Attackers pounce before site owners can activate the installation wizard.
Attackers are abusing the Certificate Transparency (CT) system to compromise new WordPress sites in the typically brief window of time before the content management system (CMS) has been configured and therefore secured.
CT is a web security standard for monitoring and auditing TLS (aka SSL) certificates, which are issued by certificate authorities (CAs) to validate websites’ identity.
First implemented by the DigiCert CA in 2013, the standard mandates that CAs immediately record all newly issued certificates on public logs in the interests of transparency and the prompt discovery of rogue or misused certificates.
However, evidence is growing that malicious hackers are monitoring these logs in order to detect new WordPress domains and configure the CMS themselves after web admins upload the WordPress files, but before they manage to secure the website with a password.
Multiple testimonies have emerged detailing sites being hacked within minutes – within seconds, even – of TLS certificates being requested.
Domain owners report the appearance of a malicious file (/wp-includes/.query.php) and sites being press-ganged into joining DDoS attacks.
More details at: https://portswigger.net/daily-swig/wordpress-sites-getting-hacked-within-seconds-of-tls-certificates-being-issued