This is a weekly series where you can get caught up on recent events relevant to open source security, with an initial focus on WordPress security.
This series is brought to you by Patchstack and your host Robert. I look forward to helping keep you regularly up to date on open source security issues here at the Patchstack weekly Update.
This is the final episode of the Patchstack Weekly podcast. All things come to an end - so it's only fitting to dedicate the last episode to software end-of-life, and how developers and website owners should handle sunsetting their projects.
We also want to thank our host, Robert, for sharing lessons on WordPress security (and beyond) over these past 68 episodes!
Forking is a fundamental part of open-source software - it offers anyone the opportunity to lead an existing project in a new direction. But forking also means that the owners of the new fork are taking over the responsibility for the security of their new project.
This week's knowledge share is about a rare but serious security bug that can be found in any PHP application. Luckily it is easy to avoid, and WordPress has a built-in function that developers can utilize to help secure against it.In vulnerability news we'll cover three vulnerabilities, including one PHP Object Injection bug in the popular Advanced Custom Fields plugin.
Closed-source software has one vulnerability open-source software will never face - source code leaks. This episode is all about embracing people who review open-source software, and consequently make it safer.
We'll also cover the recent Elementor Pro vulnerability that is, unfortunately, being actively exploited by attackers.
When you see a security fix available for your website, you should of course update the affected component. But should you drop everything and apply the update immediately? Or can you at least finish your coffee first? Or is it OK to deal with it when you get a break? That depends on the bug.
Also in this episode, we'll cover the recent critical WooCommerce security bug which was, luckily, fixed with a rare forced update by the WordPress team.
Abandoned plugins with security bugs in them are a silent risk for WordPress site owners - but there's an easy way to spot plugins that have been out of date for a while straight from your WordPress admin page. This episode is a quick tutorial on that!
We've just released our annual State of WordPress Security report, chock full of security stats and trends from the WordPress ecosystem.
Last year we saw 328% more reported security bugs added to our vulnerability database compared to 2021. This is actually a positive sign of the ecosystem becoming more secure, as more bugs are being caught (and patched). On the downside, the trend of critical vulnerabilities being left unpatched persists.
Today's episode is a sort of a tl;dr, as we dive into some of the bigger findings from the whitepaper and explain what they mean for the community.
This week's knowledge share is an introduction to headless CMS's and WordPress. Robert will dive into what a headless CMS is, how WordPress can be used as one, and the security concerns that go along with it.
A static website is basically just some HTML files sitting on a server. It's very fast, cheap and secure - and it's rare to have all three.
This week's episode is all about the benefits of static sites, and when should you consider using them.
Regular software updates are essential for security - but they are not enough. Even if you make it a habit to regularly update your WordPress components or use auto-updates, sometimes developers won't release security updates. In fact in 2022, a quarter of critical vulnerabilities found in WordPress plugins did not receive a fix.
This is where "virtual patching" comes in - tune in to learn more about this handy extra security layer.
Security.txt is a new proposed standard to encourage website owners to adopt a more proactive approach to security.
The file is an easy way to quickly communicate your vulnerability disclosure program to security researchers. Big companies like Google, Slack, Github and Automattic are already using it - should you?
The practice of security is boundless, with infinite context about what constitutes danger. Today's episode looks into how you can practice security to better your resume, services, business, and life.
This week's vulnerability roundup will share details on three security bugs that were patched last month in a popular Learning plugin for WordPress.
This week's knowledge share is for developers and site owners alike. Robert will be discussing all about how open-source projects (or really any code project) can show, not just tell, their users that their project's code is secure and safe to use.
This week's vulnerability roundup will share details about three high-risk security bugs in WordPress components - of which two received patches and one went without.
The security of your web hosting provider is just as important as the security of your WordPress site. So in this episode Robert talks about how you can check for some important security features your hosting provider may or may not be offering.
This week's security news will cover two critical vulnerabilities - one that received a patch, and one that did not.
Join Robert on his second episode of new year's security resolutions - this time, he'll be running you through the checklist for ensuring the plugins on your site are safe to use.
He'll also be talking about the recent Doctor Web report about a botnet targeting specific outdated WordPress plugins - which is a great reminder to always keep all your components up-to-date!
In this episode we want to say two things: 1) Happy new year and 2) rotate your passwords!
Rotating your passwords regularly is a key security practice. We feel it's important to stress this in light of the latest news from the LastPass security breach - we now know that attackers did gain access to encrypted customer data, including password vaults.
Granted, this doesn't mean they got their hands on passwords and emails in plain text, but if you've used LastPass then it's high time to change all your passwords now.
Last week we confirmed that ChatGPT can write basic WordPress plugins - but should you let it? Does AI write safe code? Can it detect vulnerabilities?
Tune in to this year's last episode of Patchstack Weekly to find out what the recent advances in AI mean for the future of web development.
This week's knowledge share is about a recent influx of patched security bugs affecting a single vendor. Don't panic though - the bugs are low-risk.
The noteworthy part is the number of products affected by the same bug. Stay tuned for this weekly knowledge share where Robert explains why one vendor has multiple products affected by the same bug, and what this has to do with the software supply chain.
Recently LastPass reported a secondary security incident that occurred months after an initial break-in. We applaud their honesty and transparency in handling the matter - this is a great example of how to handle any security incident!
LastPass team's investigation concluded that this recent issue - of unexpected access to a third party service - was likely made by someone with information leaked from an incident that happened months ago in August.
So in this week's knowledge share, Robert will discuss the topic of lingering threats from old hacks.
Knowing where to look is the key to finding what you're looking for. For security bugs, it is essential.
In this week's knowledge share, Robert will teach you the basic process of finding security bugs using static code analysis - also known as SAST.
This week's knowledge share is about the security concern caused when software has been abandoned or has reached its end of life (EOL).
To that point, Robert will also talk about the surprising number of plugins that were recently removed from Wordpress.org for being abandoned.
This week's knowledge share is about the PHP world's smallest security bug. We say smallest because it is one character long.
You may wonder how much trouble could one character possibly cause? Stick around for this week's knowledge share where Robert will be talking about type juggling in PHP.
Cross-site scripting is something we talk about a lot - but what is it exactly?
Cross-site scripting - or XSS - is a prevalent threat. In fact, we add about 50 (!) new XSS vulnerabilities to our database every month. So hop on in to learn about this all-too-common vulnerability with Robert and see what you can do to protect your website against it.
Hey all - today we're going phishing!
If that made you start packing for the trip with excitement, then you probably misread the word. "Phishing", is when a seemingly familiar or trustworthy website is actually a fake, set up to capture your data or sensitive information.
In this episode, Robert explains how an open redirect bug can be used to carry out such attacks - and how you can prevent them.
Asking a complete stranger to help you with a website emergency can make things from bad to worse.
Every website owner should have a trusted emergency contact at hand when things get dicey. But how do you find those people? How do you know who to trust?
"Never trust user input" - this is security's golden rule. So it's a great thing OWASP ZAP has tools that can show you how much data in a web app is controlled by the browser - and therefore also by the user.
Robert explains how to use those tools to uncover the hidden risk.
In this week's knowledge share Robert will continue to share with you some tips and tricks with OWASP ZAP. He'll go over ZAP's HUD - or heads-up display - so you can get an idea of what it can be used for.
In other news, popular online news site Fast Company suffered a major attack last week - let's dig into what we know about the attack, and what lessons we can learn from it.
We should probably start with "what the hell is it?" Well, OWASP ZAP is an open-source web application security tool written by developers, for developers. It is meant for those who want to get their hands dirty testing their web applications.
Of course, it also works great for security researchers and anyone interested in learning about web application security. So buckle up, because we have a lot of ground to cover!
We skipped an episode last week as Robert took a drive down to WordCamp US in San Diego - but this week he's back to tell you all about it!
He'll also dig into a critical vulnerability found in the premium WPGateway plugin, which is unfortunately already being used for attacks. However, as always, we like to talk about these things without hyperbole. Stay safe, stay calm!
The WordPress 6.0.2 security release made a splash in the news last week with three vulnerabilities patched with it - but what were they? Should you be worried?
Let's get cozy with Robert as he runs us through the now patched vulnerabilities, and explains why none of them is an immediate risk. Or as he likes to say: "keep on patchin', but don't be worrying."
P.S. You can also catch Robert giving a security talk at WordCamp US in San Diego this weekend - if you're there, come and say hi!
Whenever a new vulnerability is announced, the clock starts. The time it takes to patch can mean the difference between your site getting compromised or not.
Tracking this as a "time to patch" metric can help you quantify if you need more help with your security program - or are attending to serious issues faster than the attackers can target your sites.
What does it mean when a plugin on your site has a vulnerability with a "Medium" CVSS score?
Today's episode will be all about severity scores associated with security bugs and how they are calculated using the CVSS - or Common Vulnerability Scoring System.
I will also share two plugins that patched security bugs you should know about in the weekly vulnerability roundup.
A mature security patching practice means patching even the low-risk bugs.
In this week's episode, I will talk about all the elements that turn security from a process into a practice.
I will also discuss one insecure plugin in this week's vulnerability news. Unfortunately, the plugin did not receive a security patch for a severe security bug, so you may wish to be on the lookout if it is installed on your websites or customer websites.
It is August, and the Patchstack Alliance is growing. New security researchers have joined the alliance in the last month, and we are receiving some great reports of serious security bugs in open source components affecting millions of websites.
This week there was a security bug that was not found by Patchstack Alliance. This new security bug is in the WordPress Gutenberg editor.
In this week's knowledge share I will share important details that will help you understand the low risk this now public vulnerability poses, and emphasize that the existence of a CVE is in itself not a sign of high risk - because severity matters too.
In this week's knowledge share, I will talk about nulled plugins and themes - how they are a hidden security risk, how they harm trust in open source, and what you can do to make things right.
I will then cover this week's vulnerability news, which highlights two security bugs in abandoned plugins and one authenticated remote code execution bug that was recently patched.
This week I will finally get to talk about SSRF! SSRF stands for Server Side Request Forgery. This is a category of application vulnerability that is sometimes overlooked but could allow attackers to bypass security measures and turn a web application into a sort of limited VPN to pivot to systems normally protected by the network topology.
Don't worry if this doesn't make sense right now, I'll explain it in a bit.
This week's weekly knowledge share is a response to the all too common headlines about "Millions of WordPress websites are under attack" we see every so often.
I will share why attempted attacks are just the background radiation of the internet and not something to get into a panic over.
Welcome back to the Patchstack Weekly Security Update!
This week I will talk about the importance of removing unused code and components from your websites.
Simply disabling a theme or plugin is not enough - reviewing and deleting these things has to become a habit.
I will also cover a few vulnerability highlights, including 10 abandoned components that have known unpatched vulnerabilities in them.
CSV injection occurs when websites generate CSV files and include untrusted user input within them. I'll explain why this is dangerous, and how you can protect your site against it.
This week's vulnerability news will be brief - I will highlight 3 plugins with WordPress Options Update vulnerabilities (2 of which require no authentication). Each of these plugin's authors have released a patch.
I will also highlight a plugin affected by a CSV Injection vulnerability that, unfortunately, has not yet been patched (but of course, Patchstack Pro and Business users are protected by a virtual patch).
Rotem Bar works at Cider Security as Head of Marketplace Integrations and has been working in the security field for 20 years.
Back in February he found an Unauthenticated DOM-based Reflected Cross-Site Scripting vulnerability in Elementor and reported it through the Patchstack Alliance.
If the bug's name sounds confusing, convoluted, and complicated, don't worry - Rotem explains what it means and where the threat is exactly.
Welcome back to the Patchstack Weekly Security Update! This update is for week 25 of 2022.
This week's knowledge share will include some tips for WordPress site owners on what to look out for when choosing plugins.
I will also share vulnerability news, with one critical issue to discuss which may have already been patched, as well as highlighting the concerning trend of security bugs not receiving patches.
Welcome back to the Patchstack Weekly Security Update! This update is for week 24 of 2022.
This week I will cover two high risk unauthenticated vulnerabilities, one could allow attackers to reset an any user's password (including admin users) and the other could arbitrarily delete files from websites running insecure versions of the plugin.
Thankfully both have been patched, so now it's up to site owners to apply that patch as soon as they can.
In this week's knowledge share, i will talk about a WordPress specific security bug. This security bug only applies to WordPress websites, because it has to do with the risks involved if users are able to update, or change values in the wp_options table.
If you're curious what could go wrong if attackers can update the options table values, stick around for this week's knowledge share.
Welcome back to the Patchstack Weekly security update! This update is for week 23 of 2022.
It is the beginning of June, and WordCamp Europe is underway as I write this. WordCamps are the in-person community events for the WordPress community, and WordCamp Europe 2022 is the largest to be run in the last 2 years. This is a sign of the return of, and importance of community events.
So, on that note, this week's weekly knowledge share will be about community (and I will have a special announcement at the end.)
I will start with this week's vulnerability news first though, which will be about two vulnerabilities in WordPress plugins of which neither have a security patch available at this time.
Welcome back to the Patchstack Weekly security update! This update is for week 22 of 2022.
This week there is only one high-risk security bug patched to report on in the vulnerability news.
During this week's knowledge share I will talk about the incident response plan and the importance of having it ready for worst-case scenarios. Because having a plan will help you turn bad situations into learning experiences.
Welcome back to the Patchstack Weekly security update! This update is for week 21 of 2022.
In this week's knowledge share, I will talk more about communicating security. But, not too much, because this week I will talk about over-communicating security, also known as alert fatigue.
Of course, I will start with a few notable security bug fixes added to the Patchstack Database in this week's vulnerability news.
Welcome back to the Patchstack Weekly security update! This update is for week 20 of 2022.
This week I will talk about the importance of communication and how to communicate security when it comes to security issues. Starting from developers needing to communicate security bugs being patched and ending with how Patchstack partners are experiencing some great successes by integrating Patchstack's WordPress vulnerability intelligence API into their products. I'll tell you how and why later, in this week's knowledge share.
But first, the week's vulnerability news. Starting with announcing the winners of the Patchstack Alliance's WordPress bug hunt contest, and a heads up about two unauthenticated SQL injection security bugs one patched, one not.
Welcome back to the Patchstack Weekly security update! This update is for week 19 of 2022 and is about secure AJAX endpoints and WordPress vulnerabilities.
This week in vulnerability news, I will share two WordPress plugins with security bugs that have no patch available.
One could lead to tricking logged-in users to run arbitrary code on websites, and the other could lead to unauthenticated SQL injection.
And I have a bit of breaking news to add, it was just reported by Portswigger that it appears WordPress websites with incomplete installations are being targeted shortly after being set up.
In this week's knowledge share, I will talk about securing WordPress AJAX endpoints.
Why it is important to secure AJAX endpoints? How to spot which functions need more attention from secure code review, and how to do security testing with a tool I guarantee you probably already have installed.
I will share this tool's information in the weekly knowledge share.
PS! Just a small edit to the thank you and appreciation section - a special thank you goes out to Shea Bunge for actively working on a patch in the Code Snippets plugin (I incorrectly said Code Snippets Extended.)
Welcome back to the Patchstack Weekly Security Update! This update is for week 18 of 2022.
This week I will talk about an obscure vulnerability, something that is commonly overlooked and missed by developers, bug bounty hunters, and security researchers alike. PHP Object Injection, also known as Insecure Unserialize.
I will get started with this week's vulnerability news like always, we have a handful of vulnerabilities I would like to share with you. Including one report of, you guessed it PHP Object Injection.
Welcome back to the Patchstack Weekly security update! This update is for week 17 of 2022.
This week I have a handful of vulnerabilities to share with you. Including 3 unauthenticated SQL injection security bugs that were patched, and 3 security bugs that could lead to files being uploaded to websites running these affected plugins.
In this week's weekly knowledge share, I'm going to be talking about Egoless programming. A concept, introduced over 50 years ago, and an extremely helpful topic to cover when it comes to handling security bug reports.
Welcome back to the Patchstack Weekly security update! This update is for week 16 of 2022 and is about the power of transparency in open source, and how anyone can utilize this transparency to learn secure code review.
This week I will talk about the power of transparency in open source as it pertains to security, and how anyone, including you, can utilize this transparency to learn secure code review.
There are a lot of vulnerabilities to discuss this week as well. With some versions of Elementor being affected by an authenticated high-risk vulnerability, a development/design firm that patched many of their projects, and 9 unauthenticated SQL injection security bugs (5 with patches, and 4 without) so let's talk vulns.
Welcome back to the Patchstack Weekly Security Update! This update is for week 15 of 2022 and will talk about WordPress security history.
This week is a special episode. There were not many critical vulnerabilities to cover this week. So I will skip the vulnerability news and share with you, a lesson about WordPress security history over the last 18 years. My hope is that by knowing this history, we can learn some lessons along the way.
Of course, there were some interesting vulnerabilities this week. If you would like to check them out, please go to the Patchstack Database.
Welcome back to the Patchstack Weekly security update! This update is for week 14 of 2022 and I will talk about the first 5 steps to a secure WordPress.
This week has a lot of vulnerability news to cover, and I will be sharing it as a 3-2-1 punch of 3 plugins that received no patch for security bugs, 2 premium plugins that patch critical security bugs, and 1 public exploit already being shared for a Local File Inclusion vulnerability.
In this week's knowledge share, I will talk about the first 5 steps of WordPress security. These steps arenot the only steps you should take for security, they are the steps you should be taking when you are first setting up a WordPress website from scratch, to ensure it is secure from day 1. I will add a bonus step for bare basic security maintenance.
Welcome back to the Patchstack Weekly security update! This update is for week 13 of 2022.
This week, I will talk about two high-risk vulnerabilities in two WordPress plugins with one big difference: One was patched, one was not.
In this week's knowledge share I will share some new WP-CLI Security commands that were just added. I hope you've heard of WP-CLI, if not, then you are in for a nice surprise!
Welcome back to the Patchstack Weekly Security Update! This update is for week 12 of 2022.
This week in WordPress-related vulnerabilities, I will talk about 3 plugins that have each been patched due to high-risk security bugs found in their code.
I will also provide an update on the insecure Freemius library situation, and share some possible expectations for what will happen in the next few weeks.
I will then talk about defensive coding strategies for a common security bug in this week's knowledge share. A serious security bug we saw a lot of in WordPress themes in 2021 according to our whitepaper: arbitrary file upload.
Welcome back to the Patchstack Weekly security update! This update is for week 11 of 2022. This week is all about plugin vulnerabilities and the State of WordPress Security 2021 whitepaper.
There is some big news this week, but really I should say last week. Patchstack released our State of WordPress Security Whitepaper for 2021 on March 9th or last Wednesday.
I will be giving a short summary of some high points in this week's knowledge share, but if you would like to read the whole thing you can view it on patchstack.com for free, no email or registration is required.
Before I talk about WordPress security from 2021 … I need to tell you about this week's vulnerability news, which includes a WordPress core security release (5.9.2) and five WordPress plugins that patched high-risk security bugs in them in the last week. Emphasis on high risk too, they require no authentication for an attack to be successful.
Welcome back to the Patchstack Weekly Security Update! This update is for week 9 of 2022 it is the beginning of March.
In this week I will cover a few high-risk vulnerabilities found in WordPress components, give an update on the insecure old Freemius library situation and discuss last month's additions to the Patchstack database.
Welcome back to the Patchstack Weekly security update! This update is for week 8 of 2022 and focuses on insecure libraries.
This week has been a heavy news week for the world, and open-source, specifically WordPress security concerns were no exception.
There are 5 plugins that have released patches for serious vulnerabilities this week, as well as over 800 plugins that Patchstack recently identified as including insecure libraries used in their codebase. So, I will keep a lot of this week's updates fairly brief.
A quick note on the more serious news which is still unfolding in Ukraine. Patchstack has set up a hub for businesses and security experts who are looking to help Ukrainian NGOs during this troubling time. If you would like to learn more, please check out UACyberHelp.com
In this week's knowledge share, I will talk about insecure libraries. This specific library is being used by hundreds of WordPress plugins, what the developers can do about it, and what site owners can do to check if they are affected.
Welcome back to the Patchstack Weekly security update! This update is for week 8 of 2022 and will dive into several vulnerabilities and talk about vulnerability risks.
This week's vulnerability news will have a lot to cover. One WordPress plugin had a vulnerability so severe the WP.org team initiated an auto-update for all installations. Another WordPress plugin patched 7 security bugs over 2 releases, and WordPress core had a vulnerability disclosed publicly before they could release a patch.
With so much news to cover about vulnerabilities, I think it is a good week to discuss vulnerability severity and how all vulnerabilities are not equal. In this week's knowledge share I will talk about what makes some vulnerabilities more or less severe than others, and how you can use this knowledge to prioritize patching time.
Welcome back to the Patchstack Weekly security update! This update is for week 6 of 2022.
Last week, two high severity vulnerabilities were patched by the developers of WP Spell Check and Revolut Gateway for WooCommerce.
Both of these plugins patched unauthenticated SQL injection vulnerabilities, so that will be the topic of this week's knowledge share.
Welcome back to the Patchstack Weekly security update! It is the beginning of February and this update is for the fifth week of 2022.
This week I will share some of the core principles of open-source software development and how security researchers participate in them, as well explaining why open source projects should always have a vulnerability disclosure policy and what makes a good vulnerability disclosure policy.
This week in WordPress component patches news, there are three critical vulnerabilities I will highlight in three plugins: So let's get into it.
Welcome back to the Patchstack Weekly Security Update! This update is for week 4 of 2022.
In this week's session, I will share a few high-risk vulnerabilities that were patched this week and provide an update on details about the un-patched WordPress theme vulnerabilities that Patchstack continues to deal with.
During this week's knowledge share I will identify the many players in open source security. These are the people in many different roles, that play a part in open source security beyond the developers and the end-users of their open-source projects.
Patchstack engages with people of varying roles, who have different responsibilities and risks when it comes to protecting open source projects.
Welcome back to the Patchstack Weekly security update. It is the third week of 2022 and this episode is called WordPress vulnerabilities & Cross-Site Request Forgery.
Within this session, I will inform you of 6 popular open-source WordPress components that have patched various vulnerabilities in their code, from information disclosure to cross-site scripting and cross-site request forgery.
In this week's knowledge share, I will discuss cross-site request forgery vulnerabilities, what their risks are, and share an easy fix for it using nonces.
Your host, Robert
Welcome back to the Patchstack Weekly security update! This is Episode 6.
In this week's session, we will cover a WordPress plugin that patched a critical authenticated remote code execution bug.
As well as big disclosure by the Patchstack Red Team, which identifies dozens of themes that shared the same vulnerable code between them and there is no patch available.
Finally, I will talk about an open-source developer who protested against the abuse of their time by large companies who use their projects at no cost.
Giving back to open source projects will be the topic of this week's knowledge share. I discuss the importance of supporting open source projects and how to get started.
Welcome to the Patchstack Weekly security update! This is the first Patchstack update for 2022, happy new year and let's get into the security news.
This week I will give a quick roundup detailing the number of vulnerabilities added to the Patchstack database last month and I will give an update on the backlog of unpatched vulnerabilities we are working on addressing.
I will then cover the topic of secrets as it pertains to authentication, and how you can understand some granular points of what makes something secret how to secure your login pages with more than just a password.
I am your host Robert.
Welcome back to the Patchstack Weekly security update! This update is for week 52 of 2021.
This week marks the final week of 2021, and with the year coming to a close it is a great time to reflect on the past, present, and future. So that is the format of this week's update.
this week's vulnerability news is for a critical vulnerability in a WordPress plugin with, get this: an unauthenticated arbitrary option table update vulnerability in it.
Welcome back to the Patchstack Weekly security update! This update is for week 51 of 2021.
This week's news may sound like deja-vu, as I will cover more of the same topics as I did last week. Log4j is still a leading security concern, and the project's developers have released yet another security update, this time to address a Denial of Service concern.
I will also once again discuss WordPress plugins with options table update vulnerabilities reported in them ... the difference this time is, there is no patch.
Welcome to the Patchstack Weekly security update! This update is for week 50 of 2021.
It is mid-December, and we are still waiting to see the total impact of a vulnerability reported in the open-source component: log4j. This is a library used in a large number of java applications and I will get the details later during this week's knowledge share.
In WordPress security news this week, there are a few plugins that have serious vulnerabilities reported in them, including unauthenticated attacks that may affect tens of thousands of websites. So, let's get to that right away!
Welcome to the Patchstack Weekly security update, this update is for December 9th, 2021. We will talk about the Gravatar breach, web history, and vulnerabilities from this week.
In this week's session, we have two high-risk vulnerabilities to report in WordPress plugins and I will talk about the Gravatar email leaks, one-way encryption, and how the web experience has changed over the years.
I will give recognition to the technical pioneers that brought us Web 2.0, and acknowledge those who are currently looking forward, the yet-to-be-named pioneers who are about to build what will be known as Web3.
I am your host Robert Rowley from Patchstack.