This plugin searches the files on your website, and the posts and comments tables of your database for anything suspicious. It also examines your list of active plugins for unusual filenames.

It does not remove anything. That is left to the user to do.

Latest MD5 hash values for Exploit Scanner:

  • 17e2ccfc834d691bc68cc5c64f9bed89 exploit-scanner.php (1.5.2)
  • 1d5f9d6220fe159cd44cb70a998a1cd7 hashes-4.6.php
  • fbdf61c17f65094c8e331e1e364acf68 hashes-4.6.1.php
  • 477d128d84802e3470cec408424a8de3 hashes-4.7.php
  • d53210f999847fbd6f5a2ecac0ad42f2 hashes-4.7.5.php

Latest SHA1 hash values for Exploit Scanner:

  • 1decc1e47a53d1cab9e8f1ef15b31682198367ee exploit-scanner.php (1.5.2)
  • 5cec64380a2acdc876fd22fbbbbf8c335df1ed3f hashes-4.6.php
  • 99d9e7be23a350f3d1962d0f41e7b4e28c00841e hashes-4.6.1.php
  • 1eeab377a1afc6d776827a063678d2461b29e71d hashes-4.7.php
  • 8c890a6af26bb74e9d17e5d2b21d6be27764da45 hashes-4.7.5.php

See the Exploit Scanner homepage for further information.

Interpreting the Results

It is likely that this scanner will find false positives (i.e. files which do not contain malicious code). However, it is best to err
on the side of caution; if you are unsure then ask in the Support Forums,
download a fresh copy of a plugin, search the Internet for similar situations, et cetera. You should be most concerned if the scanner is:
making matches around unknown external links; finding base64 encoded text in modified core files or the wp-config.php file;
listing extra admin accounts; or finding content in posts which you did not put there.

Understanding the three different result levels:

  • Severe: results that are often strong indicators of a hack (though they are not definitive proof)
  • Warning: these results are more commonly found in innocent circumstances than Severe matches, but they should still be treated with caution
  • Note: lowest priority, showing results that are very commonly used in legitimate code or notifications about events such as skipped files

Help! I think I have been hacked!

Follow the guides from the Codex:

Ensure that you change all of your WordPress related passwords (site, FTP, MySQL, etc.). A regular backup routine
(either manual or plugin powered) is extremely useful; if you ever find that your site has been hacked you can easily restore your site from
a clean backup and fresh set of files and, of course, use a new set of passwords.

Updates

Updates to the plugin will be posted here, to Holy Shmoly! and the WordPress Exploit Scanner page will always link to the newest version.

Other Languages

Unfortunately for people using WordPress versions for other locales some of the file hashes may be incorrect as some strings have to be hardcoded in their translated form. Here are some file hashes for WordPress in other languagues provided separately by other members of the community:

The hash files should only be declaring an array called $filehashes and the majority of the hashes should still be the same.

Installation Instructions

  1. Download and unzip the plugin.
  2. Copy the exploit-scanner directory into your plugins folder.
  3. Visit your Plugins page and activate the plugin.
  4. A new menu item called “Exploit Scanner” will be available under the Tools menu.

How do I fix the out of memory error?

Scanning your website can take quite a bit of memory. The plugin tries to allocate 128MB but sometimes that’s not enough. You can modify the amount of memory PHP has access to from within the plugin admin page. You can also limit the max size of scanned files. Reduce this number to skip more files but be aware that it may miss hacked files. Any skipped files are listed after scanning. Memory is also used if you have deep directories because of the way the scanner works. It will help if you clean out any cache directories (wp-content/cache/ for example) before scanning.

830 matches in a clean installation

By Antonio Augusto (antonio24073) on April 11, 2021

Apparently abandoned or confuse.

Doesn´t work at all

By C77 on July 6, 2019

Doesn´t work at all... it always shows an error, try later.

Doesn't work

By scorpiotiger on July 2, 2018

Just gives an error: {"status":"error","message":"$this->files was not an array","data":{"start":250,"files":"b:0;"}} Others have posted in the support section and not had responses and the plugin has not been updated for a long time, so it looks to be an abandoned project.

Am I a paranoid?

By carolzeroum on March 13, 2018

Exploit Scanner is a useless plugin. I mean, it does nothing. It just lists hundreds of files of your server. Says nothing about them. And does nothing either. In the end, it says you are a PARANOID. If you have any further worries. I think I will create a Wordpress plugin too.

Great security scan plugin but..

By RwkY (rwky) on November 14, 2017

Great plugin, but it's not well documented. Anyways, it works on version 4.8.3 and theoretically any version as long as you generate (if you don't have) the hashes for your wordpress version; in my case I had to generate for 4.8.3 and it did a good job :)

Great, if you have current hashes

By enacta2 on June 25, 2017

Works really well. I have it installed next to TAC and VIP Scanner on my localhost test site. The trick is you need to use current hashes, and none are available for Wordpress 4.8 and higher on the Internets. So, here are hashes for WordPress 4.8. And easy to follow directions to create new hashes for newer versions of WordPress: https://wordpress.org/support/topic/here-you-go-hashes-4-8-php/

Core files treated as severe results

By Ovidiu Zeicu on June 16, 2017

A LOT of WP core files on fresh install are included on the Level Severe results section, most of them having "Unknown file found" in the description. If the plugin doesn't even know which files are core files, how should I trust it with other files? Working with MD5 hashes is not for everyone, so it's definitely not for beginners.

Useless unless you can generate a hash file

By mark200789 on March 10, 2017

I'm pretty tech savvy, but creating a hash file for my site is beyond my abilities. That's what this scanner needs or it will mark every single files and unknown and corrupted. And it won't tell you until after you've finished scanning. It's nowhere in the online instructions. Waste of time unless you are a command line guru.

Useful and effective

By shokola on January 9, 2017

Works very well by pointing suspicious elements.

this plugin killed my wp-admin told me to remove non infected core files!!!

By shane_idc on January 9, 2017

This plugin spewed out a list of 533 threats stating Level:severe. I started going through the list as I have done before when I get them from iPage, deleting the dodgy files. Luckily i thought to download and check one, see what code these infected files contained - nothing! they were clean! I panicked and checked the site. It was now a 500 error, my wp-admin was gone!!! I tried copying 4.7 wp-admin files then found the 4.x wp folder from the websites install and copied them accross, no change. I had to wait two days for dreamhost to get back to me and do a restore. This plugin is terrible!! How could you design something that lists core files as infected files? I had to find a list of wp-admin files and cross reference them - of the 32 or something I had deleted only 5 were spammy hack files - the rest core wordpress files! I dont trust you, this plugin or anything you do. Sorry bout the bad review but no-one should use this plugin. My clients site is over 1400 pages!!! It was an epic construction - the further id gone through the list the more damage I could have done to it!! Lucky for restore hey?

1.5.2

  • Added hashes for WordPress 4.7.5

1.5.1

  • WordPress 4.6 hashes
  • WordPress 4.6.1 hashes
  • WordPress 4.7 hashes

1.5

  • WordPress 4.5.3 hashes
  • Move to follow WP versioning system

1.4.12

  • WordPress 4.5.2 hashes

1.4.11

  • WordPress 4.5 hashes
  • WordPress 4.5.1 hashes

1.4.10

  • WordPress 4.4.1 hashes

1.4.9

  • WordPress 4.4 hashes

1.4.8

  • WordPress 4.3.1 security release hashes
  • Other missing hashes

1.4.7

  • WordPress 4.3 hashes

1.4.6

  • WordPress 4.2.3 hashes
  • WordPress 4.2.4 hashes

1.4.5

  • WordPress 4.2.2 hashes

1.4.4

  • WordPress 3.7.3 hashes
  • WordPress 3.7.4 hashes
  • WordPress 3.7.5 hashes
  • WordPress 3.7.6 hashes
  • WordPress 3.7.7 hashes
  • WordPress 3.8.4 hashes
  • WordPress 3.8.5 hashes
  • WordPress 3.8.6 hashes
  • WordPress 3.8.7 hashes
  • WordPress 3.9.4 hashes
  • WordPress 3.9.5 hashes
  • WordPress 4.0.2 hashes
  • WordPress 4.0.3 hashes
  • WordPress 4.0.4 hashes
  • WordPress 4.1.4 hashes
  • WordPress 4.2.1 hashes

1.4.3

  • WordPress 4.1.3 hashes

1.4.2

  • WordPress 4.2 hashes

1.4.1

  • WordPress 3.9.3, 4.1, 4.1.1 and 4.1.2 hashes

1.4

  • Remove an example link to a hacked site
  • Fixed the eval() check incorrectly matching function names that end in “eval”
  • Fixed some PHP warnings
  • WordPress 3.5.2 hashes
  • WordPress 3.6 and 3.6.1 hashes
  • WordPress 3.7, 3.7.1 and 3.7.2 hashes
  • WordPress 3.8, 3.8.1, 3.8.2 and 3.7.3 hashes
  • WordPress 3.9, 3.9.1 and 3.9.2 hashes
  • WordPress 4.0 and 4.0.1 hashes

1.3.3

  • WordPress 3.5 and 3.5.1 hashes

1.3.2

  • WordPress 3.4.2 hashes

1.3.1

  • WordPress 3.4.1 hashes

1.3

  • Detect unknown files in the wp-admin and wp-includes directories
  • WordPress 3.4 hashes

1.2.1

  • WordPress 3.3.2 hashes

1.2

  • WordPress 3.3.1 hashes
  • Use help tabs introduced in WordPress 3.3
  • Help prevent one cause of hanging scans (MySQL error 1153)

1.1

  • Scan for and fix old, vulnerable TimThumb scripts
  • Detect old export files even if they’re larger than the size limit
  • WordPress 3.3 hashes

1.0.5

  • WordPress 3.2 and 3.2.1 hashes

1.0.4

  • WordPress 3.1.4 hashes
  • Suspicious pattern updates and tweaks

1.0.3

  • Detection of export files left by incomplete imports.
  • WordPress 3.1.3 hashes

1.0.2

  • WordPress 3.0.6 and 3.1.2 hashes

1.0.1

  • WordPress 3.1.1 hashes

1.0

  • Core file diffs
  • WordPress 3.1 hashes
  • Updated suspicious patterns

0.97.6

  • WordPress 3.0.5 hashes

0.97.5

  • WordPress 3.0.4 hashes
  • Dropped wp-content from hashes

0.97.4

  • WordPress 3.0.3 compatibility

0.97.3

  • 3.0.2 compatibility

0.97.2

  • 3.0.1 compatibility

0.97.1

  • PHP 4 compatibility

0.97

  • AJAX paging
  • simplified results system (now only 3 levels)
  • contextual help
  • moved to Tools menu section
  • a number of backend changes

0.96

  • Compatibility for WordPress 3.0

0.95

  • Added “exploits” scan level for obvious hacker exploit code.
  • Stored results for later review.
  • Rearranged layout of results.
  • Paged scanning so plugin scans 50 files at a time to avoid timeout errors.
  • Only show “General Info” to non MU sites (it’s too expensive for large MU sites)
  1. Download and unzip the plugin.
  2. Copy the exploit-scanner directory into your plugins folder.
  3. Visit your Plugins page and activate the plugin.
  4. A new menu item called “Exploit Scanner” will be available under the Tools menu.

Reviews

3.2 out of 5 stars

  • Version: 1.5.2
  • Last updated: 7 years ago
  • Active installations: 10K
  • WordPress version: 3.3
  • Tested up to: 4.7.29
  • PHP version: false