WordPress DoS Vulnerability
A vulnerability in the WordPress content management system could allow a remote unauthenticated attacker to perform denial-of-service (DoS) attacks on sites using it.
This content has been archived
This article no longer conforms to NHS Digital's standards for cyber alerts, and may contain outdated or inaccurate information. Use of this information contained in this page is at your own risk
Summary
A vulnerability in the WordPress content management system could allow a remote unauthenticated attacker to perform denial-of-service (DoS) attacks on sites using it.
Affected platforms
The following platforms are known to be affected:
Threat details
By manipulating the way in which WordPress loads requested JavaScript and CSS files, an attacker can force a targeted server to respond to each request with large amounts of data (approximately 4MB per request). Using a python tool designed to repeat file requests the researcher who discovered the vulnerability was able to cause a server reboot after as few as 500 requests.
For further information:
Remediation steps
| Type | Step |
|---|---|
|
WordPress are aware of this vulnerability but have refused to acknowledge it at this time, as such there is no official remediation. However, the researcher who disclosed the vulnerability has produced a bash script that only allows authenticated user to perform the file requests. This script and further possible remediation can be found here. Please note that this script has not been independently verified. |
CVE Vulnerabilities
Last edited: 17 February 2020 12:57 pm