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	<title>database &#8211; WordPress Security Blog</title>
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	<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com</link>
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<site xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">226935356</site>	<item>
		<title>Here&#8217;s a guide on how to read WordPress hacking logs and how to respond to them.</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10985</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Oct 2026 01:49:51 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[check]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[database]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[malware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[removal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[virus]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/?p=10985</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[In this article, we’ll explain how to view logs of WordPress hacking attempts—a feature of WordPress security plugins—and how to respond to them. Recording and Viewing Logs of Hackers Who Launch Random Attacks on WordPress Because WordPress is so widely used—with hundreds of millions of sites—it is targeted with specialized attack methods. Hackers use automated attack tools that systematically target multiple vulnerabilities on WordPress sites one after another. This type of attack is essentially a “hit-or-miss” approach, and if you review the attack logs, you’ll see that such attacks are being launched in massive numbers against all kinds of sites. (Over 99% of these indiscriminate attacks fail.) The [Free] WordPress: Malware Scan &#038; Security Plugin [Malware &#038; Virus Detection and Removal] includes a feature that detects hacker attacks. Go to the plugin’s admin panel > Hack Monitor &#038; IP Blocker tab > check the box next to “Enable Hack Monitor,” then click the “Save Settings” button at the bottom of the page. How to Read the Hacking Log About one to two months after enabling Hack Monitor, you may be surprised to see a large number of hacker attacks recorded—especially on sites that have been operational for a long time—butthis is something that can happen to any WordPress site, and since the likelihood that these attacks were successful (i.e., that the hacker managed to infiltrate the server and tamper with files) is low, there’s no need to worry excessively. The hacking log table lists the detection date, the type of hacker attack (brute-force attack, vulnerability exploit, scan using hacking tools, etc.), the hacker’s IP address, the targeted files, and the data the hacker was sending. Blocking Dangerous Hacker IP Addresses If you click on the hacker’s IP address in the hacking log table, you can view how many reports have been filed regarding that IP address on www.abuseipdb.com—a database where security professionals worldwide share information about dangerous IP addresses—to see how many reports have been filed regarding the IP address that attacked your site. For example, the IP address in the example below has been reported 703 times and is deemed to be 100% engaged in dangerous activity. *You can also see that the IP’s location is listed as Pakistan. Additionally, the hack log shows that this IP has launched four brute-force attacks. It is best to completely block such IPs to reduce the likelihood of successful brute-force attacks, and I believe it is safe to block them completely for the time being. You can completely block this specific IP using the “Block IP” button on the right. Which attacker IPs should be blocked, and for how long? At WP Doctor, we believe it is acceptable to permanently block an IP address if it has been the source of multiple similar attacks, is a www.abuseipdb.comでも大量の攻撃が報告されており, and is not a domestic IP address. However, please note that if the IP address changes hands, it may no longer be used for hacking. Therefore, if you keep an IP blocked for years, there is a very rare chance that legitimate traffic (from that country using [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10985</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Preventing the addition of unauthorized administrator users, a common consequence of WordPress hacks</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10980</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 16 Oct 2026 01:24:51 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[database]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[error]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hacked]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[malware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[removal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[virus]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/?p=10980</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[I’ve been thinking about ways to prevent the addition of new, unauthorized administrator users—a common consequence of WordPress hacks. Preventing the Addition of Unauthorized Administrator Users When WordPress is hacked or compromised due to vulnerabilities, there has been an increasing number of cases where hackers exploit WordPress’s user-add function to create unauthorized administrators who can log in to the site. If you do not plan to increase the number of administrator users in the future, you can prevent the addition of new administrator users by adding the following code to your theme’s `functions.php` file. add_filter('wp_pre_insert_user_data', function ($data, $update, $user_id, $userdata) { if ($update) { return $data; } if ( $userdata['role'] === 'administrator') { return false; } return $data; }, 1, 4); *This code has been tested and will prevent the addition of administrator users by triggering a data missing error. This code uses the `wp_pre_insert_user_data` hook to block all attempts to add a user if `$userdata[&#8216;role&#8217;]` is set to &#8220;administrator.&#8221; This prevents the addition of new administrator users via the admin dashboard or the `wp_insert_user` function. Please note that this code can only be used with WordPress 5.8.0 or later, as the `$userdata[&#8216;role&#8217;]` variable contains the role data of the user being added. Additionally, while rare, this code cannot prevent hackers from directly adding users with administrator privileges to the database without using the `wp_insert_user` function . Please also use the [Free] WordPress: Malware Scan &#038; Security Plugin [Malware &#038; Virus Detection and Removal], which provides other important security measures such as malware scanning and removal, vulnerability scanning, and login security measures to prevent brute-force attacks. *This feature to prevent the addition of administrator-level users is planned for implementation in the next version of the [Free] WordPress: Malware Scan &#038; Security Plugin [Malware &#038; Virus Detection and Removal], where it will be available for a wider range of WordPress versions. We hope this information is helpful.]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10980</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>My WordPress Site Was Hacked and I Can&#8217;t Log In! Steps to Recover Control When Both the Admin Password and Email Have Been Changed</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10969</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 06 Oct 2026 01:19:33 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[check]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[database]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hacked]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[malware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scan]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/?p=10969</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[My WordPress site was hacked and I can&#8217;t log in! Here&#8217;s a step-by-step guide on how to regain access when both the admin password and email address have been changed. When a Hacker Takes Over Your WordPress Admin Account Although this is a rare occurrence, hackers may not only add unauthorized users to WordPress but also change the password or email address of an existing administrator, preventing you from logging in with your original credentials. Here’s how to regain administrator access and log in again. 1. Upload database connection software to the server Download a database connection program called Adminer. Download: https://github.com/vrana/adminer/releases/download/v6.1.1/adminer-6.1.1-en.php Use FTP software to upload this file to the WordPress root directory. While you’re at it, please download the file named `wp-config.php`, which should be located in the WordPress root directory (we’ll use this file to check the database connection settings). *Please refer to the help section of your hosting provider for instructions on how to connect via FTP. 2. Access the database connection software and log in Next, access the database connection software you just uploaded via your browser. Example URL: https://WordPress site URL/adminer-6.1.1-en.php Copy and paste the following settings from the wp-config.php file you downloaded earlier to log in to the database. /** Database name for WordPress */ define('DB_NAME', '*****'); /** MySQL database username */ define('DB_USER', '*****'); /** MySQL database password */ define('DB_PASSWORD', '*****'); /** MySQL hostname */ define('DB_HOST', '*****'); 3. Change the user&#8217;s login password Select the wp_users table (prefix: _users), display the list of users via “Select Data,” click the “Edit” button for a user with administrator privileges, set the password to your desired value, select the MD5 hashing method, and save the changes. This will prevent hackers from logging in, and you’ll be able to log in using the password you just set via the login URL. Login URL https://WordPress site URL/wp-login.php If you also want to change the email address, follow the steps below. Change the administrator’s email address in the `wp_users` (prefix `_users`) table Change the site administrator’s email address in the `wp_options` (prefix `_options`) table Once you’ve logged in, we also recommend running a malware scan on your entire WordPress site. We hope this information was helpful.]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10969</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Files left sitting in your WordPress directory can be dangerous—here’s why.</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10952</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Sep 2026 02:04:59 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[check]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[database]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hacked]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[htaccess]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[malware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[removal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[virus]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/?p=10952</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Here, we’ll explain the security risks posed by various files left sitting in your WordPress directory. Dangerous Files Left in the WordPress Directory When hackers attempt to compromise a site, they may try to access various files stored in the WordPress directory by randomly entering their URLs in an attempt to use them as a foothold for the attack. For this reason, we strongly recommend that you do not leave the files described below on your server. *Blocking access via .htaccess settings is also an effective security measure. 1. Remnants of wp-config.php wp-config.php is WordPress’s configuration file that contains extremely important settings, such as database connection information. For this reason, hackers may attempt to obtain remnants of this file in order to add unauthorized administrators or alter content. (While direct access to `wp-config.php` displays nothing, the contents of these remnants may be viewable.) Examples of URLs that may be accessed: /wp-config.php.bak /wp-config.php.old /wp-config.php~ /wp-config.php.save /wp-config.php.orig /wp-config.php.swp Directories: /.bak /.old /.orig /.save, etc. We recommend that you delete all backup files of `wp-config.php` and similar files from the server. 2. Git Repository Information for Development Please check to ensure that no development folders—such as .git/, .svn/, or .env—have been left on the server. Hackers could potentially use these files to reconstruct the entire source code, including WordPress configuration files. 3. Database Connection Files To easily connect to the database, hackers may have already stolen your database connection information or may search the server for database connection programs to launch brute-force attacks. URLs such as the following are common targets for attacks: /phpmyadmi /phpMyadmin (with some letters capitalized) /phpmyadmin(combination of numbers) /phppma /myadmin /PMA /pma /phpMyAdmin-version-all-languages /adminer.php /adminer-version.php /adminer-version-mysql.php /adminer etc. *Note: The `setup.php` file in PHPMyAdmin (used to configure database connections) may also be targeted. We strongly recommend that you either avoid installing database connection software on the server altogether, or install it in a folder with a random string name and apply Basic Authentication—taking extreme caution during installation. 4. Database Dump Files If database dump files (backup files containing content, administrator IDs, and passwords) are left on the server, they may be compromised. /db_backup.site-domain.sql.gz /db_backup.sql.gz /dump.sql /site-domain.sql /backup.sql /db.sql /database.sql /sql.sql etc. *Even if a hacker gains access to the database, they will not be able to obtain the administrator password.This is because WordPress stores passwords in an encrypted format. However, if a hacker manages to obtain not only the database but also the values for `AUTH_KEY` and `SECURE_AUTH_KEY` (which are written in `wp-config.php`), they can spoof cookies and log in to WordPress as an administrator. I hope this information is helpful. If your WordPress site has already been hacked and malware has been installed, we recommend running a malware scan using a plugin. [Free] WordPress: Malware Scan &#038; Security Plugin [Malware &#038; Virus Detection and Removal]]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10952</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>What to Do If an Unfamiliar Administrator Has Been Added to WordPress</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10942</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2026 01:43:04 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[backdoor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[check]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[database]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hacked]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[malware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[removal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[virus]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/?p=10942</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[If an unfamiliar administrator has been added to WordPress, we’ll explain how to determine whether that administrator is unauthorized and what steps to take. How to Determine if an Unfamiliar Administrator Is an Unauthorized Account Created by a Hack Administrators added through hacking typically have the following characteristics: ・Administrator privileges ・0 posts ・Unauthorized administrator IDs often have the following characteristics: ◇ Administrator names consisting of random character strings ◇ IDs containing arbitrary character strings such as “12345” or “adcde” ◇ IDs or email addresses containing strings that impersonate legitimate users, such as “wp-update,” “wp-demouser,” or “wp-import-user” ◇ IDs or email addresses containing slightly altered versions of “administrator,” such as “administratoirr” or “administratoir” *Please note that there are many fraudulent administrator users that do not exhibit the characteristics listed above. We hope you will use this information as a general guide. Method 1 for Dealing with Unauthorized Administrator Users The basic method for dealing with unauthorized users is to delete them. If you’re unsure whether a user is unauthorized, changing their password will prevent the hacker from logging in, even if the user is indeed unauthorized. Method 2 for Dealing with Unauthorized Administrator Users: The presence of an unauthorized user indicates that your WordPress site has been successfully hacked The fact that an unauthorized user has been created means that a hacker has already gained access to your WordPress site. • The hacker is exploiting a vulnerability that allows them to modify the database and create unauthorized users. • The hacker has installed malicious programs, such as backdoors, that exploit this vulnerability to modify the database and create unauthorized users. For this reason, it is necessary to remove malware from the entire WordPress site and implement security measures to patch the vulnerabilities. We would appreciate it if you could use the [Free] WordPress: Malware Scan &#038; Security Plugin [Malware &#038; Virus Detection and Removal], which allows you to easily scan for and remove malware and check for vulnerabilities directly from a plugin. Since many types of malware these days spread beyond the domain folder on the server to infect other sites, we recommend—if possible—that malware scanning, removal, and security measures be performed on all WordPress sites under your server account.]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10942</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Practical Workflow: From the Public Disclosure of a WordPress Plugin’s CVE to Identifying the Scope of Impact Within the Company and Implementing Emergency Measures</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10925</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2026 01:37:49 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[backdoor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[check]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[database]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/?p=10925</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[We will explain the practical workflow—from the public disclosure of a WordPress plugin’s CVE to identifying the scope of impact within the company and implementing emergency measures. What is a CVE? CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) refers to a common identification number assigned to software vulnerabilities. The format is “CVE-Year-Sequence Number” (e.g., CVE-2024-12345). It is managed by the U.S. nonprofit organization MITRE and is used as a global standard. CVEs are also assigned a CVSS score on a 10-point scale based on the severity of the vulnerability. A CVSS score of 8 or higher indicates a serious vulnerability, as described below, and is considered a vulnerability that should be addressed immediately as a top priority. What a score of 8 or higher means ・The attack is often relatively easy to execute. ・It can often be executed by anyone without any special conditions. ・The impact is severe. ・Arbitrary code may be executed on the server. ・Database contents may be extracted or tampered with. ・Arbitrary file upload: A backdoor (an unauthorized entry point) may be installed on the server. *You can check for vulnerabilities in WordPress plugins with CVSS scores here. You can also check for vulnerabilities using security plugins. Steps to Address Vulnerabilities Standalone vulnerabilities that lead to website defacement—a common target for hackers—often have a CVSS score of 7 or higher. Since hackers indiscriminately target WordPress sites with vulnerabilities, leaving a major vulnerability unaddressed increases the likelihood— over time —that your site will be compromised through that vulnerability, resulting in the most severe type of hacking attack. If you discover that a plugin or other component used in WordPress has a vulnerability, it is important to take the following steps as soon as possible. 1. Check whether an update addressing the vulnerability is available for the plugin. * If no update is available, proceed to step 4. 2. If an update is available, create a test site or use an existing test site to verify the plugin update. Since updating WordPress plugins and other components can sometimes cause issues on your site, it is safer to first apply the update on a test site and verify its functionality there before updating the live site. 3. Apply the update to the live environment to fix the vulnerability. When a vulnerability is discovered, the developer is notified.The developer may release an update to patch the vulnerability. In this case, simply applying the update resolves the issue. 4. If no update is available Development may have already ended, and vulnerability patches may not have been released for a long time. Alternatively, WordPress may have suspended downloads of the plugin itself due to security concerns. In such cases, if the vulnerability is severe, we will take the following measures: ・After investigating the plugin’s usage, if it is not in use or is used only to a limited extent, and deactivating it poses no issues, we will deactivate and delete the plugin. *Note: Since vulnerabilities can sometimes be exploited simply by the plugin’s code existing on the server, please ensure that the plugin is not only deactivated [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10925</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Does Changing the Table Prefix in a WordPress Database Really Help? An Analysis Based on Actual Attack Logs</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10920</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 31 Jul 2026 01:35:40 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[check]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[database]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[injection]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[malware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[removal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[virus]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/?p=10920</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Is Changing a Database Table Prefix Really Effective? Let’s Examine This Using Actual Attack Logs. What Is a Database Table Prefix? In WordPress, you can set a naming convention for database tables called a “prefix.” In the `wp-config.php` file, the setting is defined as follows: $table_prefix = 'wp_'; With this setting, all table names will begin with “wp_,” as shown below: wp_commentmeta wp_comments wp_links wp_options wp_postmeta wp_posts wp_terms wp_termmeta wp_term_relationships wp_term_taxonomy wp_usermeta wp_users You can change this table prefix when you first install WordPress or using a plugin. It’s often said that changing the table prefix improves security, but I’ll explain why this is the case and whether it really makes a difference. Why does changing the table prefix improve security? The reason changing the table prefix improves security is that it prevents hackers from identifying the exact table names during SQL injection attacks—attacks where hackers exploit vulnerabilities to retrieve or modify database contents. (This is why SQL injection attacks will fail on the first attempt, even if a vulnerability exists.) For example, an SQL injection attack targeting a table name like the one below will fail: *If the prefix is changed and the actual table name is wpc_users, the SQL injection attack below will fail: SELECT * FROM wp_users WHERE username = '' OR '1'='1' Investigate how many similar attacks exist among 250,000 hacker attacks Based on recent hacker attack patterns collected by our company, we will investigate how many attacks specifically target table names.　 For the data search, we checked whether the tables frequently targeted in attacks—wp_users and wp_options—were included in the attacks. Data from 256,620 hacker attack samples over the past two weeks Number of cases where &#8220;wp_users&#8221; was included in GET or POST data: 91 Example attack queries (partially redacted as they could be used in actual attacks) {"action":"******","*****":",(SELECT EXTRACTVALUE(1,CONCAT(0x7e,(SELECT GROUP_CONCAT(CONCAT(user_login,0x3a,user_pass) SEPARATOR '&#124;') FROM wp_users LIMIT 5))))"} Number of entries containing `wp_options` in GET or POST data: 42 entries\nExample attack query (partially redacted as it could be used in actual attacks) {"action":"******","id":"1\\' UNION SELECT option_name,option_value,autoload FROM wp_options WHERE option_name LIKE \\'%key%\\'-- -"} Total: 133 entries, 0.05% Conclusion Although the number of instances found is very low at 0.05%, attacks that target specific table names are actually taking place. WordPress vulnerability attacks come in waves Although injection attacks using hard-coded table names are extremely rare, when a major vulnerability is discovered, hackers may all resort to similar attack methods. If this vulnerability allows for SQL injection attacks, the probability mentioned above could rise sharply. For this reason, WP Doctor believes that changing the WordPress table prefix does indeed have security value (moderate). Please be sure to use the security plugin we’ve developed. [Free] WordPress: Malware Scan &#038; Security Plugin [Malware &#038; Virus Detection and Removal]]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10920</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>WordPress Malware Infections: Typical Patterns of Malicious Code Embedded in `wp_posts` and `wp_options`, and How to Distinguish It from Legitimate Code</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10908</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 Jul 2026 01:50:12 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[check]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[database]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[javascript]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[malware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[removal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[virus]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/?p=10908</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[We’ll explain typical patterns of malicious code embedded in WordPress’s `wp_posts` and `wp_options` tables as a result of malware infection, as well as how to distinguish it from legitimate code. Malware Infection and Tampering of the WordPress Database In the event of a malware infection, it is rare for the WordPress database—including tables such as `wp_posts` and `wp_options`—to be tampered with.However, when a vulnerability that allows database tampering is discovered in a popular plugin or similar software, hackers often exploit that vulnerability en masse, leading to a surge in database tampering across numerous websites. How to Detect and Remove a Database Infection? Unless there is a plugin that executes PHP, almost none of the content stored in the WordPress database can be executed as a program. For this reason, even when hackers tamper with the database to embed malicious code, it is typically not server-side executable code but rather JavaScript script code that runs primarily in the browser. Here’s how you can detect this tampering to some extent using a database connection tool. 1. Connect to the database using Adminer Upload the database connection tool called Adminer to the server and connect to the WordPress database using the database connection information listed in wp-config.php. 2. Search the database for strings characteristic of malware Next, search the database for portions of strings characteristic of malware. The following examples show code commonly used by malware. Search for these code snippets to check whether any malware is present in the database. &#60;script atob( eval( fromCharCode( etc. Please note that not everything that matches this code search is necessarily malicious code. * You can easily check for malicious code like the examples above using the [Free] WordPress: Malware Scan &#38; Security Plugin [Malware &#38; Virus Detection and Removal]. 3. Check for Malicious Code and Remove It You need to determine whether the code found during the scan is malicious JavaScript. Generally, malicious code is characterized by long strings of random letters and numbers crammed into a single line. Since it has the potential to corrupt database data, you must remove it with caution! If the code is malicious, you must carefully remove only that specific section. However, since a single instance of malware code can infect a vast number of records, it may be difficult to remove it manually. In such cases, you may need to use database replacement software to remove it. Additionally, databases may contain records in a format known as “serialized data,” where the number of characters in the string must match exactly or the data will be corrupted. If such data contains malicious code, the process can be particularly challenging—for example, you may need to reduce the character count by the number of characters removed. Example of serialized data (parts like “s:31” indicate the number of characters in the text) a:6:{i:0;s:31:"query-monitor/query-monitor.php";i:1;s:57:"accesspress-instagram-feed/accesspress-instagram-feed.php";i:2;s:19:"easy-captcha/easy-captcha.php";i:3;s:43:"google-analytics-dashboard-for-wp/gadwp.php";i:4;s:33:"instagram-feed/instagram-feed.php";i:5;s:19:""really-simple-captcha/really-simple-captcha.php";}]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10908</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Steps to Regain Administrator Privileges After the Person in Charge of a WordPress Site Outsourced to a Production Company Has Resigned or Closed Their Business</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10890</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Jul 2026 01:38:49 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[check]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[database]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[malware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[removal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[virus]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/?p=10890</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Here’s a guide on how to regain administrator privileges after the person in charge of your WordPress site—which you had outsourced to a production company—has resigned or gone out of business. Unable to Update Plugins, etc., Due to Lack of WordPress Administrator Permissions When a WordPress development company delivers a site, they may provide the site operator with a user account that only allows editing and adding posts and static pages—to prevent accidental updates or bugs. (This account lacks the permissions to update or add/modify plugins.) However, it’s common for the development company to go out of business or for the person in charge to leave, making it difficult to log in with stronger permissions (permissions to update WordPress itself, plugins, or themes). This can lead to vulnerabilities being left unaddressed, resulting in malware infections, the inability to use new features, or the inability to update PHP(because the plugins are outdated and do not support the new PHP version). Enabling Login with Administrator Privileges In this case, the quickest solution is to upload database access software to the server, manually change the administrator password, and then log in as an administrator. Upload the PHP program above to the server using an FTP client, access it, and enter the database connection settings stored in WordPress’s `wp-config.php` file to log in to the database. Open the table with the prefix _users (usually wp_users). Create a password for the administrator user (typically created by the development company), hash it using MD5, and save it. This will allow you to log in as this user. *Generally, the administrator user has an ID of 1. You can verify whether this user actually has administrator privileges by checking the wp_usermeta table for the following entry under user_id 1 (the user’s ID): wp_capabilities a:1:{s:13:&#8221;administrator&#8221;;b:1;} If you are able to log in to a site that hasn’t been updated for a long time, we also recommend running a malware scan and vulnerability assessment. [Free] WordPress: Malware Scan &#038; Security Plugin [Malware and Virus Detection and Removal] What if you still can’t log in with administrator privileges? If you are unable to log in as an administrator, or if you can log in but cannot update plugins, it may be because code restricting functionality has been added to the theme’s `functions.php` file, or because a permission-restriction plugin is limiting your access.]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10890</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Site Looks Normal, but Search Results Are Flooded with Product Pages and Chinese Text—Detecting and Completely Removing SEO Spam</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10886</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2026 01:22:59 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[backdoor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[clean]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[database]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[index.php]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[malware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[removal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[virus]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/?p=10886</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[The site looks normal, but search results are flooded with product pages or appear in Chinese—here’s an explanation of how to detect and completely remove SEO spam. What Is SEO Spam? If the Google search results for your company’s WordPress site are filled with a large number of unfamiliar product pages or pages in Chinese, and clicking on those links leads to your company’s domain (even if they eventually redirect to another site, this still counts as SEO spam), it is highly likely that your site has been tampered with through a hacking attack known as SEO spam. The specific methods hackers use for SEO spam are as follows: ・Hackers exploit vulnerabilities in your site to gain permissions that allow them to overwrite databases, content, sitemaps, and other elements on your server. ・Hackers place unauthorized content on the site, alter sitemaps, or embed unauthorized links and forced redirection code into pages, causing search engines to mistake these for legitimate pages and index them ・Search results become contaminated with fraudulent pages. ・If users accidentally purchase products, their credit card information may be leaked, or they may download viruses, potentially leading to secondary damage. How do you remove SEO spam? To remove SEO spam, you must inspect and remove the compromised parts of your WordPress site. The following files are commonly compromised: index.php Theme’s index.php wp-config.php Theme’s functions.php Theme’s header.php However, other files may also be compromised, and in many cases, hackers may have installed a “backdoor”—a type of file that allows them to freely alter server content—deep within the system. Since manually opening and inspecting each file one by one is not practical, we recommend using a dedicated plugin to comprehensively scan and remove malware from all files on your site. [Free] WordPress: Malware Scan &#038; Security Plugin [Malware &#038; Virus Detection and Removal] After removal, how long does it take for the contaminated search results to disappear and return to normal? If the tampering has been completely removed, the contamination in most search results is often cleared within one week to one month. However, this depends on how frequently Google crawls the site, so it is difficult to predict the exact timeframe. Based on our experience, registering a new, cleaned-up sitemap via Search Console does not seem to significantly affect this process. However, if only a few malicious pages appear in search results, setting those pages to be excluded from search rankings via Search Console may cause them to disappear somewhat faster. To temporarily remove pages from search results via Search Console (URL Removal Tool) ・Log in to Search Console (search.google.com/search-console) ・Select “Indexing” → “Removal” from the left menu ・Click “New Request” ・Enter the target URL in the “Temporary Removal” tab ・Click “Next” → “Submit” to complete the process The page will be hidden from search results for approximately 6 months. If you want to permanently exclude it, the page itself must no longer exist. After removing malware, you must patch the vulnerabilities Once you’ve removed the hacker’s tampering, you must first patch the vulnerability that allowed the hacker to gain access. [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10886</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Latest password policy for using WordPress with multiple administrators and editors (contributors).</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10800</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 31 Mar 2026 01:26:28 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[check]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[database]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hacked]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[malware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[removal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[virus]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/?p=10800</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[We will explain the latest password policy (how to determine a unified password) when using WordPress with multiple administrators and editors (contributors). How to determine WordPress passwords, password policy The way passwords are determined has changed over time. Until a few years ago, periodic password changes were recommended, but now it is believed that once a strong password is created, it does not need to be changed, and double authentication is also becoming more popular. Current Recommended Password Policies Length Priority Minimum 12-16 characters. Length is the most important factor for security. Passphrase A combination of words such as correct-horse-battery-staple is effective Change only when a leak is suspected. Change only if you suspect a leak. Unnecessary forced change is counterproductive. Combination of 2FA and MFA (multi-factor authentication) Reduce reliance on single passwords Use of password managers Manage long, random passwords without using them repeatedly for each service. Match against compromised lists Match against databases such as Have I Been Pwned and block In the case of WordPress, the use of passwords similar to user IDs is also a major cause of hacking. For this reason, we recommend that you do not use passwords that contain a string of characters that includes your user ID! Why is it not necessary to change my password on a regular basis? When people are told that they must change their password every 90 days, many try to keep it to a minimum so that it is easy to remember. Here is a typical pattern we have observed in practice Sakura2024! → Sakura2025! → Sakura2026! What is the use of a password manager? The idea here is to have the application remember complex passwords, rather than having a human remember them. Browsers have a function to record passwords, but this is a password manager. There is also software that encrypts and stores passwords, such as https://keepass.info/. What is a check against a compromised list? Hackers also use the list of compromised passwords in a brute force attack to enforce login. This means that even if the passwords are long enough and random enough, the compromised passwords will not be used. One site to check for compromised passwords is https://haveibeenpwned.com/ and others. What happens if my WordPress password is weak? It is said that 20% of WordPress sites are hacked and tampered with due to weak passwords, which can lead to the loss of administrative privileges. Hackers use a list of commonly used passwords and mechanically repeat login enforcement thousands and thousands of times to try to log in. This is called a brute force attack. Please use the [Free] WordPress:Malware Scan &#038; Security Plug-in [Malware and Virus Detection and Removal], a security plugin that can detect and suppress brute force attacks. It is important that you use an appropriate password policy to prevent such brute force attacks and reduce the possibility of WordPress hacking.]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10800</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Why is it compromised even though the plug-ins are up-to-date &#8211; vulnerability created by &#8220;obsolete plug-ins&#8221;?</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10786</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 23 Mar 2026 01:49:47 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[backdoor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[check]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[database]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hacked]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[malware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[removal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/?p=10786</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[We will explain why plug-ins can be compromised even if they are up-to-date &#8211; vulnerabilities created by &#8220;obsolete plug-ins&#8221; based on the attack patterns we have detected. There is a possibility of malware infection even though all plug-ins are up-to-date! Even if all plug-ins are up-to-date, you may be infected with malware through other sites on the server, or through vulnerabilities in obsolete plug-ins (which are not updated). In this article, we will explain the dangers of obsolete plug-ins. Obsolete plug-ins are not updated and appear to be up-to-date from the plugin management screen. Even if you are using WordPress and update your plugins for security reasons, they may appear to be up-to-date in the plugin management screen, even though they are no longer under development by their creator and have not been updated for a long period of time. (The official wordpres.org site has also stopped distributing the plugin, so automatic updates will not be applied). If such a plugin is installed on a site and a major vulnerability is discovered, the vulnerability will be left in place for a long time afterwards, increasing the likelihood that it will one day be hacked by hackers. (Although rare, plugins with a large number of installations may be subject to emergency security updates by wordpress.org or volunteers.) The following are examples of suspended plugins that we have detected as targets of hacker attacks 1. MyPixs (version 0.3 or lower) CVE: CVE-2015-1000012 Type: LFI (local file inclusion) Severity: CVSS 7.5 (High) Typical WPScan LFI vulnerability in downloadpage.php where the value of $_REQUEST[&#8220;url&#8221;] is directly passed to include(), which reads arbitrary files on the server without authentication. wp-config.php and other confidential files. No patch and development has been stopped, so immediate removal is recommended. 2. Phee&#8217;s LinkPreview (version 1.6.7 and below) CVE: CVE-2024-13464 (XSS), CVE-2025-27344 (CSRF) Type: XSS CSRF Severity: CVSS 4.3 (Medium) XSS (CVE-2024-13464) and CSRF (CVE-2025-27344) have been reported, both of which are in SolidWP status with no patch available. CSRF is a Patchstack that may allow attackers to force highly privileged users to perform unintended operations. Patchstack, a relatively new vulnerability (reported in 2024-2025), which is still left unfixed at this time. 3. WP Mobile Detector (version 3.5 and below) CVE: CVE-2016-4833 Type: Arbitrary file upload → RCE (remote code execution) Severity: Critical Astra Security can remotely upload arbitrary files to a web server by exploiting the resize.php script, allowing it to function as a web shell (backdoor) and hijack the server. CISA has also issued an advisory CISA. 4. Site Import (version 1.0.1 or lower) Type: RFI (remote file inclusion) + LFI (local file inclusion) AcunetixRFI vulnerability that allows an attacker to include and execute external malicious PHP files due to insufficient input value validation for the url parameter in admin/page.php. PoC (proof-of-concept code) is also available, which allows remote shell upload and Exploit-DB, which has been proven to both upload remote shells and read local files via directory traversal; no patch to fix and removed from official repositories. Prevents vulnerability attacks on deprecated plugins. The only way to prevent vulnerability [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10786</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>What to do if you install 2FA or other security plugins for WordPress and can no longer log in yourself.</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10780</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Mar 2026 01:31:27 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[check]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[database]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[malware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/?p=10780</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[This section explains what to do if you have installed 2FA or other security plugins for WordPress and can no longer log in yourself. If you have installed a security plugin that prevents you from logging in, and you are unable to log in yourself If you use security plug-ins such as two-factor authentication (2FA), login lockdown, or change the URL of the administration screen, you may experience several login failures and your IP address may be rejected, or you may not be able to log in yourself because the URL of the login screen is no longer known. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. If you are blocked by the login lockdown, you may be able to log in again in a few hours, depending on the security plugin&#8217;s time limit setting. In this case, we will explain two ways to get logged in again. 1 Rewrite database information In many cases, security plugin settings are written in the database. Upload database browsing software such as Adminer to your server, connect to the database based on the database connection information in wp-config.php, and view or change the settings in the following way. Find out where to change the database login URL. If you are unsure of the login URL, search the option_name and option_value columns of the wp_option table for strings such as &#8220;login&#8221; to find the corresponding record, as the URL to change is often recorded in the wp_option table. Rewriting IPs for login lockdown You may be able to remove the login lockdown by rewriting the record of the target IP address. Check your IP, search the wp-option table or the database table created by the security plugin with this IP, and see if it is a record of a lockdown IP, and then change the IP number recorded in the database to avoid the login lockdown. Then you can avoid the login lockdown by changing one of the IP numbers in the database. 2 Disable the plugin A simpler method is to temporarily disable the relevant security plugin, log in, and then re-enable the plugin after logging in and rewrite the security plugin settings, etc. If you connect to the server using FTP software and rename the folder wp-content/plugins/security plugins by adding _ to the folder name, the plugin may be disabled and you will be able to log in. Default WordPress login URL https://wordpress url/wp-login.php Some security plugins have complex structures, such that renaming a folder may cause file loading problems, making the entire site inaccessible. In this case, you will need to rename the folder back to its original name, check the relevance of the files, and deactivate the plugin. Do I need to enhance the WordPress login screen? It is highly likely that you do not need to enhance the WordPress login screen with 2FA or other means to begin with. 60-70% of successful WordPress hacks are caused by plugin vulnerabilities. If the login password is strong, there is no chance that a hacker can log in with administrative privileges [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10780</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Simple code to detect brute force attacks on WordPress and block its IP for 1 hour.</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10764</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 25 Feb 2026 01:49:17 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[check]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[database]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/?p=10764</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Here is a simple PHP code (in functions.php) that detects a brute force attack on wordpress and blocks that IP for 1 hour. Brute force attacks can sometimes slow down a site significantly! A brute force attack is an attack that attempts to log into a site using a dictionary of tens of thousands of passwords. This attack causes excessive access to the site and database, which can slow down the site and create huge log files. Brute force attacks can be detected by the server log file or by a security plugin, since excessive access to wp-login.php is recorded in the server logs. A simple program to block brute force attacks Here is a simple PHP code to detect and stop a brute force attack. (It works if you put it in functions.php) add_action( 'login_init', function() { if ( $_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] === 'POST' ) { $password = $_POST['pwd'] ? ''; if($password = "123456"){ $user_ip = $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR']; set_transient( 'blockip_'. $user_ip , $user_ip, HOUR_IN_SECONDS ); } } }); add_action( 'after_setup_theme', function() { $user_ip = $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR']; if(get_transient( 'blockip_'. $user_ip )==$user_ip){ wp_die("Access to the site has been blocked for 1 hour"); } } }); This code blocks a hacker who has made a brute force attack on the wp-login.php login screen for one hour. In add_action( &#8216;login_init&#8217;), we check if the password string sent at login is 123456, the most common password in the dictionary of brute force attacks used by many hackers, and if it is, we add the IP (the hacker&#8217;s computer If so, the IP (address of the hacker&#8217;s computer) is stored in transient, which is maintained for only one hour. Then add_action( &#8216;after_setup_theme&#8217;) retrieves the IP of the user accessing the site, checks if there is a corresponding transient value, and if so, blocks access to the site. (The transient will disappear automatically after an hour, so you will only be blocked for one hour.) If you really use the password 123456, you will not be able to log in anymore. 123456 is part of the dictionary of many brute force attacks, so we recommend that you never use it! This code is simple and may work if you have a brute force attack on wp-login.php and are having trouble with excessive access. However, some brute force attacks can also be used to gain excessive access to xmlrpc.php. For more comprehensive brute force attack detection and defense, we recommend the use of a security plugin.]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10764</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>A brute force attack may be the cause of many 504 and 403 errors on your WordPress site</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10732</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Feb 2026 02:07:06 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[check]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[database]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[error]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[malware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[removal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[virus]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/?p=10732</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[A brute force attack may be the cause of the frequent 504 and 403 errors on your WordPress site. We will explain the symptoms and how to deal with this issue. Server overload due to brute force attack A brute force attack is an attack technique that uses the WordPress administrator&#8217;s ID (which is relatively easy to obtain) and a dictionary of tens of thousands of commonly used passwords to repeatedly perform login enforcement, eventually attempting to match the password and successfully log in. If the password is strong enough, the login will not be successful. However, this attack may cause tens of thousands of accesses to the server in a short period of time, resulting in frequent 504(*) or 403 errors. What are 504 and 403 errors? A 503 error is an error where the server is overloaded and stops processing before retrieving data or displaying the site. Some servers (e.g., major shared servers) may also have a 403 error, which automatically bounces the process when the server is overloaded. How can I find out if my site is being brute-force stacked? One way to check if your site is being brute-forced is to look at the server logs. wp-login.php and xmlrpc.php may be brute-forced if they record excessive accesses. A security plugin can also detect brute force attacks. You can detect brute force attacks with the Hack Monitor feature enabled in the [Free] WordPress:Malware Scan &#038; Security Plugin [Malware and Virus Detection and Removal]. The recorded brute force attacks are shown in the figure below To resolve the overload caused by brute force attacks Here are some measures to resolve server overload caused by brute force attacks. Eliminate log bloat Brute force attacks can increase the server load by bloating the site&#8217;s access logs, access analysis, and security logs. (If there are millions of logs in the database, simply writing new logs can slow down the site significantly and cause 503 errors.) In this case, it is possible to reduce the number of logs or prevent new logs from being recorded, thereby reducing the likelihood of 503 errors. Protect the login screen We can protect the login screen by preventing access to wp-login.php and xmlrpc.php, which are vulnerable to brute force attacks, by using security plugins, etc., or by preventing excessive access to these files. It is also effective to block access to the hacker&#8217;s site by directly blocking the IP of the brute force attacker, thereby preventing the hacker from gaining access to the site. Reference Why and How to Prevent WordPress Brute Force Attacks with Login Screen Security Alone We hope this was helpful.]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10732</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>We will explain 5 blind spots that are more dangerous for WordPress operators who think they have security measures in place.</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10717</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Jan 2026 01:35:14 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[check]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[database]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hacked]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[malware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[removal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[virus]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/?p=10717</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[We will explain five blind spots that are more dangerous for WordPress operators who think they have security measures in place. They are taking security measures only for the login screen. Around 20% of WordPress hacks are caused by weak passwords for administrative privileges, which allow hackers to take away administrative privileges. Hackers use brute force attacks, which are often used to test the administrator&#8217;s password one after the other to see if it can be used to log in. In fact, the most effective way to counter this attack is to strengthen the password for administrator privileges rather than increasing the security of the login screen. Since it takes more than a thousand years to match a strong password, which is logically a random string of 12 or more characters, with a brute force attack, it will be impossible to break a strong password. A strong password is a random string of nonsense characters that contains at least one uppercase and one lowercase symbol. We also hope you will note that changing the URL or captcha of the login screen is effective in preventing brute force attacks, but it alone will not prevent the vulnerability attack, which is the biggest cause of WordPress being hacked, as described below. Only enabled plugins care about vulnerabilities. It is said that 60% of the causes of WordPress being hacked are vulnerabilities in old plugins. Therefore, it is an extremely effective security measure to always be aware of the vulnerabilities of your plugins and update them on a regular basis. However, although WordPress allows you to enable and disable plugins, there are many vulnerabilities that can be exploited even if they are disabled. For this reason, we recommend that you remove deactivated plug-ins if possible, or update deactivated plug-ins as well. Please use our vulnerability database to check the vulnerability of plug-ins. No security measures have been taken for the test site or other sites on the server. We often see cases where a company has taken all the necessary security measures for its main WordPress site, but has neglected to secure its test site or other WordPress sites on the server. However, many of today&#8217;s malware reads the folders on the server from the top and spreads itself to other WordPress sites. This can lead to the spread of malware to other WordPress sites that have good security measures in place. We recommend that you remove abandoned sites from your server and implement security measures for all WordPress sites on your server. Five free WordPress security measures Backups are a good thing! Some people think that if they keep a backup of their WordPress site, they can revert to that point in time in the event of a malware infection, but in reality, the site may already contain malware at the time of backup, or the vulnerability at the time of backup is an entry point that hackers can quickly use to re-infect the site. Hackers can use the vulnerability to re-infect the system repeatedly. For this reason, it is not always safe to [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10717</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>I&#8217;ll explain exactly what happens if you don&#8217;t update WordPress.</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10704</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Jan 2026 01:33:17 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[backdoor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[check]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[database]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hacked]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/?p=10704</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[People say it&#8217;s dangerous not to update your WordPress&#8230; I&#8217;ll explain exactly what happens if you don&#8217;t update your WordPress. Why updating WordPress itself and plugins is important for security If you run a WordPress site, you are often told that updates are important for security. This is simply because updates often close vulnerabilities that are exploited by the program&#8217;s creators. The following is an explanation of how a site that is not updated can be hacked. 1 A vulnerability is discovered that could very easily allow an unauthorized file to be uploaded onto the server or a database to be rewritten. About 10 to 20 such vulnerabilities are discovered each year, and the information is made public to alert the public. However, it is also a double-edged sword, as many hackers use this public information to study how to exploit the vulnerabilities and hack. Hackers themselves sometimes discover major vulnerabilities that no one else is aware of before others do. Such vulnerabilities are called 0-day vulnerabilities. However, sooner or later, vulnerabilities that are used will be exposed by someone through server logs, etc., and shared as public information. 2 When a vulnerability is disclosed, the creator of the plugin, etc., patches the vulnerability to close it and releases an update In most cases, the vulnerable plug-in producer is notified of the vulnerability and releases a new version of the plug-in with a patch to close the vulnerability. 3 Hackers create tools to attack vulnerabilities and attack a vast number of WordPress sites one after another! Hackers obtain a huge list of WordPress sites from search engines and other information, develop a program that automatically attacks vulnerabilities found in 1 and notifies them if the hack is successful, attack hundreds of thousands of sites one after another, and repeatedly gain unauthorized access to the sites with the mindset that success is a blessing. If they succeed, they are satisfied. 4 Successful attack on your site&#8217;s vulnerability by chance If you do not update your site, the vulnerability will be left unattended on your site and will one day be hit by a hacker who will automatically attack a vast number of sites one after another. The hacker will be notified of a successful attack, and a more dangerous backdoor, a malicious program, will be installed on your server. 5 Hackers perform various hacking activities on the successfully attacked site Hackers can perform a wide variety of activities on a site after a successful vulnerability attack, such as generating a large number of malicious pages, creating users with illegal administrator privileges, altering the theme to misdirect visitors to another site, and using the site as a source of spam mail. At this point, it often becomes apparent to the site operator that the site has been tampered with. 60% to 70% of sites that are hacked are due to plugin vulnerabilities. It is said that 60-70% of sites are hacked due to vulnerabilities in plug-ins (the next most common cause is the hijacking of administrator privileges due to weak passwords). It is very [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10704</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>How to deal with unauthorized plugins installed in wordpress such as wp-cleansong, wp-cache, optimize-core, system.php, etc.</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10670</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Dec 2025 01:52:21 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[backdoor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[check]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[clean]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[database]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[malware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[removal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[virus]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/?p=10670</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Hackers may install malicious plugins (wp-cleansong, wp-cache, optimize-core, system.php, etc.) once they have successfully infiltrated a WordPress site. This section describes how to deal with the installation of such unauthorized plug-ins. Rogue plug-ins introduced by hackers Once hackers have successfully infiltrated a WordPress site, they may install a type of malicious program called a backdoor in the server to facilitate various subsequent unauthorized activities on the server, such as tampering or sending spam emails. This backdoor may take the form of a plugin that runs on WordPress and may be installed and activated unknowingly. There are also attacks that use a legitimate PHP-running plugin plus malicious code to write to the database. Reference WPCode &#8211; Malware embedded in database via Insert Headers and Footers plugin How to tell if a plugin is malicious Malicious plug-ins may masquerade as security plug-ins, update plug-ins, etc., in order to appear harmless. If you see a suspicious plugin in the list of plugins in the WordPress administration screen, you can use the following methods to identify the plugin to some extent. 1 Plug-in does not exist on the official WordPress website WordPress plug-ins are listed on the official WordPress website according to the following rules. https://wordpress.org/plugins/"Slug"/ *Slug is the name of the plugin folder in wp-content/plugins. If a plugin is not listed as an official plugin and you do not remember installing it, it may be a rogue plugin installed by a hacker. 2 Code is obfuscated Hackers often obfuscate the code to hide the original function of the malicious code. If you download and open the code of a plugin using FTP software and find obfuscated code such as the following, it may be a malicious plugin installed by a hacker. 3 There is a file in the plugin folder that is judged as malicious code by the malware scan. Free WordPress:Malware Scan &#038; Security Plug-in [Malware and Virus Detection and Removal] If there are files in the plugin folder that are detected as malware by malware scanning plugins such as [Free] WordPress:Malware Scanning &#038; Security Plugins [Malware &#038; Virus Detection &#038; Removal], there is a high possibility that the plugin is a malicious one installed by hackers. How to deal with rogue plug-ins If you are certain that a hacker has introduced a malicious plugin, stop and remove the plugin. If the hacker was able to install a malicious plugin, it means that he/she is able to log in to the administration screen, so it may be necessary to take other security measures. If the hacker was able to install other malicious files, it means that the hacker has been able to log in to the administration screen, so we will need to take other security measures. Check for unauthorized user registration. Countermeasures against vulnerabilities that allowed hackers to enter the server. Reference 5 free WordPress security measures]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10670</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Is it really safe to put wordpress wp-config.php externally? Examining the advantages and disadvantages</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10639</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 19 Nov 2025 01:48:10 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[check]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[database]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[error]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[malware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[removal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[virus]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/?p=10639</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[I would like to explain whether or not it is better to put wp-config.php under a different name or in a different directory, and how to do this. Advantages of externalizing or renaming your WordPress wp-config.php The wp-config.php file contains very important information about the database connection. If this connection information is leaked to the outside, the database can be manipulated to create unauthorized users or rewrite WordPress content. In addition, a common vulnerability attack by hackers is to look into the contents of wp-config.php. To prevent this vulnerability attack, externalizing or renaming wp-config.php has security advantages. Reference (vulnerabilities #3 and #5 in the following article) The 6 most targeted plugin vulnerabilities in WordPress these days How to externalize or rename wordpress wp-config.php You can rename wp-config.php by following the steps below. 1. Rename wp-config.php Using FTP or a file manager wp-config.php → wp-config-secure.php (any name is fine, but it must match the name in step 2) 2. Rewrite the reading part of wp-config.php in wp-load.php The following two lines if ( file_exists( ABSPATH . 'wp-config.php' ) ) { /** The config file resides in ABSPATH */ require_once ABSPATH . 'wp-config.php'; Replace the following if ( file_exists( ABSPATH . 'wp-config-secure.php' ) { /** The config file resides in ABSPATH */ require_once ABSPATH . 'wp-config-secure.php'; The config file resides in ABSPATH */ require_ce ABSPATH . &#8216;wp-config-secure.php&#8217;; * The config file resides in ABSPATH */ require_ce ABSPATH . How to externalize? First, place the above wp-config-secure.php in a folder on the server above the folder where the HTML is located. Specify that folder with ../ to specify the hierarchy above. If you place it one level above if ( file_exists( ABSPATH . '../wp-config-secure.php' ) { /** The config file resides in ABSPATH */ require_once ABSPATH . '../wp-config-secure.php'; If you place it two levels up if ( file_exists( ABSPATH . '../../wp-config-secure.php' ) { /** The config file resides in ABSPATH */ require_once ABSPATH . '../../wp-config-secure.php'; Externalizing or renaming wordpress wp-config.php Disadvantages There are several disadvantages to the above customization that you should be aware of when updating WordPress. 1 When updating, WordPress will judge that there is no configuration file, and will generate a new wp-config.php file. 2 When updating, wp-load.php reverts back to the regular file and the renamed wp-config.php cannot be loaded, the site will be at the installation screen and the site will display poorly For this reason, you will be asked to externalize wp-config.php again each time you update. If automatic updates are enabled, the above error may be triggered at unexpected times. Is renaming wp-config.php recommended? We do not recommend renaming or externalizing wp-config.php except in special cases. Rather, we recommend that you take measures to prevent vulnerabilities that can be exploited by peeping into wp-config.php. We have a vulnerability database that allows you to easily perform a vulnerability check to look into the wp-config.php of plug-ins installed on your site. Free WordPress:Malware Scan &#038; Security Plug-in [Malware and Virus Detection and Removal].]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10639</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>How to automate WordPress malware detection and vulnerability detection and email notification</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10620</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 30 Oct 2025 01:41:18 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[check]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[database]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[malware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[removal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scanner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[virus]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/?p=10620</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[This presentation will explain how to automate WordPress malware and vulnerability detection and email notification. Automate malware detection and vulnerability detection with WP Doctor Malware Scanner Pro and email notification Download and install the [Free] WordPress:Malware Scanning &#038; Security Plugin [Malware and Virus Detection and Removal] developed by WP Doctor. How to install WP Doctor Malware Scanner Pro Download the plugin and save the ZIP file on your local computer. Log in to your WordPress account and click on Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin from the admin page. Select the ZIP file you just downloaded and click Install Now to activate the plugin. Click on the &#8220;Malware Scan&#8221; menu item added to the left menu of the admin page. Click the &#8220;Scan Now&#8221; button in the upper right corner to start scanning immediately. Click on the &#8220;Settings&#8221; tab to access the various settings, and the &#8220;Improve Security&#8221; tab to access the plugin&#8217;s security features. Enable automatic scanning and email notifications in the WP Doctor Malware Scanner Pro settings screen From the WordPress admin page > Malware Scan > Settings tab Auto-scan for malware daily Automatic daily scan for vulnerabilities Email notification upon detection *Specify the email address to be notified Check &#8220;Yes&#8221; to save the settings. The system automatically scans for malware and vulnerabilities and notifies you by email as follows upon detection. Please confirm that we have detected malware on the site name (https://*****) Inspection Result Start time: 2025-08-18 18:00:00 End time: 2025-08-18 18:05:34 Scanning time: 334 seconds Scanned directory: /home/***** Directories scanned: 912 Files scanned (modified or outdated): 3802 Suspicious files found (malware/viruses): 1 Number of databases scanned: 194 Number of malware-infected databases: 0 Vulnerability found in the site name (https://*****). The vulnerabilities found are as follows LearnPress Version:4.2.6 CVE-2024-4397,CVE-2024-4434,CVE-2024-6589,CVE-2024-8529 Automatic daily vulnerability scan is a paid feature. Please consider purchasing the paid version of the plugin from the &#8220;Purchase&#8221; tab of the plugin&#8217;s administration page. We hope you will give it a try.]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10620</post-id>	</item>
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