WooCommerce vulnerabilities affecting WordPress sites

WooCommerce has released a required upgrade for WordPress as a result of the vulnerability. Publishers are advised to keep their updates current. WooCommerce has addressed a significant issue that has affected millions of users. Publishers that use the WooCommerce or WooCommerce Blocks plugins are highly encouraged to upgrade them as soon as possible.

The vulnerability is called SQL injection. Because the exposure is so severe, the popular e-commerce plugin for the WordPress content management system is immediately delivering the fix to affected publishers.

What is WooCommerce?

Woocommerce is an eCommerce plugin that gets aimed at small to medium-sized online retailers who use WordPress. The plugin, which was released on September 27, 2011, immediately gained popularity due to its ease of installation and customization and the freeware status of the underlying product.

What was the impact of the vulnerability?

The vulnerability impacted the five million WooCommerce users and the 200,000 websites that utilized the WooCommerce Blocks feature plugin, according to Wordfence, whose cybersecurity experts produced proofs-of-concept that attacked the flaw.

Was this data exploited in the wild?

Josh Ledford, the founder of the cybersecurity firm Development Operations Security, discovered the flaw (DOS). Because of the severe impact of the vulnerability, WordPress has forced automatic upgrades on all vulnerable WordPress installations, according to Wordfence. WooCommerce is still researching the issue, according to Lebens, and will update the community if data has been stolen. When users asked for an update, several WooCommerce team members reiterated the same data in the remarks.

The issue has been exploited in the wild, according to Wordfence, according to the original researcher. Wordfence claims to have discovered “very minimal evidence” of the exploit being extensively utilized and believes that any occurrences recorded were likely highly targeted.

What was the risk due to the exploitation?

With the support of the WP Plugin Team, affected WooCommerce installations are now getting the fix from time to time automaticly. The patch has already been applied to sites using the WordPress blogging platform. Simultaneously, the WooCommerce development service team sent out an email notifying users of the vulnerability and emphasizing the need of patching it. An attacker who exploited this SQL injection issue might gain access to store-related data, administrative details, and information about orders and customers. Although Patchstack hasn’t observed any efforts to exploit this flaw in the wild, threat actors may seize the opportunity before the update reaches additional sites.

What kind of data got exposed?

Although WooCommerce has said that it would provide additional information with administrators on how to examine this specific security issue on their websites, it is unclear whether the data of individuals affected have been hacked. At the moment, affected WooCommerce installations receive the fix immediately thanks to the WordPress Plugin Team.  The patch has already been applied to websites using the WordPress.com blogging platform. WooCommerce sent an email to online store owners informing them that they had already protected their stores hosted on WordPress.com and WordPress VIP. Patchstack hasn’t seen any efforts to exploit this issue in the wild, but hackers may seize the opportunity if it arises.

How to check for a good eCommerce plugin? 

• Although a low-cost plan is technically possible, premium-tier service is well worth the money because page speed is an essential component of a successful eCommerce experience (it’s also a Google ranking indication). A quality web host can also guarantee little (if any) downtime and provide the bandwidth to manage significant traffic, ensuring that you never miss a transaction.
• As previously said, eCommerce stores handle both personal and financial data. Thus WordPress security is essential. An SSL certificate encrypts data sent back and forth between the web server and the web host. One can hire wordpress developers to help them with the technicalities.
• To assess a plugin’s popularity over time, look at the number of downloads. To calculate an approximate churn rate for various plugin settings, compare total downloads to the number of active installs. Churn might signify a promise that hasn’t been kept.
• To get the figures mentioned above for any plugin you’re considering, go to the WordPress Plugin Directory. WordPress.org cites security, documentation, and presentation as potential issue areas that prohibit a plugin from being included in the Plugin Directory. Keep in mind, however, that this directory excludes some of the world’s most recognized plugins. Contact the commercial seller if you have any questions regarding a plugin (whether it’s in the manual or not). The most significant red sign is a lack of reaction.

Bottom Line

Woocommerce has now started giving automatic updates without any trouble whatsoever to use it without further ado. WordPress is an excellent site for developing websites, and every budding developer can use it.