A security flaw in the default configuration of a popular plug-in for
WordPress has put blogs hosted on the platform at risk of data theft.
The flaw, discovered by researcher Jason Donenfeld, is in W3 Total Cache (W3TC), a plug-in to the blog-hosting platform that caches content in order to speed up request times.
Since data are stored similarly and in searchable form, Donenfeld
says it's possible to extract sensitive information like password hashes
and database cache keys from any directory that has been enabled.
Even directories that aren't enabled wouldn't be very difficult to guess, a Seclist.org post on the matter said.
At present, all versions of WordPress
are vulnerable to the flaw, but a later post by Donenfeld said the
author of the plug-in plans to close the gap soon. W3TC users are
encouraged to disable the plug-in until such a fix is released.
WordPress is an extremely popular platform for hosting both personal and professional blogs.
A post by Ben Weitzenkorn from mashable.com
WordPress Blogs at Risk Due to Plug-In Flaw
