Hackers exploit WordPress plugin Post SMTP to hijack admin accounts

A critical vulnerability in the popular WordPress plugin Post SMTP has been exploited by hackers to hijack administrator accounts, posing a significant security risk to websites using this plugin. The flaw allows attackers to escalate privileges and gain unauthorized access to sensitive administrative functions, potentially leading to full site takeover. This exploitation highlights the importance of timely updates and vigilant security practices for WordPress site administrators. The Post SMTP plugin, widely used for email delivery, became a target due to its vulnerability that was not patched promptly, enabling attackers to leverage it for malicious purposes. Website owners are urged to update to the latest plugin version immediately and review their security configurations to prevent exploitation. This incident underscores the ongoing threats facing WordPress ecosystems and the need for continuous monitoring and rapid response to vulnerabilities.

This Cyber News was published on www.bleepingcomputer.com. Publication date: Tue, 04 Nov 2025 21:50:15 +0000


Cyber News related to Hackers exploit WordPress plugin Post SMTP to hijack admin accounts

Type Juggling Leads to Two Vulnerabilities in POST SMTP Mailer WordPress Plugin - On December 14th, 2023, during our Bug Bounty Program Holiday Bug Extravaganza, we received a submission for an Authorization Bypass vulnerability in POST SMTP Mailer, a WordPress plugin with over 300,000+ active installations. This vulnerability ...
1 year ago Wordfence.com
Five best practices for securing Active Directory service accounts - Windows Active Directory (AD) service accounts are prime cyber-attack targets due to their elevated privileges and automated/continuous access to important systems. To support software-specific functions, service accounts require elevated permissions ...
9 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com
CVE-2023-2813 - All of the above Aapna WordPress theme through 1.3, Anand WordPress theme through 1.2, Anfaust WordPress theme through 1.1, Arendelle WordPress theme before 1.1.13, Atlast Business WordPress theme through 1.5.8.5, Bazaar Lite WordPress theme before ...
2 years ago
Developer Accounts Compromised Due to Credential Reuse in WordPress.org Supply Chain Attack - On June 24th, 2024, the Wordfence Threat Intelligence Team became aware of a WordPress plugin, Social Warfare, that was infected with malware through the WordPress repository. We immediately notified the WordPress Plugin's Team and they removed the ...
1 year ago Wordfence.com
CISA Warns of Compromised Microsoft Accounts - CISA issued a fresh CISA emergency directive in early April instructing U.S. federal agencies to mitigate risks stemming from the breach of numerous Microsoft corporate email accounts by the Russian APT29 hacking group. The directive is known as ...
1 year ago Securityboulevard.com APT29
WordPress Request Architecture and Hooks - Before diving into the security features of WordPress, it's critical to understand the underlying request architecture. WordPress is a dynamic system that processes and responds to user requests in various ways, depending on the nature of the request ...
1 year ago Wordfence.com
Hackers exploit WordPress plugin Post SMTP to hijack admin accounts - A critical vulnerability in the popular WordPress plugin Post SMTP has been exploited by hackers to hijack administrator accounts, posing a significant security risk to websites using this plugin. The flaw allows attackers to escalate privileges and ...
4 weeks ago Bleepingcomputer.com CVE-2023-40562
Post SMTP plugin flaw exposes 200K WordPress sites to hijacking attacks - The security issue affects all versions of Post SMTP up to 3.2.0 and is due to a broken access control mechanism in the plugin’s REST API endpoints, which only verified if a user was logged in, without checking their permission level. More than ...
4 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com CVE-2025-24000
SMTP Smuggling Allows Spoofed Emails to Bypass Authentication Protocols - A new attack technique named SMTP Smuggling can allow malicious actors to send out spoofed emails that bypass authentication mechanisms. SMTP Smuggling was discovered by Timo Longin, a researcher known for DNS attacks, in collaboration with SEC ...
1 year ago Securityweek.com
SMTP Smuggling Allows Spoofed Emails to Bypass Authentication Protocols - A new attack technique named SMTP Smuggling can allow malicious actors to send out spoofed emails that bypass authentication mechanisms. SMTP Smuggling was discovered by Timo Longin, a researcher known for DNS attacks, in collaboration with SEC ...
1 year ago Packetstormsecurity.com
Hackers use Citrix Bleed flaw in attacks on govt networks worldwide - Threat actors are leveraging the 'Citrix Bleed' vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2023-4966, to target government, technical, and legal organizations in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region. Researchers from Mandiant report that four ...
2 years ago Bleepingcomputer.com CVE-2023-4966 CVE-2023-3966
Hackers Flood Dark Web Markets With Hijacked X Gold accounts - In the age of social media, verification badges hold significant power. On Twitter, the coveted blue tick signifies legitimacy and influence, commanding increased trust and engagement from followers. With the platform's recent monetization of ...
1 year ago Cybersecuritynews.com
Wordfence Intelligence Weekly WordPress Vulnerability Report (September 23, 2024 to September 29, 2024) - Software Name Software Slug 012 Ps Multi Languages 012-ps-multi-languages ABC APP CREATOR abcapp-creator Absolute Reviews absolute-reviews Accordion accordions Ads by WPQuads – Adsense Ads, Banner Ads, Popup Ads quick-adsense-reloaded Advanced File ...
1 year ago Wordfence.com Slug
Fake and Stolen X Gold Accounts Flood Dark Web - A surge of fake or stolen X Gold accounts has been flooding marketplaces and forums both on the surface web and the dark web over the past year, according to CloudSEK. Threat actors have used multiple techniques to forge or steal X Gold accounts ...
1 year ago Infosecurity-magazine.com
Hackers hijack govt and business accounts on X for crypto scams - Hackers are increasingly targeting verified accounts on X belonging to government and business profiles and marked with 'gold' and 'grey' checkmarks to promote cryptocurrency scams. A recent high-profile case is the X account of cyber threat ...
1 year ago Bleepingcomputer.com
How Hackers Interrupted GTA 5 Online Gameplay on PC - Recently, a cyber-attack on Grand Theft Auto 5 Online on PC caused an interruption to thousands of players’ gameplays. The game was completely taken offline and players couldn’t even access the main gameplay menu. The attack caused an uproar ...
2 years ago Hackread.com
WP Fastest Cache plugin bug exposes 600K WordPress sites to attacks - The WordPress plugin WP Fastest Cache is vulnerable to an SQL injection vulnerability that could allow unauthenticated attackers to read the contents of the site's database. WP Fastest Cache is a caching plugin used to speed up page loads, improve ...
2 years ago Bleepingcomputer.com CVE-2023-6063
Holiday Hackers: How to Safeguard Your Service Desk - Hackers really don't take holidays, but they will take advantage of them. Many of these cyberattacks will zero in on the service or help desk to gain entry into network systems. Recovering accounts because of forgotten passwords is one of the ...
1 year ago Bleepingcomputer.com
4500+ WordPress Sites Hacked with a Monero Cryptojacking Campaign - Security researchers recently reported the discovery of a massive Monero hacking campaign targeted at WordPress sites. According to reports, more than 4500 WordPress sites were compromised with a malicious cryptocurrency-mining campaign. The hackers ...
2 years ago Thehackernews.com
Microsoft reveals how hackers breached its Exchange Online accounts - Microsoft confirmed that the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service hacking group, which hacked into its executives' email accounts in November 2023, also breached other organizations as part of this malicious campaign. On January 12, 2024, Microsoft ...
1 year ago Bleepingcomputer.com APT29
CVE-2021-24752 - Multiple Plugins from the CatchThemes vendor do not perform capability and CSRF checks in the ctp_switch AJAX action, which could allow any authenticated users, such as Subscriber to change the Essential Widgets WordPress plugin before 1.9, To Top ...
3 years ago
CVE-2021-24219 - The Thrive Optimize WordPress plugin before 1.4.13.3, Thrive Comments WordPress plugin before 1.4.15.3, Thrive Headline Optimizer WordPress plugin before 1.3.7.3, Thrive Leads WordPress plugin before 2.3.9.4, Thrive Ultimatum WordPress plugin before ...
3 years ago
Over 15,000 hacked Roku accounts sold for 50¢ each to buy hardware - Roku has disclosed a data breach impacting over 15,000 customers after hacked accounts were used to make fraudulent purchases of hardware and streaming subscriptions. BleepingComputer has learned there is more to this attack, with threat actors ...
1 year ago Bleepingcomputer.com
CyberCrime & Doing Time: Identification Documents: an Obsolete Fraud Countermeasure - When I'm talking to bankers and other fraud fighters, I often mention how easy it is for a criminal to obtain a Drivers License bearing any information they desire. In the new case, Brianna Mills, a 28-year old bank teller in Loganville, Georgia ...
1 year ago Garwarner.blogspot.com
Record Breaking $153,000+ Already Invested into the Security of the WordPress Ecosystem by Wordfence - In just a few short months since our launch in November of last year, the Wordfence Bug Bounty Program has already awarded over $153,000 in bounties to WordPress security researchers who have been responsibly reporting security issues in WordPress ...
1 year ago Wordfence.com