Title: API Blocked issues?
Last modified: April 14, 2025

---

# API Blocked issues?

 *  Resolved [algraham93](https://wordpress.org/support/users/algraham93/)
 * (@algraham93)
 * [1 year, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/api-blocked-issues/)
 * All of the websites on my server which have wordfence installed are having issues
   with JSON and API – can you please assist in this? It has broken all communication
   which is worrying and I’m not sure what the next step is
 * The page I need help with: _[[log in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.org%2Fsupport%2Ftopic%2Fapi-blocked-issues%2F%3Foutput_format%3Dmd&locale=en_US)
   to see the link]_

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

 *  Thread Starter [algraham93](https://wordpress.org/support/users/algraham93/)
 * (@algraham93)
 * [1 year, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/api-blocked-issues/#post-18414957)
 * Also worth noting that all of the websites are displaying a ‘**ERROR**: An error
   was encountered while trying to authenticate. Please try again.’ when trying 
   to login. After renaming the plugin in FTP (disabling wordfence) we can login
   but the issues with JSON still persist.
 *  Plugin Support [wfmargaret](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wfmargaret/)
 * (@wfmargaret)
 * [1 year, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/api-blocked-issues/#post-18416217)
 * Hi [@algraham93](https://wordpress.org/support/users/algraham93/),
 * Thanks for reaching out! I see that the REST API has `<?php?>` inserted at the
   beginning, which is causing the JSON errors (and, in turn, the login errors when
   Wordfence is activated). This would not have been added by Wordfence, as you’ve
   also confirmed by checking that the issue remained after temporarily disabling
   Wordfence.
 * If you or your developer have recently made any changes to the site, I recommend
   reviewing those changes to ensure they were implemented properly.
 * Please let me know if you have any questions!
 * Thanks,
   Margaret
 *  Thread Starter [algraham93](https://wordpress.org/support/users/algraham93/)
 * (@algraham93)
 * [1 year, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/api-blocked-issues/#post-18416289)
 * Hey Margaret,
 * Thanks for the reply – I should add that it has happened to all of my sites on
   the server which are running wordfence. Is there a possibility that wordfence
   has added something as a security measure on the root of the server? It seems
   to be using a lot of resource like it is constantly trying to run some sort of
   cron and being blocked
 *  Plugin Support [wfmargaret](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wfmargaret/)
 * (@wfmargaret)
 * [1 year, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/api-blocked-issues/#post-18418108)
 * Hi [@algraham93](https://wordpress.org/support/users/algraham93/),
 * Thanks for following up! When Wordfence blocks a page view or action, it returns
   a 503 or 403 response. Since the additional tag was added even when Wordfence
   was disabled, Wordfence wouldn’t be involved.
 * It does look like you’ve found the cause though, as I no longer see the additional
   tag at the beginning of the REST response. That’s great to see! If you’re still
   having issues with Wordfence’s cron jobs or if you see any Wordfence block pages,
   please let me know.
 * Thanks,
   Margaret

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

The topic ‘API Blocked issues?’ is closed to new replies.

 * ![](https://ps.w.org/wordfence/assets/icon.svg?rev=2070865)
 * [Wordfence Security - Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordfence/)
 * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordfence/#faq)
 * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wordfence/)
 * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wordfence/active/)
 * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wordfence/unresolved/)
 * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wordfence/reviews/)

 * 4 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [wfmargaret](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wfmargaret/)
 * Last activity: [1 year, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/api-blocked-issues/#post-18418108)
 * Status: resolved