News: Spam Tsunami: How Attackers Are Weaponizing WordPress Registration Systems

In the past week, our team at NivaCity discovered a significant increase in the number of WordPress websites being abused to send spam emails. The attackers are using a tactic known as "registration and password reset bombardment" to target unsuspecting email recipients.

How the Attack Works The attackers are submitting a high volume of registration and password reset requests across numerous WordPress websites, using the email addresses of their intended victims. This results in the targeted individuals receiving a flood of unwanted emails from these WordPress sites, even though the sites themselves are not compromised.

The Importance of Rate Limiting To protect your WordPress site from being used in these attacks, it is crucial that you implement rate limiting measures. Rate limiting helps to restrict the number of requests that can be made within a specific timeframe, making it more difficult for attackers to abuse your site's registration and password reset functionality. By setting up proper rate limiting, you can significantly reduce the chances of your WordPress site being used to harass others via email.

Our Stance on Sender Responsibility At NivaCity, we take email abuse seriously. While we understand that website owners may not have intentionally allowed their sites to be used for these attacks, we will not hesitate to block senders that are being abused in this manner. It is the responsibility of website owners to ensure that their sites are not being used to harass third parties. Failure to take appropriate measures to prevent such abuse may result in your sending capabilities being restricted or suspended.

Comprehensive Steps to Secure Your WordPress Site To help protect your WordPress site from being abused in email spam attacks and improve overall security, consider implementing the following measures:

1. Enable rate limiting: Use plugins or server-level configurations to limit the number of requests for registration and password resets.
   
   


2. Implement strong authentication:
   
   
   
   
   
   • Use CAPTCHA or other verification methods to prevent automated form submissions.
   
   
   • Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) for all user accounts.
   
   
   • Enforce strong password policies.
     
     
   
   
   
   


3. Keep WordPress updated:
   
   
   
   
   
   • Regularly update your WordPress core, themes, and plugins to patch known vulnerabilities.
   
   
   • Remove any unused themes or plugins to reduce potential attack surfaces.
     
     
   
   
   
   


4. Enhance login security:
   
   
   
   
   
   • Change the default admin username.
   
   
   • Limit login attempts to prevent brute-force attacks.
   
   
   • Consider moving the wp-admin login page to a custom URL.
     
     
   
   
   
   


5. Implement security headers:
   
   
   
   
   
   • Use HTTP Security Headers like Content-Security-Policy (CSP) and X-Frame-Options to mitigate various types of attacks.
     
     
   
   
   
   


6. Use a Web Application Firewall (WAF):
   
   
   
   
   
   • Implement a WAF to filter and monitor HTTP traffic between your website and the Internet.
     
     
   
   
   
   


7. Secure your wp-config.php file:
   
   
   
   
   
   • Move wp-config.php to a non-web accessible directory.
   
   
   • Set proper file permissions (usually 640 or 644).
     
     
   
   
   
   


8. Monitor and log activity:
   
   
   
   
   
   • Install a security plugin to monitor your site's activity logs for suspicious behavior or high-volume requests.
   
   
   • Regularly review these logs and investigate any anomalies.
     
     
   
   
   
   


9. Implement SSL/TLS:
   
   
   
   
   
   • Use HTTPS throughout your site to encrypt data in transit.
     
     
   
   
   
   


10. Regular backups:
    
    
    
    
    
    • Maintain regular, off-site backups of your website to ensure quick recovery in case of a security breach.
      
      
    
    
    
    


11. Disable XML-RPC if not needed:
    
    
    
    
    
    • If you're not using XML-RPC, disable it to prevent potential abuse.
      
      
    
    
    
    


12. Limit user permissions:
    
    
    
    
    
    • Only grant users the minimum necessary permissions for their roles.
      
      
    
    
    
    

By taking these proactive steps to secure your WordPress site, you can help maintain a safer email ecosystem for everyone and protect your site from various types of attacks.

If you suspect that your WordPress site is being abused to send spam emails or if you need assistance implementing these security measures, please contact our support team immediately. We are here to assist you in resolving issues and ensuring that your site maintains a high level of security.