Security Concerns

The issue is: I did not ask for this plugin; you installed it on my site without asking.

How did that happen?

Unless you installed another plugin that installed this one, then they did not install anything. Or your host did that, that sometimes happens though I cannot imagine why they would do that to their user base.

Do you know how that occured on your WordPress installation?

Hi Jan.

When you install their https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/wp-maintenance-mode/ they sneak in the otter plugin. There is no asking, it just appears.

Look in their support area https://www.ads-software.com/support/plugin/wp-maintenance-mode/ and you will see others asking why they do this. I have asked their an to show others are concerned https://www.ads-software.com/support/topic/plug-in-not-working-and-extra-plug-ins-automatically-added/

Thanks for the follow-up and I really this author is removed from WordPress for these sneaky practices.

Hi @texasbiz,

Thank you for reaching out and using our plugins.

I understand your concerns and want to clarify that Lightstart offers the flexibility to utilize a pre-designed template, which relies on blocks from the Otter Blocks plugin. However, the decision to utilize this option is entirely up to you as the user. While Lightstart seamlessly integrates with Otter Blocks through its template feature, it’s important to note that it’s not mandatory to use both plugins together. Lightstart functions perfectly fine as a standalone plugin as well.

Regarding the security issues you mentioned, I want to assure you that our team takes security seriously. We have promptly addressed all security concerns highlighted on the Wordfence page you shared. Each issue mentioned on the page has been resolved in the respective version of Otter Blocks, ensuring the safety of users’ websites. At this moment, we are not aware of any unresolved security issues in the Otter Blocks plugin.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out in the reach out.

Best regards,

Thanks for your reply.

The point is: you install a plugin that I did not ask for. I installed a plugin for a maintenance page not a page builder.

You can talk until your blue in the face, but I do not except your point of view on installing a plugin without my approval.

The point is: you install a plugin that I did not ask for. I installed a plugin for a maintenance page not a page builder.

Yeah, that may be an issue. I’ve seen other plugins in the past where upon activation it will say “Hey, we need this other two plugins” and provides the user the option to continue and install that (it was two plugins) but it’s very obvious and the user can decline that. The plugin would then display something like “Dependencies not met, uninstalling plugin”.

@stefancotitosu I suggest you or the developer get proactive and email the plugins team about this. I’m not on the plugins team and this may be acceptable or not.