Popular WordPress Redirect Plugin Hid Dormant Backdoor
🛡️ The Quick Page/Post Redirect WordPress plugin, installed on more than 70,000 sites, contained a hidden backdoor introduced through a malicious self-update mechanism in versions 5.2.1 and 5.2.2. Researcher Austin Ginder discovered the issue after multiple infections on his Anchor hosting fleet led to a security alert; WordPress.org has temporarily pulled the plugin pending review. A tampered 5.2.3 build, delivered from an external anadnet[.]com server, added a passive backdoor that only triggers for logged-out users and appears to have been used for cloaked SEO spam. Impacted sites should uninstall the plugin and replace it with a clean copy of version 5.2.4 from WordPress.org when it is available.
