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	<title>malware &#8211; WordPress Security Blog</title>
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		<title>What Is CVSS v4.0, and How Does It Affect WordPress Vulnerability Information?</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10957</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Sep 2026 02:03:23 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></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=10957</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[In this article, we’ll explain what changes CVSS v4.0 brings to WordPress vulnerability information What is CVSS? CVSS stands for: Common: Industry Standard Vulnerability: Vulnerability Scoring: Scoring System: System It is an acronym for a scoring system that quantifies various vulnerabilities based on their severity. Scores range from 0 to 10; factors such as whether authentication is required for an attack and the scope of the attack’s impact are factored into the score. Generally, vulnerabilities with a score of 7.0 or higher are classified as very dangerous. CVSS has multiple versions, and its metrics have improved with each update. Recently, CVSS V4.0 has become widely used. What has changed in CVSS Version 4, and how does this affect the assessment of WordPress vulnerabilities? CVSS Version 4 scores “exploitability” in greater detail than the previous v3.1. Example: Whether the vulnerability requires some action by the user to be triggered CVSS 3.1: Scored using a binary choice (required or not required) CVSS 4.0: Scored using three options—“Requires (Passive),” “Requires (Active),” or “Does Not Require” *“Passive” refers to actions that trigger the vulnerability through routine business activities that the user would hardly notice (such as simply opening an email) . Separation of Attack Complexity (AC) and Attack Requirements (AT) Up to CVSS 3.1, AC combined two factors: the difficulty of bypassing defenses and the difficulty of meeting the conditions for the vulnerability to manifest incidentally; however, in version 4.0, these were separated Elimination of “Scope” In CVSS 3.1, “Scope” referred to the extent of the impact if the vulnerability were exploited.A “U” rating generally indicates that the vulnerability affects only the immediate vicinity of the system containing it; however, because this classification was considered ambiguous and difficult to understand, the concept of “Scope” itself was eliminated in CVSS 4. Instead, the impact on the vulnerable system itself (VC/VI/VA, etc.) and the impact on subsequent systems(SC, SI, SA, etc.) were clearly distinguished. Introduction of Supplemental Metrics Furthermore, in CVSS 4, “Supplemental Metrics” were introduced—additional information that does not affect the score but can be used to prioritize how to actually address vulnerabilities in real-world operations. Automatable (AU) Whether the entire attack can be automated Recovery (R) Ease of system recovery after an attack Value Density (V) An estimate of the value (e.g., sensitive personal data) that can be obtained by attacking the target Vulnerability Response Effort (RE) The effort required to fix the vulnerability or apply a patch Provider Urgency (U) The level of urgency indicated by the program’s developer As of 2026, CVSS 4 scores are gradually being assigned to various WordPress-related vulnerabilities. We will also be progressively transitioning our malware detection and removal security plugins, as well as our vulnerability scanning system, to the CVSS 4 standard.]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10957</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>A type of backdoor—one without an actual malware file—that has been wreaking havoc on WordPress sites recently</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10948</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 28 Aug 2026 01:05:01 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[backdoor]]></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=10948</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[We will explain a type of backdoor—one that lacks a main malware component—which has been running rampant on WordPress recently (and for which we have confirmed a large number of infections). Characteristics of the Malware A key characteristic of this malware is that it contains code that retrieves the server’s temporary folders in various ways, in no particular order, as listed below. &#8220;/tmp&#8221; getenv(&#8220;TMP&#8221;) getcwd() sys_get_temp_dir() &#8220;/var/tmp&#8221; session_save_path() &#8220;/dev/shm&#8221; ini_get(&#8220;upload_tmp_dir&#8221;) getenv(&#8220;TEMP&#8221;) Upon analyzing the code, we find that this malware is designed to execute malicious code following the sequence described above. ・Retrieve the temporary data storage folder (here, the TMP folder) ・Decrypt the encrypted malicious code sent as POST data character by character using `chr(ord)`, shifting the characters and changing their character encodings each time to obfuscate it further. *This process is believed to be intended to make it easier to evade malware detection during network communication. ・Writes the decrypted malicious code to the TMP folder. ・Includes (internally loads) that code and executes the main body of the malicious code. ・Although the main body of the malicious code in the TMP folder is deleted, it continues to run in memory because it has already been included. What makes this malware particularly troublesome is that the malicious code itself is immediately deleted from the server. As a result, the main body of the malicious code goes undetected, and it becomes impossible to verify later what actions the hacker took on the server. This type of malicious code often infects even the code within legitimate files deep within WordPress, making it difficult to manually inspect and remove each file one by one. WP Doctor has recently added a large number of this type of malware pattern to its [Free] WordPress: Malware Scan &#038; Security Plugin [Malware &#038; Virus Detection and Removal] We have recently added a large number of malware patterns for this type of malware, so please feel free to use it. (Although the free version of the plugin can scan for and remove malware, please consider using the paid version when detecting malware using the latest patterns that have been added very recently.)]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10948</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>How to Handle a Large Number of &#8220;Unfamiliar URLs&#8221; or Accesses to the &#8220;Login Page&#8221; in Your WordPress Access Logs</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10931</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2026 01:17:30 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[malware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/?p=10931</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Here’s how to handle situations where your WordPress access logs contain a large number of “unfamiliar URLs” or “login page” entries. Your WordPress site’s access logs may contain a large number of entries showing direct access to program files for plugins you haven’t installed or direct access to the login screen. Web administrators reviewing their server access logs may notice a large number of entries showing direct access to program files for plugins you haven’t installed or direct access to the login screen. Such access logs are actually quite common on WordPress sites. This is because hackers, targeting the vast number of WordPress sites—said to account for 30% of all websites— carry out indiscriminate vulnerability attacks to both discover and exploit sites with vulnerabilities in their code or login passwords. Using automated tools, hackers launch these attacks— which they consider a “bonus” if successful —against a massive number of sites, even those without known vulnerabilities. The fact that these attacks are recorded in the access logs is the reason why you see a large number of entries for “unfamiliar URLs” or access attempts to “login screens.” Therefore, just because such access logs are recorded does not mean it is likely that a hacker has managed to break into your WordPress site (i.e., that the hack was successful and the site was compromised). However, if you notice any suspicious activity on your site, the likelihood of a successful hack increases, so we recommend running a malware scan using a malware detection plugin or similar tool. Is it possible to prevent hackers from exploiting vulnerabilities altogether? For attacks on the login screen or password dictionary attacks (xmlrpc.php attacks), you can take significant countermeasures using security plugins —such as changing the login URL or detecting brute-force attempts and blocking the IP addresses involved. However, it is extremely difficult to prevent in advance access attempts involving indiscriminate attacks targeting vulnerabilities in other plugins. This is because websites are designed to be accessible to anyone, and an attacker’s request is indistinguishable from that of a regular visitor. Furthermore, while it is logically possible to implement countermeasures based on hackers’ typical vulnerability attack patterns, the reality is that every time a vulnerability is discovered or publicized, hackers create attacks tailored to that vulnerability and incorporate them into their tools—resulting in a never-ending cat-and-mouse game. *Implementing countermeasures for each specific attack method is very costly. Identify vulnerability attack methods (in most cases, the site does not have the vulnerability in question) ↓ Design server configurations and program functions to prevent attacks using those methods in advance ↓ Consider implementing these measures in a way that does not affect the site’s speed or functionality ↓ Implementation *Given that tens of thousands of vulnerabilities are discovered each year, following the steps outlined above for every single one is not realistic. *A more practical approach is to pinpoint and fix specific vulnerabilities found on a site as they arise . For this reason, the most reliable and efficient approach is to constantly monitor whether the site contains any of the most dangerous [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10931</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>Regarding the Issue of WordPress Security Measures Being Overly Focused on Login Protection</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10895</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 06 Jul 2026 01:47:45 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[check]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hacked]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[malware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[protection]]></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=10895</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[I’d like to discuss the issue that security measures for many WordPress sites tend to focus too much on protecting the login process. Are you focusing too much on securing the WordPress login screen? WordFence has reported the following causes of WordPress hacking: https://www.wordfence.com/blog/2016/03/attackers-gain-access-wordpress-sites/ 1st: Plugin vulnerabilities—nearly 60% 2nd: Login page breaches (brute-force attacks)—nearly 20% 3rd: Vulnerabilities in WordPress core files—nearly 10% 4th: Theme vulnerabilities—around 5 percent— 5th: Hosting server vulnerabilities—around 5 percent— These statistics align with our own experience, as we frequently find that clients have vulnerable plugins installed when we perform malware removal on their WordPress sites. The probability of the login screen being compromised is less than 20% Based on these statistics, the probability of the login screen being compromised and WordPress being hacked is less than 20%. Furthermore, since a brute-force attack is a method that attempts to guess the correct password by systematically trying common passwords one after another, a brute-force attack will generally fail if you use a strong password(a password of 12 characters or more containing a random mix of alphanumeric characters and symbols), a brute-force attack will not succeed. For this reason, the most important security measure for WordPress is not so much securing the login screen, but rather addressing vulnerabilities in WordPress plugins and core files. *You can also use plugins to scan for and remove WordPress vulnerabilities and malware. We highly recommend using them. [Free] WordPress: Malware Scan &#038; Security Plugin [Malware and Virus Detection and Removal] Currently, many websites focus their efforts on strengthening login page security However, security measures for WordPress sites are often limited to changing the login page URL, implementing CAPTCHA, or enabling two-factor authentication (2FA). Since many site owners feel secure just by implementing these measures, it is common for their sites to become infected with malware. While login screen security measures are not a waste of effort, it is even more important to constantly monitor for vulnerabilities. If a major vulnerability is found in a plugin or other component, taking immediate action—such as updating it—will ensure your site can be operated safely for the long term. You can also check for high-risk plugins and WordPress Core vulnerabilities here. We hope this information is helpful.]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10895</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>Slider Revolution (RevSlider) case study shows the real risk of &#8220;plug-ins that are out of license or have been moved to paid for&#8221;.</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10849</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 May 2026 01:24:48 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[backdoor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[check]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[clean]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[malware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/?p=10849</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Slider Revolution (RevSlider) case study will explain the risks of &#8220;plug-ins that are out of license or have been moved to paid&#8221; and how to deal with vulnerabilities of such plug-ins. What is the Slider Revolution (RevSlider) case? The RevSlider incident was an incident in which &#8220;more than 100,000 sites were infected, even though the vulnerability fix patch for Slider Revolution had long been available. The licensing and update mechanism was a structural problem that increased the damage. The attack first looked for a vulnerable file in RevSlider and obtained wp-config.php. It was a multi-stage attack that then uploaded a malicious program to the site, planted a &#8220;Filesman&#8221; backdoor, and then altered swfobject.js to inject malware that redirected visitors to soaksoak.ru (a rogue site) on every page. The infected sites could not be fixed simply by removing the plug-ins, but had to deal with multiple backdoors and the RevSlider vulnerability at the same time, making the incident notoriously difficult to clean up. Why were 100,000 sites infected when the vulnerabilities had already been fixed? Because RevSlider was a paid-for plugin, only users who purchased the plugin directly could receive automatic updates on their WordPress dashboard. In some cases, site administrators were not even aware that the plugin was installed if they were using RevSlider in the form of a theme bundled with it, and they did not receive automatic update notifications. Users who continued to use the plugin before it was paid for and could not update it, or who did not activate it and could not update it, were also affected. Vulnerability Countermeasures for Unlicensed or Expired Paid Plug-ins To prevent vulnerabilities, including plug-ins, we recommend that you always check for vulnerabilities in plug-ins, which account for 60-70% of all WordPress hacks. Plugin Vulnerability Search System Plugin Vulnerability Check If you have not yet activated your license, we recommend that you activate your license and update it. If the vulnerability is in a plugin that is difficult to update, the best thing to do is to stop and remove the plugin, but this may be difficult if the plugin is used as a site feature. How to deal with vulnerabilities in plug-ins that cannot be updated or removed, but are critical to the functionality of the site If the vulnerability is in a plugin that performs an important function of the site and cannot be updated or removed, the vulnerability can be fixed by examining the characteristics of the vulnerability and directly modifying the program to close the vulnerability. If you directly edit the program of a plugin, the edited part may be lost in subsequent updates. Vulnerability characteristics may be disclosed in the form of a PoC (Proof of Concept). Examples WordPress Plugin Slider REvolution 4.1.4 &#8211; Arbitrary File Download In some cases, the programmers who found the vulnerability may have disclosed the patch program. We will use this information to directly close the vulnerability. However, this may require advanced security and programming skills, and we recommend that you consult with an experienced engineer.]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10849</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Why WordPress shows &#8220;No Anomaly&#8221; even though it has been tampered with &#8211; explained in terms of the characteristics of file monitoring plugins, malware detection plugins, and WordPress malware.</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10842</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 26 May 2026 01:32:19 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[check]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[malware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scanner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/?p=10842</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[We will explain why WordPress has been tampered with but various tests show &#8216;nothing abnormal&#8217;. Why file diff plugin shows no abnormalities in malware detection plugins even though malware infection is obvious. There are cases where a site has obvious malware symptoms (*) and is determined to be tampered with by Google search or online inspections such as Sucuri, but the difference detection plug-in or the malware inspection plug-in shows no abnormalities. Typical malware symptoms include the following &#8211; When accessing the site, the user is automatically redirected to another site. &#8211; Logging in to the administration panel or certain pages become inaccessible with a 403 error. &#8211; A large number of malicious pages are being trapped in Google searches. &#8211; Unauthorized users are being added to the site. &#8211; A large number of spam mails are sent out. etc. 1 Reasons for no abnormality with the Difference Detection Plug-in There is a type of security plugin that records and monitors changes in WordPress program files. However, since WordPress rewrites a huge number of files through updates, the number of such files may be inflated and even those containing malware may be classified in the white list, or tampering may have slipped through the filter of the differences to be detected. Some malware may add a large number of new lines and embed the tampering at the bottom so that the tampering is not apparent at first glance, in order to prevent detection by these difference detection plug-ins. Also, in general, this type of plug-in does not detect database changes. Although it is a small percentage, malware may be embedded in the database. 2 Reasons why malware scanning and detection plug-ins show no abnormalities WordPress malware (tampering) differs from computer viruses in that there are so many varieties of its code. New varieties of WordPress malware are actively being created, and there are also many types of malware that randomly change the code obfuscation process and the way the code is written for each site, even for the same malicious activity. For this reason, malware scanning and detection plug-ins may not be able to keep up with detection patterns for such new types of malware or malware with unprecedented types of obfuscation. Keep your malware detection patterns up-to-date Malware detection plug-ins may be updated with the latest malware patterns with each update. It is also common for the latest malware detection patterns to be available for a fee. Typical Malware Detection Plug-ins Wordfence WP Doctor Malware scanner Pro: Malware scanner and security plugin Anti-Malware Security and Brute-Force Firewall We also recommend that you keep your plug-ins up-to-date and purchase the latest malware detection patterns if they are available for a fee. Limitations of Online Malware Detection Sites Online malware detection sites detect the resulting code generated by malware (tampering), so unlike WordPress plug-ins that perform internal inspection, they often cannot detect the tampered files themselves. For this reason, the accuracy and number of detections are much lower. We recommend that you use not only an online scanner, but also a malware scanning [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10842</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>A WordPress site you are maintaining may be infected with malware. We will explain how to respond to this situation.</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10836</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 May 2026 01:42:32 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[check]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[error]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hacked]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[htaccess]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[index.php]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[malware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scanner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/?p=10836</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[We will explain various aspects of how to respond when a WordPress site you are maintaining is discovered to be infected with malware by a client. What is the initial response when a malware infection of a maintained site is suspected based on a notification from a client or a suggestion from a site user? In this case, the first thing to do is to ascertain the status of malware infection. Typical symptoms of a malware-infected site will be as follows &#8211; When you access the site, you are redirected to another site. &#8211; Logging in is no longer possible (403 error on the login screen). &#8211; Many invalid pages are registered in the search results. &#8211; Browser turns red and warns of malware infection &#8211; Unrecognized spam mails are sent from the same domain in large quantities. &#8211; An administrator user is added to the system that I don&#8217;t remember adding. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, there is a high possibility that you are infected with malware. We use a malware scanning mechanism to examine the site. Use an online malware inspection system or a plug-in to inspect the site for malware. Online Malware Screens https://sitecheck.sucuri.net/ Malware scanning with plug-ins WP Doctor Malware Scanner Pro Mechanical malware scans (especially online malware scans) have limited detection power. We recommend that you do not declare to your clients that they do not have malware just because your malware scan did not find any malware. In fact, there have been cases where the cause was a new type of malware infection, and the site became inaccessible due to the spread of the malware infection without taking countermeasures, resulting in compensation for damages. It is better to clearly identify the cause of the site problems that the client is pointing out and then politely inform the client that malware is not the cause of the symptoms, so that there will be fewer problems later. FTP connection to check for malicious files on the server Connect to the server with FTP software to check for malicious files or tampering with legitimate files. Typical malicious files include the following (1) index.php file contains obfuscated strings (2) htaccess has writings that prohibit access to the php file (3) A php file with a random alphanumeric name (4) There is a file with a name slightly changed from the name of the regular file such as wp-confiq.php. (5) Files with the same name, such as moon.php, are written in various folders (even outside the public directory), and the contents of these files contain obfuscated code. What to do if you are sure that your site has been infected with malware If we discover that a site is infected with malware, we will notify the client and inform them of what to do and how long it will take to restore the site. The basic measures to be taken when a site is infected with malware are as follows &#8211; Remove the malware infection &#8211; Remove the vulnerability that allowed hackers to enter the site &#8211; Provide [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10836</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>How to automatically prevent WordPress htaccess and index.php from being rewritten by malware with a security plugin</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10820</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 07 May 2026 01:26:30 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[check]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[htaccess]]></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=10820</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[We will explain how to use a security plugin to automatically prevent WordPress htaccess and index.php from being rewritten by malware. Prevent malware (hackers) from automatically rewriting htaccess and index.php When infected with malware, hackers may rewrite index.php and htaccess. Even if this rewriting is removed, it may revert immediately. We will explain how to prevent the rewriting of index.php and htaccess by hackers using plug-ins. First, download, install, and activate a security plugin that protects htaccess and index.php. Free WordPress:Malware Scanning &#038; Security Plugin [Malware and Virus Detection and Removal]. In the WordPress admin page, go to Malware Scan→Security tab→Repair and protect .htaccess and index.php Turn on the checkbox for the function and save the settings. Cautions Please make sure that index.php and htaccess are not already infected with malware. If they are infected and you protect them, they will be automatically protected forever in the infected state. Please make sure that there is only the initial code as shown below, or the security and SEO posts. Initial code of index.php &#60;?php /** * Front to the WordPress application. This file doesn't do anything, but loads * wp-blog-header.php which does and tells WordPress to load the theme. * * @package WordPress */ /** * Tells WordPress to load the WordPress theme and output it. * * @var bool */ define( 'WP_USE_THEMES', true ); /** Loads the WordPress Environment and Template */ require __DIR__ . '/wp-blog-header.php'; Initial code of .htaccess # BEGIN WordPress &#60;IfModule mod_rewrite.c&#62; RewriteEngine On RewriteRule .* - [E=HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%{HTTP:Authorization}] RewriteBase / RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L] RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d RewriteRule . /index.php [L] &#60;/IfModule&#62; # END WordPress The WP DOctor plugin also has a function to initialize and protect index.php and htaccess that have already been tampered with. If your index.php or htaccess has already been tampered with, please use this function! How WP Doctor plugin protects index.php and htaccess automatically This page explains how WP Doctor plugin automatically protects index.php and htaccess. 1 Start of protection Malware infecting processes, etc. with malicious code in an infinite loop rewrites index.php and htaccess at high speed. For this reason, this plug-in rewrites index.php and htaccess up to several hundred times in a row to make sure that they are properly saved with the protected code, and starts protection the moment the code is properly protected. 2 Change the permissions to those that are difficult to rewrite. Next, the plugin changes index.php and htaccess to write permissions that do not allow rewriting of the files. This will make it difficult for malware to rewrite the files. 3 Always monitor index.php and htaccess for rewrites Each time the site is accessed (each time WordPress is initialized), it is compared to the protected content code stored in the database and monitored to see if any rewriting of index.php or htaccess has occurred. If rewriting has occurred, rewrite index.php or htaccess and repeat the process 1 and 2 to protect it again. Should the automatic protection of index.php and htaccess always be enabled? This function compares the code in index.php and htaccess with [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10820</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>The nature of the discrepancy between WordFence saying &#8220;no problem&#8221; and Google Search Console issuing a malware warning.</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10814</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Apr 2026 01:59:01 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[check]]></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=10814</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[WordFence says &#8220;no problem&#8221; even though the site is infected with malware, and Google Search Console is giving a malware warning. Or conversely, we will explain the discrepancy where WordFence detects malware and Search Console and Safe Browsing show no problem. Why do different malware detection sites give different results? Reason 1: Internal and external inspections may detect different malware. WordPress malware may differ greatly in the malicious code that is inserted when the site is rendered and the malware itself that generates the code. This is because obfuscation, which is often applied to the malware itself, has the effect of hiding the malicious code it outputs. External checking programs such as Google and Sucuri detect malicious code generated by malware externally, while plugins such as WordFence detect malware by inspecting the internal code of WordPress. This may cause the results to be skewed. In general, internal checks are more accurate in detecting the malware itself. However, as we will discuss later, malware is increasing every day, so malware detection patterns may not keep up, and external checks such as Google and Sucuri may detect malware before the internal checks do. Reason 2: Extremely Diverse Malware Malware infecting WordPress is much more diverse than PC viruses. The code obfuscation process changes from site to site, and the content of the malicious code may change. For this reason, various malware detection plug-ins vary greatly in detection power and the malware they can detect. If possible, it may be better to use a plug-in with high malware detection power, or to use multiple malware detection plug-ins for malware inspection only, to improve detection accuracy. Please also use our malware scanning plug-ins, which contain tens of thousands of malware detection patterns. Free WordPress:Malware Scan &#038; Security Plug-in [Malware and Virus Detection and Removal]. Reason 3: Malware that manifests itself only under specific conditions Some malware only manifests itself when accessed via Google, or only when accessed by a smartphone, or some malicious code hides itself during external inspection. For this reason, depending on the service, the results of external inspections may not detect the malware, or the malware may be detected, resulting in a large discrepancy in the inspection results. Reason 4: False positives The first time Google Search Console issues a malware warning, malware is almost certainly detected in many cases. (It is highly accurate.) However, once detected, Google&#8217;s test results are sometimes not easily determined to be malware-free, even after malware disinfection. It is reported that even if you simply place HTML, it may still be detected, so there is a possibility that some cache is being retested and it is being detected incorrectly. In this case, you may need to reapply through the search console and carefully explain what work you did when you reapplied and that the malware symptoms have disappeared.]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10814</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>Examples of wordpress plugins turned into malware due to acquisition by another company or hijacking of wordpress.org accounts and how to prevent it in advance.</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10774</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 11 Mar 2026 01:50:48 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[check]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[clean]]></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=10774</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[We will explain actual cases of WordPress plug-ins becoming malware due to acquisition by another company or hijacking of wordpress.org accounts, and how to prevent this from happening in advance. Can plugins distributed from the official WordPress website contain malware? Plugins distributed from the official WordPress website are open source, meaning that their code is available to technicians from all over the world, and they are constantly checked for malware by volunteer private developers, security companies, and WordPress operators. For this reason, although it is rare, there have been several cases where plug-ins (including updates) distributed from the official site have been infected with malware and have been distributed. 1 Display Widgets malware contamination case 2017 Display Widgets was a popular plugin used by about 200,000 sites, but the developer sold the plugin to a third party for $15,000. With the subsequent v2.6.0 release, malware was introduced by that third party, and numerous sites that updated to this version or installed Display Widgets were affected by the malware. (According to one theory, tens of thousands of sites). The timeline of this incident is as follows May 19, 2017. Former developer sells plugin to third party (under the name Mason Soiza) for $15,000 June 21, 2017 New owner releases first update v2.6.0. Malware code is secretly inserted at this point. June 22, 2017 SEO consultant David Cameron Law discovers an anomaly in v2.6.0; reports to WordPress.org that it is downloading over 38MB of external code and sending user IP addresses, viewed pages, domains, etc. to a third-party server June 23, 2017. WordPress.org Removes Plugin from Repository (1st time) June 30, 2017 Attacker releases v2.6.1, which includes geolocation.php but is &#8220;not recognized as malicious code&#8221; and allowed to be reposted. New exploit adds ability to hide spam content from view for logged-in users. July 1, 2017 WordPress.org removed (for the second time) July 6, 2017 Released v2.6.2, keeping geolocation.php and adding ON/OFF option to &#8220;make it look legit&#8221; July 23, 2017 Another user reports spam delivery. July 24, 2017 WordPress.org removed (for the 3rd time) September 2, 2017 v2.6.3 is released. Malware is still intact and even bug fixes are made, deemed &#8220;clearly intentional maintenance&#8221;. September 8, 2017 WordPress.org permanently removed (4th and final) As you can see from the history, when a plugin contains malware, it is discovered within 1-20 days, and WordPress officials have stopped distributing that plugin within 20 days even in this weasel-worded case. This case was the first time ever that a malicious plugin acquirer said it had fixed the problem multiple times, but in fact continued to maliciously introduce malware. 2 Social Warfare Malware Contamination Case 2024 The Social Warfare plugin malware contamination incident was not an acquisition, but a malware contamination incident that occurred when hackers took over the Social Warfare development management screen (plugin upload management and other functions of wordpress.org). This is said to be a strong possibility, and the investigation is still ongoing. June 22, 2024. Malicious code was introduced into Social Warfare, distributed as an automatic update via WordPress.org. June 22, 2024. WordPress.org [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10774</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>I have all my plugins up to date and WordPress is infected, what is the real route of entry?</title>
		<link>https://blog.website-malware-removal.com/10769</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[wpdoctoradmin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Mar 2026 01:31:28 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress Security]]></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=10769</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[There are cases where WordPress is infected with malware even though WordPress itself and all plugins are up-to-date. We will explain the real route of entry in this case. Intrusion route 1: Unauthorized login to the management screen Twenty percent of the time, WordPress is hacked and tampered with because hackers are able to determine the password for administrative privileges and log in. Once a hacker is able to log in to the WordPress administration panel, they can do almost anything they want on the server, including defacing the site, installing unauthorized plug-ins, and uploading viruses. Hackers can use a variety of common password dictionaries to find out the login password for administrative privileges in what is called a brute force attack, in which the login enforcement is automatically repeated tens of thousands of times. We recommend that you use a password that is at least 12 characters long, is a random string of characters, and contains at least one single-byte alphanumeric character (upper and lower case) and one symbol. It is also dangerous to use a password that is close to your administrator ID. Intrusion route 2: Unauthorized login via test site The above unauthorized logins are equally dangerous with respect to test sites. Even if you think that the test site is undetectable, its URL or folder can be discovered by a search engine. We recommend that the administrator password for the test site be a random string of at least 12 characters, including at least one upper and one lower case alphanumeric character and one symbol. Intrusion route 3: Infection via another site on the server Some recent malware spreads infection automatically by scanning the folder structure on the server. If there are multiple sites sharing the same parent (Root) folder on the server, malware infection may spread through other sites. For this reason, it is necessary to remove unnecessary sites from the server, and to take security measures such as increasing the strength of the administrator&#8217;s password for all sites on the server, updating and vulnerability scanning to close the vulnerabilities. The following plug-ins can be used to easily perform vulnerability countermeasures and malware scanning of all sites on the server. We hope you will make use of it. Free WordPress:Malware Scan &#038; Security Plugin [Malware and Virus Detection and Removal]. Intrusion route 4 Vulnerability of the server itself In some cases, more fundamental vulnerabilities in the server&#8217;s OS (Linux), server configuration software, etc. can be exploited to infect a site with malware. Vulnerabilities in operating systems and middleware (Apache, Nginx, PHP, etc.) are discovered on a regular basis, and continued use of older, unpatched versions can allow an attacker to exploit these holes to gain entry into the server itself. Key measures include Regular OS and software updates, disabling unnecessary services and ports, configuring firewalls, strengthening SSH connections, installing a WAF (Web Application Firewall), regular log monitoring and tamper detection etc. However, on shared servers, these measures are taken by the server management company. (In many cases, the site operator is required to update the PHP version [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10769</post-id>	</item>
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