The desks were filled in the SiteLock Security and Research departments. Our security analysts were furiously working to manually clean malware from a number of WordPress sites. As each site was cleaned a trend began to emerge. Sites built with WordPress were experiencing a malicious redirect that originated in the Yuzo Related Posts plugin due to a Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability. Our security analysts recognized they were cleaning the same malware strain found in the Yuzo zero-day exploit.
Lydia Swanson, fashion blogger and owner of ChicandModish.com was just one of many website owners experiencing this issue. In Swanson’s case, the attack not only impacted revenue but also put the future of her brand at risk.