The malware was detected in July 2023 by analysts at Defiant, the company that created the Wordfence security plugin for WordPress. The analyst observed that malware came "with a professional-looking opening comment" purporting to be a tool for caching, which site users use to lessen server strain and to make page load times faster. The malware creator cunningly pretends it is a caching tool to appear deliberate to allow it to escape during manual inspection.
The Defiant released a detection signature for its users of the accessible version of Wordfence and added a firewall rule to protect Premium, Care, and Response users from the backdoor.
Rogue admin hijacks WordPress websites with new malware backmonetizeich, which negates routine authentication procedures used to access a system. The malware pretends to be a legitimate caching plugin, allowing hackers to create an administrator account named superadmin' with admin-level permissions to control every website activity. The malware takes down the primary user and removes infection traces. It contains bot detection that serves search engines with different content, such as spam, causing them to index the compromised site for malicious content. The primary admins observe sudden increases in traffic or reports from users complaining about being redirected to harmful locations.
The hacker replaces victimized website content by changing posts, inserting spam links or buttons, and redirecting visitors to malicious locations. However, it serves admins with original content to avoid detection.
The hacker activates or deactivates arbitrary WordPress plugins on affected sites remotely, hiding its tracks to go unnoticed, and checks for specific user-agent strings that let attackers start malicious functions remotely.
It's always recommended to WordPress open-source software users to use strong and unique credentials for admin accounts, keep their plugins up to date, and remove unused add-ons and users.