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WordPressPHPMySQL
Production support: fixing broken and compromised WordPress sites
Diagnosing critical errors caused by WordPress core, theme and plugin updates, and cleaning up compromised sites by finding tampered files and removing malicious changes.
- Client
- Confidential · multiple client sites
- Role
- WordPress developer
- Timeline
- Ongoing
Impact
- Outcome
- Before: Critical errorRestored
The problem
Updates to WordPress core, themes or plugins sometimes take a production site down with critical errors. Separately, some sites were compromised: files had been tampered with and functionality was broken.
The solution
Diagnosed and resolved critical production errors triggered by core, theme and plugin updates. For compromised sites, investigated the codebase, identified tampered files, remediated the malicious modifications and restored normal functionality.
When an update breaks production#
The goal is to find exactly which change caused the failure and fix the cause, so the site works again on its updated versions.
When a site is compromised#
- Investigate: identify which files were tampered with.
- Remediate: remove the malicious modifications.
- Restore: bring functionality back and confirm the site works as expected.