Defender Plugin affecting Jetpack (WordPress app)

Hi @orangecitys,

Sorry to know that you are experiencing this issue.

Can you please download the Defender config at Defender >> Settings >> Configs and share it with us using Google Drive or DropBox? Please note you should download the config that is currently active on your website.

Please find more details regarding the same here: https://wpmudev.com/docs/wpmu-dev-plugins/defender/#configs

We look forward to hearing back from you.

Kind Regards,
Nebu John

Hi @orangecitys,

I am afraid the URL that you shared needs to request access; hence we weren’t able to give a closer look at the configuration. Can you please share an open URL so we can access the file without requesting access?

We look forward to hearing back from you.

Kind Regards,
Nebu John

Hi @orangecitys

Thank you for response!

I was able to download and check the config but I must say I don’t see anything specific there that would be *expected* to block the app.

I would like you check few more things on your site then (with Defender enabled):

1. is the issue still happening if you deactivate “Login Protection” or “404 Detection” in Defender -> Firewall Settings?

2. If yes – which one?

3. Also if yes, please go to the “Defender -> Firewall -> Settings” and see if with current “Detect IP Address” setting, the “Detect IP” is correct – is it your current IP or is it something else? If it’s not correct, check through available detection option to find out which one returns your correct IP and set it like that – then see if the issue with app still happens.

3. While it should not be the case, please also try reverting the “Disable trackbacks and pings” security recommendation.

Update us here about results, please.

Kind regards,
Adam

Hi @orangecitys

Could you please navigate to WordPress > Tools > Site health and see if you get any errors there?

Also, do you have any IPs on your blocklist? Defender > Firewall > Blocklist, if so can you remove those IPs and see if makes any difference?

Best Regards
Patrick Freitas

Hi @orangecitys

Thank you for response!

I know it’s more questions now than answers but I need to ask additional ones then:

1. About this:

1. One or more recommended modules are missing – Performance

If you expand that item on the list in Site Health, it should tell you the name of the missing module – what is that module (this may or may not be related but we can’t tell until we know the name of that missing module)

2. What is the version of PHP that is powering your site (you should be able to find this also on “Tools -> Site Health” page in “Info” section)?

3. You never shared ULR of the site in question so I can’t check it but – is it by any chance behind CloudFlare or similar CDN and/or is it using Sucuri or similar security tools (or any additional security plugin other than Defender)? Note: I’m not saying such other security tool is the cause but rather trying to find out if there may possibly be some kind of conflict with Defender.

Best regards,
Adam

Hi @orangecitys,

Thanks for the info; however, I’m afraid it still doesn’t help much in pointing out what might have caused it. I tried replicating the issue on my test server, but it works fine when tested with your config shared for Defender.

I was able to get notifications whenever a new comment was posted with Defender active on my test site.

Possible to test and see whether you get any notifications once you have all the plugins deactivated temporarily and with Jetpack & Defender enabled?

As stated before, could you please try deactivating each setting enabled on the Defender side and see whether it makes any difference?

I don’t see any mention of disabling “Security Headers,” i.e. under Defender > Tools. Could you also check how it behaves with “Security Headers” deactivated?

Please do let us know how that goes. Looking forward to your response.

Kind Regards,
Nithin