PHP flaw hits WordPress sites as Kindle Unlimited tops $5 billion
ALLi's podcast flags a critical PHP vulnerability for self-hosted WordPress and WooCommerce sites alongside Kindle Unlimited's October payout milestone
On this week's Self-Publishing News podcast, ALLi News Editor Dan Holloway warned indie authors about a major PHP vulnerability affecting WordPress.org sites and the WooCommerce plugin, announced on October 21. Holloway said WordPress issued a patch almost immediately, but authors with independently hosted WordPress.org sites should contact their web host directly and request written confirmation of which PHP version is running. The vulnerability affects versions prior to 8.2; a patch has been issued for those versions, and Holloway recommends authors get written confirmation the patch has been activated.
Holloway also covered new money-making platform options, among them Kindle Unlimited passing $5 billion in total author payouts in October, with the October payout alone around $66 million, according to the podcast, citing Mark Williams. Holloway noted that an Amazon piece from November 2022, marking Kindle Unlimited's 11th anniversary since its late-2011 launch, had celebrated $2.2 billion paid out at that point.
The podcast also covered Spotify's launch of Spotify Memberships for podcasters on October 20, available in the UK, US, Canada and Australia, and YouTube's plan to launch an audiobook offering in 2027.
Two totally different stories, one week, and both need your attention. The security one is urgent: if you run your own WordPress.org site, this isn't a "get to it eventually" task. The Kindle Unlimited number is the good news — $5 billion paid out since 2011 is real proof the pot keeps growing, even if your monthly page-read check never feels like enough.
From the Coral Wire edition of Sat, Oct 31 2026 · Coral Index 55/100 (Mixed signals)