Unsecured plugins create room for attacks by hackers leading to data manipulation and data breach. A plugin security audit should be done to check if there is a chance for hackers. Plugin developers put security first while working hard to ensure that there is no leakage out there. A vulnerable plugin can cause massive damage to the website giving hackers a chance to manipulate the website. Testing the plugin security for vulnerability is one of the critical issues during the development of a plugin.
Plugin vulnerabilities are crucial, and they can lead to the following if not dealt with in advance. Company’s defamation, customers and company data leakages, and data leakages can make your company face legal actions due to plugin vulnerabilities.
Plugin security audit versus plugin VAPT
Plugin security test is done to assess the plugin vulnerability, while penetration testing shows how the vulnerability can be exploited. Penetration testing shows the result that occurs due to the exploitation by hackers. Plugin VAPT is helpful because it accesses the plugin vulnerability, how it can be exploited, and the extent of the damage.
The vulnerability can be conducted by anyone with technical knowledge, unlike penetration testing, where ethical hackers are the ones to conduct it. While conducting a vulnerability test, the result is a vulnerability list, whereas the result for penetration testing is determining the possible way the hacker will use it.
The developer’s perspective of conducting a WordPress plugin vulnerability audit.
The purpose of conducting a plugin security audit differs from the developer’s need. There are two steps to conduct a plugin security audit, as discussed below.
Step 1- Gathering of information
The first step is to gather the information required during the audit and the places that require the audit. The different areas that most require the audit include user input data, encryptions, data storage, configurations, etc.
There are automated tools that can be used to conduct this security test, and they include the following;
Nikto is used to find the following information for auditing in an application, including the server, IP, hostname, etc.
Nmap is responsible for giving all the information concerning the host; they include the name, the version, the server’s operating system, etc.
Step 2- Exploitation
In this step, you have already gathered the information concerning all the vulnerabilities, and now you exploit them to check the extent of the damage they can cause.
The tools used for exploitation include the following;
SQLmap– it exploits by sending malicious queries to the plugins field that leads to the database crackdown.
Burp Suite– this tool is used for both vulnerability tests and penetration testing and can be used at any stage during the audit.
In conclusion, the entire process of plugin security audit helps is not limited to test the plugin input areas, checking the plugin request, the source code, and permission and data storage on the plugin. A plugin security audit is critical before hackers access your information. It is better to take caution before things get out of hand ad your company becomes defamed with your data.
