WordPress Live Chat support plugin redirect vulnerability – how to fix

A security problem in the WordPress Live Chat support plugin made it vulnerable for XSS making it possible for an attacker to add custom javascript to the configuration of the plugin. This can be done from the outside world without being logged in to the site.

The exploit has been used to infect WordPress sites with for example redirect scripts, causing the visitor to be redirected to other sites when clicking on internal links in the site. More information about the details of the exploit can be found here.

The vulnerablity in WP Live Chat support plugin has been fixed in version 8.0.29 of the plugin but just updating the plugin will not solve the problem if the site already has been infected with custom javascript code.

To solve the problem:

• Make sure WP Live Chat support plugin is updated to version 8.0.29
• In WP backend, go to Live Chat -> Settings -> Custom scripts and remove the unwanted code from the Custom JS box (see image)