Security Threats of Nulled WordPress Plugins and Themes: Uncovering the Hidden Dangers

In today's digital world, WordPress is one of the most widely used Content Management Systems (CMS) for quickly creating websites or blogs. WordPress powers more than 10 million websites across the internet. One of the core reasons behind its popularity is the availability of numerous plugins that extend its functionality and make it user-friendly.

Below are statistics on security vulnerabilities based on WordPress components by wpscan.

From the above screenshot, we can see that 94% of Vulnerabilities are found in WordPress plugins. Using nulled plugins is one among them. Nulled WordPress plugins/themes can expose your website to significant security risks and vulnerabilities.

This article will provide a comprehensive understanding of what nulled plugins and themes are, their security risks, the alternatives, when you can use them, etc.

📖 What are Nulled Plugins and Nulled Themes?

A Nulled plugin is a modified version of open-source or premium WordPress plugins distributed for free or at a negligible cost over the Internet through unofficial channels that anyone can download and use.

For premium plugins, the original code is altered, and all license limitations will be nullified, so you can freely use all the premium capabilities without paying any extra money.

In the case of open-source plugins, additional features not part of the official plugin are added to attract users to download and use.

🧲 Why are nulled plugins/themes so attractive?

The WordPress ecosystem is a huge market, and you might need to decide which plugin suits your requirements. Most free plugins are good for getting started, but as you progress, you might see limitations and require additional features.

The above requirements might make you consider premium plugins an option. But again, you might need to get a premium plugin for a theme, a premium plugin for forms, etc., as the requirements keep going.

Considering the Hosting, Plugins, Themes, Development, Official Support, etc. It might look expensive, and as humans, we normally look for ways to cut costs or get discounts.

Cost Effective:

• Nulled plugins sound like a good deal for small website owners who want to get their site up and running without spending a lot of money.
• For users from countries like India, where converting currency to USD costs a lot, paying in USD is pricey.

Selected Features

• Users might need only a few essential features rather than paying for all options.

One Subscription - Access to Many Premium Plugins

• There are a few sites on the internet. I don't want to name them here, where you can pay once and access multiple premium nulled plugins without paying individually for each plugin.

Challenging Experiences

• Users might have faced frustrating experiences with unresponsive support.
• Issues due to account lockouts or inability to register valid user accounts.
• License activation problems, payment-related issues, etc.

Assumed Time Saving

• Used might believe it can cut the development efforts and build the website faster.

Overall, Nulled plugins might seem like a good deal for free, but remember they may contain malware, a backdoor or other security vulnerabilities bundled inside them, which can harm your website with various security threats.

🔓 Security Threats Associated with Nulled Plugins

In this section will dig further and understand the security risks associated with the nulled plugins:

Outdated Security Patches

Official plugin developers patch security loopholes when they receive them. You will miss the patching updates. Missing security patches can leave your website unprotected, and attackers use this opportunity to compromise the site with known security vulnerabilities.

Malicious Code Injection

One of the major threats associated with nulled WordPress plugins or themes is the possibility of injecting malware inside the code.

• Backdoor Access: The malicious code is injected and can silently provide access to your website for attackers. Attackers can use it to execute Remote Code Execution (RCE) and completely control your website.
  

The single most common type of backdoor belonged to a PHP backdoor uploader found on 8.68% of remediated websites, while the most persistent backdoor (removed from more than 180,000 files last year) was WordPress specific and concealed within nulled themes. Its ability to self-replicate once it has established a footprint and layers of obfuscation makes it especially challenging to pinpoint and remove.

From Sucuri - Hacked Website Report

• Open Redirection Attack (Redirection Hack): Whenever users visit your website, the injected code redirects them to a malicious website, with or without clicking any link. This is called an open-redirection attack.
• Ransomware Attack: The malicious code injected inside the application will encrypt all files on the server and/or database. To regain access to those encrypted files, you must pay the attacker a ransom to obtain the decryption key.
• Spread Virus: Infected sites can spread the virus as well, and some advanced malware can even self-replicate and use your site as a medium to compromise other systems.
• Denial of Service (DOS) Attacks: The infected website can be used by attackers to launch a denial-of-service attack against other sites, which can even lead to blacklisting or marking your domain as spam. etc.

Data Breach

Another major issue with the nulled plugin is the theft of your website data. An attacker might steal sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, payment-related details (if you are using e-commerce), etc.

• Data Breaches can cost you a lot when you need to deal with legal consequences and damages. This would also impact your business reputation and trust.
• Sometimes, it can also lead to privacy issues. Malware can silently harvest your users' data and sell it to third-party vendors.

🛡️ Case Study - Criyasoft

Criyasoft is one of the client's educational websites. It is used to demonstrate the functionalities development in WordPress and is always kept online for students' reference.

Recently, it became the victim of an open-redirection attack. After 4 levels of redirections, it will take genuine users to a casino website.

What is the Impact?

The "About" page link is tampered with, and whenever a visitor clicks it, it will redirected multiple times and take the user to a casino website

What is the root cause?

After analyzing the site, I found a couple of main reasons, which are listed below.

Outdated Plugins and Themes - Both plugins and themes are not updated regularly.

During the initial analysis, I discovered that it was just an ad-tracking link or that it was due to outdated plugins that have known security vulnerabilities. Updated all the plugins and themes. Ensured all was fixed, as it was no longer reproducible.

After a few days, the attack pattern started to repeat again, and once it started impacting other page links, I realized it was some malicious behaviour impacting navigating menu links.

After thoroughly evaluating each installed plugin and theme, I discovered that the client installed one of the nulled plugins for quick educational purposes instead of purchasing one that contained malicious code.

Novashare nulled plugin is used - A nulled WordPress social share plugin is being used.

After cleaning up the nulled plugin files, the site is back to normal, with continuous security monitoring enabled to prevent further attacks.

How was it fixed?

I scanned it with malware-scanning plugins to find the root cause. (Used Malcare)

Post confirmation removed the Novoshare nulled plugin completely, deleted all its files and updated all the themes and plugins. Additional enabled "auto-updates" for all non-customized plugins and themes.

Lastly, I configured the free "ShieldSecurity" plugin to monitor real-time security alerts and prevent them from further impacting the website.

⛔ Additional Reasons to Avoid Nulled Plugins?

Below are some additional trust concerns you might consider before using any of the nulled plugins. We don't know what is inside the code, and we need to be prepared for any unexpected behaviours that can cause the site to crash or impact its availability.

Flagged by Search Engines - Google

If Google finds any malicious behaviour on your website, an additional flag is displayed below your domain with the message "This site may be hacked." This indicates that users should avoid visiting the Website as malicious activity has been spotted.

If you believe you are a victim, check out Google Support for fixing.

Recovering from Nulled WordPress Plugin Damage

Restoring your website after discovering it is hacked or causing unexpected behaviour is more time-consuming.

• Restore Backup: Maintaining regular backups can help you quickly restore the existing snapshots by identifying the impacted behaviour early.
• Scanning for Malware or Seeking Professional Assistance: For hacked websites, it's possible to mitigate the damage and regain control. You need to set up malware scanning solutions to identify infected files like "Sucuri", "WordFence", "Malcare", etc. Additionally, don't hesitate to seek professional assistance if required.
• Time-Consuming: As mentioned earlier, using nulled WordPress plugins or themes might seem time-saving, but damage control requires a lot more time and resources to restore the website to normal.

I hope the above information can help you to decide and take respective action with respective to Nulled WordPress plugins or themes.

👍 Best place for Plugins and Themes

Finding safe and reliable WordPress plugins is easy. There are many free and paid premium options for securely accessing your website.

• WordPress Plugins - All WordPress Plugins Directory

• WordPress Themes - All WordPress Themes Directory

Additional Tips

• For each WordPress plugin or theme, check their reviews or visit its home page, and ensure you are purchasing only from official authors' sites.

• EnvatoElements - Another common place where you can find WordPlugins and Themes.

🤔 Still Using Nulled Plugins?

If you use nulled plugins on production websites, the transition steps below will be helpful, as they can still pose security risks.

Scan for known Vulnerabilities or Malware

Antivirus and antimalware companies work around the clock to find new malware behaviours and patterns and update their signatures database.

You can leverage the free online malware scans such as "Sucuri", "WordFence", "Malcare", VirusTotal, etc., to check the nulled plugins if it does do contain malware.

You could also check out the below bookmark to learn more about scanning your WordPress site for vulnerabilities.

https://securityarray.io/wordpress-scan-for-vulnerabilities-a-comprehensive-guide-for-site-security/

Transition to Free or Premium Plugins:

Transitioning away from nulled plugins is crucial for maintaining the security and integrity of your WordPress site. The below steps can help you ensure a smooth migration to premium or free plugins with minimal disruption.

• Backup Your Website: Ensure complete site backup is taken to prevent potential data loss.
• Test and Validate alternate plugins: Ensure all features and functionalities work as intended with the new plugins.
• Remove Nulled Plugins: After successfully evaluating new plugins, safely remove the nulled plugins from your website, eliminating any potential security risks associated with their usage.
• Publish Changes: Push all the updated changes into the production environment and ensure that all the functionalities are working as expected.

📝 Conclusion

The WordPress nulled plugins or themes might seem an attractive alternative to paying for premium features, but it's critical to weigh the security risks associated with their use. The potential harm they can cause to your website security is more, including reputational damage, a drop in your site rankings, a decrease in revenue, etc. Opting for free or trial versions and ensuring all the plugins and themes are up-to-date can minimize security threats.

If you feel any of the points can be improved further, drop a mail.

🙋 FAQs

🔗 Additional References:

Why You Should Stop Using Nulled WordPress Plugins and Themes

Nulled WordPress plugins and themes might not be breaking any laws, but there are still important reasons why you shouldn’t use them on your sites.

KinstaBrian Jackson

Why You Should Avoid Using Nulled Plugins and Themes

What’s so bad about nulled plugins and themes? See the most common issues with these dangerous shortcuts for your WordPress site. Six reasons to steer clear.

JetpackWordPress.com / Automattic Inc.