Title: header code messed up
Last modified: August 30, 2016

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# header code messed up

 *  [csapoa](https://wordpress.org/support/users/csapoa/)
 * (@csapoa)
 * [10 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/header-code-messed-up/)
 * Hi, this might be a problem that was solved a while ago, but I’m still getting
   the error for about 2 years now , seemingly when I update wordpress to the most
   recent version:
 * When I click on the Installed Plugins page, all plugins disappear with an error:
   plugin doesn’t have a valid header.
 * If I check the headers of the plugins I see a messed up code there.
 * Please let me know how to fix this problem. Restoring from backups is not an 
   option, all my backups seem to be infected.
 * Thank you indeed!
    Adrian

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

 *  Thread Starter [csapoa](https://wordpress.org/support/users/csapoa/)
 * (@csapoa)
 * [10 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/header-code-messed-up/#post-6791672)
 * These seem to be similar problems, but I don’t find any good solution, the problem
   is always coming back after I’m updating WordPress.
 * [https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugins-have-disappeared-this-plugin-does-not-have-a-valid-header-on-all?replies=3](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugins-have-disappeared-this-plugin-does-not-have-a-valid-header-on-all?replies=3)
 * [https://wordpress.org/support/topic/7-website-same-error-the-plugin-does-not-have-a-valid-header?replies=14](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/7-website-same-error-the-plugin-does-not-have-a-valid-header?replies=14)
 * [https://www.webhosting.uk.com/forums/cms-hosting/9741-wordpress-errors-plugin-does-not-have-valid-header.html](https://www.webhosting.uk.com/forums/cms-hosting/9741-wordpress-errors-plugin-does-not-have-valid-header.html)
 *  Moderator [James Huff](https://wordpress.org/support/users/macmanx/)
 * (@macmanx)
 * [10 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/header-code-messed-up/#post-6791713)
 * It’s a security measure in WordPress. If the plugin’s headers are corrupted, 
   they are effectively discarded by WordPress.
 * If this is continually happening, that means that you have been hacked. You may
   have cleaned up the symptom at one point, but missed the vector, effectively 
   leaving the door open.
 * Remain calm and carefully follow [this guide](https://codex.wordpress.org/FAQ_My_site_was_hacked).
   When you’re done, you may want to implement some (if not all) of [the recommended security measures](https://codex.wordpress.org/Hardening_WordPress).

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

The topic ‘header code messed up’ is closed to new replies.

## Tags

 * [valid header](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/valid-header/)

 * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
 * 2 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [James Huff](https://wordpress.org/support/users/macmanx/)
 * Last activity: [10 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/header-code-messed-up/#post-6791713)
 * Status: not resolved

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