An estimated 16,000 websites are believed to be running a vulnerable and no-longer-maintained WordPress plugin that can be exploited to display pop-up ads and redirect visitors to webpages containing porn, scams, and–worst of all–malware designed to infect users’ computers.
Researchers at WordFence went public about how hackers are exploiting a zero-day vulnerability in a third-party WordPress plugin called Rich Reviews to inject malvertising code into vulnerable WordPress sites.
The threat is not theoretical.
Website owners have posted publicly about how they have been hit by scripting malware, and they are pointing the finger of blame at the Rich Reviews plugin.
Normally the advice would be for website administrators to update the plugin, thereby patching the security hole and preventing hackers from being able to compromise their websites. But in this instance, there is no update, and there may never be… because the developers of Rich Reviews stopped maintaining their software long ago.