Critical vulnerability identified in WordPress plugin “BackupBuddy” (CVE-2022-31474)

This vulnerability is currently being actively exploited with over five million attempts to exploit having been recorded so far.

The flaw exists within the WordPress plugin BackupBuddy (https://ithemes.com/backupbuddy/) and any WordPress instances with the plugin installed may be affected. This vulnerability allows an unauthenticated attacker to view the contents of any file on the affected server that could be read by your WordPress installation. This may include the WordPress wp-config.php file and, depending on your server setup, sensitive files like /etc/passwd.

Affected Versions

• 8.5.8.0 to 8.7.4.1

Remediation

This issue has been remediated in version 8.7.5, all users of the BackupBuddy plugin are advised to upgrade to the latest version available.

References

• https://ithemes.com/blog/wordpress-vulnerability-report-special-edition-september-6-2022-backupbuddy/
• https://www.wordfence.com/blog/2022/09/psa-nearly-5-million-attacks-blocked-targeting-0-day-in-backupbuddy-plugin/