Hi @nowayisnotworking, thanks for your message.
The Disable Code Execution for Uploads Directory option (when saved) runs regardless of any state of the plugin as they are .htaccess rules and get processed before other Wordfence blocks would be. That makes it odd that you’d get inconsistent results across two sites.
I would see if the affected image file URLs can be loaded directly in a browser. If those work, then another plugin or the theme could be loading images in a way that Wordfence is blocking as a false-positive in the background. For a case such as that, try turning Learning Mode on for a short period and visit pages with images that were failing. If that works, return the firewall to “Enabled and Protecting”.
If you see the issue again when Learning Mode is turned off, visit the Live Traffic page immediately afterwards. If there is a recent block shown there, check the reason after expanding the entry with the eye icon in the corner. You may find a specific firewall rule or Wordfence setting stated here. The reason is shown in red text.
Feel free to paste that reason here if you’re unable to manually allowlist it successfully using the “ADD PARAM TO FIREWALL ALLOWLIST” button on the Live Traffic page.
Let us know how you get on,
Peter.
Regardless of whether Wordfence is in Learning Mode or normal protection mode, this error is triggered the moment I restore the .htaccess file containing this code:
# BEGIN WebP Express
# Plugin is deactivated
# END WebP Express
# BEGIN Wordfence code execution protection
<IfModule mod_php5.c>
php_flag engine 0
</IfModule>
<IfModule mod_php7.c>
php_flag engine 0
</IfModule>
<IfModule mod_php.c>
php_flag engine 0
</IfModule>
AddHandler cgi-script .php .phtml .php3 .pl .py .jsp .asp .htm .shtml .sh .cgi
Options -ExecCGI
# END Wordfence code execution protection
Direct access to images via the browser is also impossible, despite the files actually existing on the server. This issue is global and blocks all images on the site. This occurs on x different sites that don’t share any same plugins.
I’m sending the Wordfence results for the test you mentioned. I’m not sure if this is fully what you meant, but it shows a “Page Not Found” (404 error). However, the image files are definitely there, and deleting the .htaccess file fixes everything.
Time: 1 minute ago -- Tue, 02 Dec 25 07:03:28 +0000 -- 1764659008.306146 in Unixtime
Seconds since last hit: 0.0143
URL: https://[domain.com]/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/baner-evritell-1200x200px-qemetica-mk-2025.gif
Type: Page Not Found
Referrer: https://[domain.com]/?test
User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/142.0.0.0 Safari/537.36
Location: [Location Redacted], Poland
Time: 1 minute ago -- Tue, 02 Dec 25 07:03:28 +0000 -- 1764659008.291876 in Unixtime
Seconds since last hit: 3.1130
URL: https://[domain.com]/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/logo-wrp-pl-300x125.jpg
Type: Normal Request
Referrer: https://[domain.com]/
User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/142.0.0.0 Safari/537.36
Location: [Location Redacted], Poland
Time: 1 minute ago -- Tue, 02 Dec 25 07:03:25 +0000 -- 1764659005.178860 in Unixtime
Seconds since last hit: 108.7069
URL: https://[domain.com]/?test
Type: Normal Request
User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/142.0.0.0 Safari/537.36
Location: [Location Redacted], Poland
Time: 1 minute ago -- Tue, 02 Dec 25 07:03:28 +0000 -- 1764659008.521115 in Unixtime
Seconds since last hit: 0.2019
URL: https://[domain.com]/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/wrp-234x120.png
Type: Page Not Found
Referrer: https://[domain.com]/?test
User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/142.0.0.0 Safari/537.36
Location: [Location Redacted], Poland
Hi @nowayisnotworking,
Thanks for the extra information. Ideally, we’d like to run some tests too on your domain. So you don’t need to share that here, you can just send a diagnostic separately to wftest @ wordfence . com by finding the link at the top of the Wordfence > Tools > Diagnostics page. Then click on “Send Report by Email”. Please add your forum username where indicated and respond here after you have sent it.
NOTE: It should look as follows – Screenshot of Tools > Diagnostic > Send by Email
Thanks again,
Peter.
Hi,
I have sent a report regarding one of the sites. In this specific case, not all images are returning a 404 error, but a significant number of them are. If needed, I can send reports for other sites as well.
Will you post the response here or send it to my email?
Thanks for your help.
Hello,
Do you have some update in this topic?
