76)
  • Stupid E-mails (6)
  • Telecomms Hacking (6)
  • UNIX Hacking (6)
  • Virology (6)
  • Web Hacking (384)
  • Windows Hacking (169)
  • Wireless Hacking (45)

Security Blogs

  • Dancho Danchev
  • F-Secure Weblog
  • Google Online Security
  • Graham Cluley
  • Internet Storm Center
  • Krebs on Security
  • Schneier on Security
  • TaoSecurity
  • Troy Hunt

Security Links

  • Exploits Database
  • Linux Security
  • Register – Security
  • SANS
  • Sec Lists
  • US CERT

Footer

Most Viewed Posts

  • Brutus Password Cracker – Download brutus-aet2.zip AET2 (2,298,159)
  • Darknet – Hacking Tools, Hacker News & Cyber Security (2,173,106)
  • Top 15 Security Utilities & Download Hacking Tools (2,096,640)
  • 10 Best Security Live CD Distros (Pen-Test, Forensics & Recovery) (1,199,691)
  • Password List Download Best Word List – Most Common Passwords (933,528)
  • wwwhack 1.9 – wwwhack19.zip Web Hacking Software Free Download (776,172)
  • Hack Tools/Exploits (673,301)
  • Wep0ff – Wireless WEP Key Cracker Tool (530,185)

Search

Recent Posts

  • Falco – Real-Time Threat Detection for Linux and Containers May 19, 2025
  • Wazuh – Open Source Security Platform for Threat Detection, Visibility & Compliance May 16, 2025
  • Best Open Source HIDS Tools for Linux in 2025 (Compared & Ranked) May 14, 2025
  • SUDO_KILLER – Auditing Sudo Configurations for Privilege Escalation Paths May 12, 2025
  • Bantam – Advanced PHP Backdoor Management Tool For Post Exploitation May 9, 2025
  • AI-Powered Cybercrime in 2025 – The Dark Web’s New Arms Race May 7, 2025

Tags

apple botnets computer-security darknet Database Hacking ddos dos exploits fuzzing google hacking-networks hacking-websites hacking-windows hacking tool Information-Security information gathering Legal Issues malware microsoft network-security Network Hacking Password Cracking pen-testing penetration-testing Phishing Privacy Python scammers Security Security Software spam spammers sql-injection trojan trojans virus viruses vulnerabilities web-application-security web-security windows windows-security Windows Hacking worms XSS

Copyright © 1999–2025 Darknet All Rights Reserved · Privacy Policy