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#17149 com_jce hack attempt

Posted in ‘Admin Tools for Joomla! 4 & 5’
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Everybody will be able to see its contents. Do not include usernames, passwords or any other sensitive information.

Environment Information

Joomla! version
n/a
PHP version
n/a
Admin Tools version
n/a

Latest post by nicholas on Tuesday, 20 August 2013 09:51 CDT

user75370
Mandatory information about my setup:

Have I read the related troubleshooter articles above before posting (which pages?)? yes
Have I searched the tickets before posting? yes
Have I read the documentation before posting (which pages?)? yes
Joomla! version: 2.5.14
PHP version: (unknown)
MySQL version: (unknown)
Host: (optional, but it helps us help you)
Admin Tools version: 2.5.6

Description of my issue:
Just uploaded my live site a week ago, having configured most of Akeeba ATP settings as instructed.
Got an interesting Breach Report:

Blocking reason: dfishield
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date/time : 2013-08-16 09:50:26 GMT
URL : http://MYSITE.com/index.php?option=com_jce&task=plugin&plugin=imgmanager&file=imgmanager&method=form
User : Guest
IP : 79.143.176.250
Country : (unknown country)
Continent : (unknown continent)
UA : libwww-perl/6.04
Hash : post
Variables :
Array
(
[upload-dir] => ../../
[Filedata] =>
[upload-overwrite] => 0
[upload-name] =>
[action] => upload
)

I do not have any JCE component installed AFAIK, except for the TinyMCE.
Steps taken:
I've now blocked the IP above in the blacklist
Project Honeypot is down so I can' t check with it.
Just enabled logs after the attempt, so nothing to see there.
Done a diff of all files, nothing I can see that stands out

I did a database diff and found that there are about 2-3 dozen new redirects (_redirect_links) from my old joomla site domain but they don't point anywhere.

Have I been hacked or is any of the above a coincidence?

Many thanks
Nvir

nicholas
Akeeba Staff
Manager
No, you have not been hacked has you do not have the JCE component installed on your site. What you see is a blind hacking attempt. This exploit has been around for years and some people try it blindly against any site they can find, just in case it is vulnerable. That's all.

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos

Lead Developer and Director

🇬🇷Greek: native 🇬🇧English: excellent 🇫🇷French: basic • 🕐 My time zone is Europe / Athens
Please keep in mind my timezone and cultural differences when reading my replies. Thank you!

user75370
Thanks Nick,

Is this attack orchestrated by a bot, automatically or by a script-kiddie? I barely launched my site and it seemed to already know it's Joomla (even thought it's been well disguised with ATP and your Joomladay security guidelines)

I take it trying to make a living of a website will probably will take a toll on my mental health over time!

Many thanks for your lightning-fast response!

All the best
Nvir

nicholas
Akeeba Staff
Manager
This question is impossible to answer. What is important is that this attack was actually detected and blocked.

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos

Lead Developer and Director

🇬🇷Greek: native 🇬🇧English: excellent 🇫🇷French: basic • 🕐 My time zone is Europe / Athens
Please keep in mind my timezone and cultural differences when reading my replies. Thank you!

user75370
Thank you Nicholas!
No-nonsense, right-on-the-money, as always!
Have a great week
N

nicholas
Akeeba Staff
Manager
You're welcome!

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos

Lead Developer and Director

🇬🇷Greek: native 🇬🇧English: excellent 🇫🇷French: basic • 🕐 My time zone is Europe / Athens
Please keep in mind my timezone and cultural differences when reading my replies. Thank you!

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