The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has alerted WordPress users in Nigeria about a new vulnerability called CVE-2024-28000, affecting over 5 million websites globally.
The agency gave the warning through a Facebook post on Monday warning WordPress users to be wary of the LiteSpeed Cache plugin, noting that it’s a tool many people use to speed up their websites.
NITDA noted that Hackers can exploit this plugin to potentially take full control of users’ websites.
The warning stated that the vulnerability lies in the plugin’s “role simulation” feature, which gives cybercriminals admin access to your site without needing a password.
“Once they’re in, they can install malicious plugins, steal your data, or even redirect visitors to sketchy websites. It’s a huge deal, and you don’t want to be on the receiving end of this.
“To make things worse, the attack is easy for hackers to pull off, thanks to a weak hash function and the simplicity of the exploit. They can brute force their way in or use exposed debug logs to grab admin rights. If your site gets hit, you could be dealing with data theft, site defacement, or worse, your visitors being sent to dodgy websites.
But don’t freak out just yet — there’s something you can do! NITDA recommends you update the LiteSpeed Cache plugin to the latest version (6.4.1) ASAP. You can do this in your WordPress dashboard under “Plugins.”
Also, turn off debugging on live sites (it can expose sensitive info) and regularly check your plugin settings for risks.
While LiteSpeed Cache helps boost your site speed, it has had its share of vulnerabilities in the past, from cross-site scripting to privilege escalation.
The key to staying safe?
Keep everything updated and stay alert for any security warnings. So, if you have not already, go update that plugin right now — your website’s safety depends on it!
