LarryKluger

Thank you Hugh!

Do you know any podcast apps that handle user_name/pw for the media file itself?

Many thanks,
Larry

My main point is that the hack/virus/whatever you want to call it/ survives upgrades of WP. I’m pleased to see that the latest instructions for people to recover from a hack tells them to rebuild their db rather than preserve it.

Larry

Hi Cj,

The virus is the one I posted about here:
https://www.ads-software.com/support/topic/281912?replies=12#post-1193687

Re: a name for it– Good point, that’s something else that should be done: The list of known exploits on the Codex could be more visible. I did find page https://codex.www.ads-software.com/User:Here/Exploits but only by searching. Am I right that the page is in someone’s private pages? Doesn’t make sense: a list of exploits should be part of the main section of the Codex.

Re: polymorphic — either the virus itself or its installer used different file names for its executables on different systems. It adds files to an already existing plugin. One system it added:
podpress/optional_files/wp1.5_2.0/.wp-feed.cache.php
podpress/optional_files/wp1.5_2.0/.wp-premium.bak.php

On another, it added
.pti_rss_functions.cache.php
.dropdown.bak.php

It lives on despite upgrades because the WP upgrade instructions tell you to save your plugin directories. And the upgrades never look at the active_plugins db record carefully. If you know SQL, you can find the presence of the virus easily.

Re: what was I infected with–It had several parts:

1. 2 file names were added to the active_plugins record in the db. The files were added as hidden files in a plugin directory. I don’t know all that the files do. I can make them publicly available, any harm in that?
2. A “wordpress” user was added to the blog
3. On one of the machines, the backdoor file remv.php was added to the system

Re: how did you identify it? — It’s stealthy, hence my name for it. It does not cause any difference in normal output when viewing the blog’s main site or admin site. It does add spam to the RSS feed when the request comes from the Google Reader. I found info about it by looking in my own system. Info from the web was of some help. See https://www.ads-software.com/support/topic/281912?replies=12 and https://groups.google.com/group/google-reader-troubleshoot/browse_thread/thread/39a7eef288c65dd0/3d177143fb8f5be1?lnk=gst&q=spam#3d177143fb8f5be1

Re: Where were its entries located, and what was the course of remediation?
Entries were in wp_options — Virus adds to the installed plugins by changing the plugins option row in the table:
Look for the table row where option_name = active_plugins

Virus files loaded as bogus plugins here: (field option_value)
a:7:{i:0;s:50:”google-analytics-for-wordpress/googleanalytics.php”;i:1;s:21:”podpress/podpress.php”;i:2;s:21:”wp-cache/wp-cache.php”;i:3;s:10:”wp-flv.php”;i:4;s:29:”wp-recaptcha/wp-recaptcha.php”;i:9;s:52:”podpress/optional_files/wp1.5_2.0/.wp-feed.cache.php”;i:10;s:53:”podpress/optional_files/wp1.5_2.0/.wp-premium.bak.php”;}

From the above, you can see that the virus installed and was running the files
podpress/optional_files/wp1.5_2.0/.wp-feed.cache.php
podpress/optional_files/wp1.5_2.0/.wp-premium.bak.php
The virus chooses a plugin and then creates additional hidden files in the plugin’s directory. This is NOT a bug from podpress, I have seen the virus use other directories in another wp system.

Re: remediation–
Need to remove the added files, remove the extra entries from the db, remove any added WP users, change db and linux passwords. Change WP admin passwords. Change secret phrases in WP config. Upgrade WP. Check directory permissions. Check all directories for hidden files. Check .htaccess files. Usual stuff when hacked.

Re: What code was running in WP — one was 2.7, one was older.

Re: and can you steer me toward the documentation that indicates this as a WordPress specific “stealth virus” variant?
— Don’t know what you mean. My point is that there isn’t enough documentation and attention to these issues. If there’s already a virus called a “stealth virus,” then that’s something different. I’m trying to give a name to this WP infection. It probably has nothing to do with any Windows or other type of malware.

Re: I would like to dissect the known methods of proliferation.
— Presumably the WP folks who work on security share that info. I don’t have it. The virus deleted the server logs so I don’t know what bug in WP it exploited to enter my system.

My point is that it should be able to easily (and automatically) audit a WP system to check for extra files and techniques such as adding file names to the active_plugins dbms record.

Regards,

Larry

Hi,

I just had this virus on two of my WP sites too. One was 2.7, one older.

I think of it as a stealth virus since it does not change any behavior visible from your blog’s site nor from its control panel. But it does add a login that it can later use, plus active software on the site. And it will survive standard WP upgrades and re-installs (since it lives in the db and in plugin directories).

Conclusion: Must keep WP up to date!

To see where the virus was added, look in the database, in the wp-options table. (May have a different prefix depending on your settings.)

In the options table, look for the record where option_name = active_plugins. It will have the names of the files added by the virus.

Also look in the users table and delete any suspicious users, including those named “wordpress.”

Also look in your blog’s directories on the server for any files such as remv.php

Remember that you also need to change:
1) Your database password that wp uses. (And change it in wp-config.php)
2) Your admin password
3) Your linux login password
4) Your “secret phrases” set in wp-config. See the site https://api.www.ads-software.com/secret-key/1.1/
and copy the result into your wp-config.php file.