Meet IClickFix: a widespread WordPress-targeting framework using the
ClickFix tactic
By Quentin Bourgue, Amaury G. and Sekoia TDR
Published: 2026-01-29 · Archived: 2026-04-05 18:31:21 UTC
This post was originally distributed as a private FLINT report to our customers on 6 January 2026.
Table of contents
Introduction
Threat hunting of emerging adversary clusters
Tracking ClickFix clusters in the wild
From compromised WordPress to infected system
IClickFix delivery stages
NetSupport RAT infection
IClickFix’s spread in the wild
Compromised WordPress worldwide
Historical data
Conclusion
IoCs & Technical details
IoCs
YARA rules
External references
Introduction
In November 2025, during our threat hunting routine for unveiling emerging adversary clusters, TDR analysts identified a
widespread malware distribution campaign leveraging the ClickFix social engineering tactic through a Traffic
Distribution System (TDS).
This cluster uses a malicious JavaScript framework injected into compromised WordPress sites to display the ClickFix lure
and deliver NetSupport RAT. Because the initial JavaScript includes the distinctive HTML tag ic-tracker-js , we named
the malicious framework “IClickFix”.
Historical analysis of IClickFix reveals that this cluster has been active since at least December 2024, compromising over
3,800 WordPress sites. As reported by the Walmart Global Tech security team1, this cluster uses a Traffic Distribution
System (TDS) to redirect selected visitors and deliver the next-stage payload, enhancing IClickFix’s stealth.
TDR analysts first encountered this ClickFix cluster in February 2025, when it was in its early stages. We observed it
distributing Emmenhtal Loader, which ultimately downloaded XFiles Stealer. At that time, IClickFix had not yet reached
sufficient scale to warrant an in-depth analysis.
Like the ClearFake threat2, IClickFix employs a multi-stage JavaScript loader that presents a fake Cloudflare Turnstile
CAPTCHA challenge using the ClickFix social engineering tactic. The ClickFix command, once copied into the victim’s
clipboard, executes a PowerShell command that downloads and executes an obfuscated PowerShell script, ultimately
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dropping NetSupport RAT.
This report provides a technical analysis of the persistent IClickFix framework, the adversary’s infrastructure, and its
technical evolution throughout 2025.
Threat hunting of emerging adversary clusters
In November 2025, we unveiled the IClickFix framework and its associated infrastructure using two distinct threat hunting
methodologies:
An internal tool designed to detect watering hole attacks across thousands of monitored websites belonging to
strategic organisations in government, defense, energy, telecom, and other verticals.
Generic YARA rules deployed on scanning platforms to detect pages employing the ClickFix social engineering
tactic.
Exposing watering hole attacks
In late 2025, Sekoia TDR analysts deployed a new capability for detecting watering hole attacks.
A watering hole attack is a strategic attack where operators compromise a legitimate website known to be frequented by a
specific target group, effectively ambushing users who visit the trusted source. This tactic is often leveraged by state-sponsored actors to conduct espionage against specific sectors (like defense or finance) by targeting a distinct community
of interest, but also serves as a potent vector for broader cybercrime operations.
When our monitoring began in November, the Ghanaian Allied Health Professions Council government WordPress website
ahpc.gov[.]gh was flagged after the main page includes a malicious JavaScript snippet that interacts with the URL
hxxps://ototaikfffkf[.]com/fffa.js , registered a few months earlier.
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Figure 1. Screenshot of the Ghanaian Allied Health Professions Council compromised website
Although the initial indicators suggested a targeted watering‑hole, we quickly observed the same JavaScript snippet across
multiple unrelated websites spanning different sectors and countries. This pattern indicates a mass distribution rather than a
targeted approach against the government in Ghana.
Tracking ClickFix clusters in the wild
Sekoia TDR analysts actively track pages that implement the ClickFix social engineering tactic, given its widespread
adoption by cybercriminals and nation-state-sponsored threat groups. In particular, we have developed generic YARA rules
detecting ClickFix pages, using keywords, resource patterns, and JavaScript functions.
By November 2025, while analysing detection results from the urlquery scanning service3, one of these rules triggered alerts
for resources retrieved from multiple scanned URLs. The detected resources consisted of HTML pages, served by the
malicious framework and containing ClickFix-related strings, including:
Verify you are human
please follow these steps
Ctrl + V
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Win + R
Press Enter
navigator.clipboard.writeText(
As shown in the following figure, the website scanned on urlquery contacted several domains and fetched resources
matching our phishing_clickfix_generic_9 YARA rule.
Figure 2. ClickFix alerts generated for a website compromised by IClickFix, from the urlquery scanning
service
After our threat hunting tools and the Sekoia SOC platform’s telemetry flagged multiple malicious domains, and following
our initial February 2025 observation confirming a persistent and widespread threat, we conducted an in-depth analysis of
the ClickFix cluster.
From compromised WordPress to infected system
As of 9 December 2025, here is an overview of the infection chains’ stages observed4:
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Figure 3. Overview of the IClickFix framework infection chain
The actions performed from the user’s perspective are:
Upon accessing the compromised website, the legitimate HTML content initially loads as expected.
However, within seconds, the entire page is replaced by a fake CAPTCHA challenge designed to mimic Cloudflare
Turnstile.
When the user attempts to resolve the challenge, he is instructed to copy and execute a specific command to complete
the verification.
This command conceals malicious code that differs from the displayed instructions, ultimately resulting in the
execution and deployment of the NetSupport RAT.
IClickFix delivery stages
WordPress sites compromised by the IClickFix framework
The IClickFix operator compromised WordPress sites, acting as watering hole, to inject the following malicious JavaScript
code into their HTML pages:
...
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