WordPress plugin users have been advised to upgrade their Smash Balloon Social Post Feed, a WordPress plugin after a vulnerability was discovered that allowed an attacker to upload malicious scripts to the websites. The Jetpack security researchers team discovered the flaw. And notified the plugin’s creators, who patched it and released a fix in version 4.0.1. Versions before that are vulnerable to attack.
Security researchers at Jetpack discovered a vulnerability in Smash Balloon Social Post Feed, a WordPress plugin that allows users to embed Facebook posts on their sites. The vulnerability allowed an attacker to upload malicious scripts which could be used to execute code on vulnerable sites.
The security researchers reported their findings responsibly by sending an email directly to the development team prior to publishing it online for all users and developers using Smash Balloon Social Post Feed, a popular plugin with over 50,000 active installs. Additionally, they worked with Wordfence directly so that affected websites can quickly apply a fix.
Arbitrary Setting Update via Stored Cross-Site Scripting
A Stored Cross-Site Scripting (Stored XSS) exploit is a type of cross-site scripting flaw that allows a malicious attacker to upload and permanently store harmful scripts on the server.
“Stored attacks are those where the injected script is permanently stored on the target servers, such as in a database….
The victim then retrieves the malicious script from the server when it requests the stored information.”
How to Protect site from Smash Balloon plugin vulnerability?
If you have a website powered by WordPress make sure you update your installation of Smash Balloon plugin right away.
There are a few different methods you can use to help protect yourself from these types of attacks, and they are all free.
You should first install a security plugin. A security plugin will assist you in keeping your site clean and up to date on any vulnerabilities discovered. The second method is to download and install a third-party firewall, such as Sucuri. When you use both plugins together, you ensure that no malicious script installed on your website without your knowledge.
Another step that helps ensure security when downloading software. Or plugins for your website is to always check reviews and download in safe mode. Keeping in touch with developers in forums also helps make sure you stay up-to-date on patches quickly. If something happens without requiring much effort on your part.
While we cannot 100% guarantee we can protect ourselves against attacks like these. We can take many preventative measures such as using firewall plugins. And following basic security practices such as not downloading files while connected to public Wi-Fi networks.
Final words
The company behind Smash Balloon Social Post Feed has since fixed the vulnerability. The Smash Balloon plugin designed to help website owners automatically upload posts to Facebook pages.
Because of that versatility, it can also pose a security risk when installed on sites where its core functionality might not necessarily be needed. But could lead malicious actors into compromising other parts of a site through lax access controls or lack of input validation in code.
Additionally, because you have so many different plugins in one place with one set of permissions. There’s an increased risk for something like this happening if it weren’t fixed quickly upon discovery.
In short, it really comes down to awareness and concern about what you’re installing and how it might affect your system as a whole. If these types of vulnerabilities ignored and left unpatched. They could eventually turn into a real attack vector. That said, keep your software up-to-date! You’ve already got enough to worry about!
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