Glossary · Free tool

Wordfence alert explainer

Paste a Wordfence alert email below. This page names each finding in it, says how urgent it is, and tells you what to do first — in plain English, with a link to the full explanation. Nothing you paste leaves your browser: the matching runs entirely on this page, so site paths and domain names in the alert stay with you.

Every alert message, explained

The same matching, as a reference you can scan by eye. Each row shows the message as Wordfence usually words it, linked to what it means and how to fix it.

Malware

File appears to be malicious or unsafe: wp-content/uploads/2024/06/cache.php
A file appears to be malicious Critical
This file is a known malicious file: wp-content/plugins/hello-dolly/wp-load.php
A known malicious file was found Critical
Suspected malware code was found in the database in the option wp_head_scripts.
Malicious content was found in the database Critical
Your site is listed on Google's Safe Browsing list.
The site is flagged by Google Safe Browsing Critical
File contains suspected malware URL: wp-content/themes/example/footer.php
A blocklisted URL was found in site content High
Your site is being advertised in spam emails.
The site may be advertised in spam High
Comment with author "BestSeoOffers" contains a suspected malware URL.
A malicious URL was found in a comment Medium
Post "Summer Sale 2024" contains a suspected malware URL.
A malicious URL was found in a post High
Option siteurl contains a suspected malware URL.
A malicious URL was found in a site option High

Vulnerability

The Plugin "Contact Form 7" has a security vulnerability.
A plugin has a known security vulnerability Usually Critical or High
The Plugin "wp-example-widget" appears to be abandoned (updated May 3, 2019, tested to WP 5.2).
A plugin appears to be abandoned Usually Medium
The Plugin "example-gallery" has been removed from wordpress.org.
A plugin was removed from the WordPress.org repository Usually High
The Plugin "WooCommerce" needs an upgrade (8.9.1 -> 8.9.3).
A plugin needs an upgrade Usually Medium
The Theme "Astra" needs an upgrade (4.6.0 -> 4.6.4).
A theme needs an upgrade Usually Medium
Your WordPress version (6.4.2) is out of date. The latest version is 6.5.2.
WordPress core needs an upgrade Medium to High depending on the gap
Wordfence could not check whether plugins or themes are out of date because the update check failed.
WordPress could not check for updates Usually Low, but worth chasing

Public files

Publicly accessible config, backup, or log file found: wp-config.php.bak
A config, backup or log file is publicly accessible High to Critical depending on the file
Your wp-config.php file is readable by the public.
wp-config.php is readable over the web Critical
Database backup file found publicly accessible: wp-content/backup-db/example_com.sql
A database backup is publicly accessible Critical
The file wp-includes/rss-functions.php contains a Full Path Disclosure vulnerability.
The server's full path is disclosed Low

File change

Unknown file in WordPress core: wp-admin/includes/class-wp-upgrader-list.php
An unknown file was found in a WordPress core directory High
WordPress core file modified: wp-includes/pluggable.php
A WordPress core file has been modified High
Modified plugin file: wp-content/plugins/akismet/akismet.php
A plugin file has been modified Medium to High
Modified theme file: wp-content/themes/twentytwentyfour/functions.php
A theme file has been modified Medium

Login

User "admin" with "Administrator" access has an easy password.
A user has an easily guessed password High for administrators, lower otherwise
An admin user with the username "wp_support_admin" was created outside of WordPress.
An administrator was created outside WordPress High

Firewall

The Wordfence Web Application Firewall is in learning mode.
The Wordfence firewall is not at full protection Medium
Your 'How does Wordfence get IPs' setting is misconfigured.
Visitor IP detection is misconfigured Medium
Wordfence is unable to use the GeoIP database.
Country blocking is unavailable on this server Low

Other

You have 1.2GB disk space remaining on your server. / Scan terminated with error: The scan time limit of 10800 seconds has been exceeded.
Scan status messages that are not findings Informational