Title: Malware scanner doesn’t work Last modified: February 19, 2021 --- # Malware scanner doesn’t work * Resolved [shanghailander](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shanghailander/) * (@shanghailander) * [5 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/malware-scanner-doesnt-work/) * Greetings! * All my (free) Defender modules (? is that the right word?) worked beautifully until two updates ago! I can’t say that the other modules don’t work but the Malware Scanner definitely DOES NOT! * I was hoping that when the most recent Defender update happened that the malware scanner would be back to normal but it still doesn’t work 😕 * I press the scan button and – in the past – I’d wait just a few seconds and it would start working. * Since 2 updates ago, I press the scan button and go and get a cup of coffee, or vacuum the house, and nothing happens, so I click the Cancel X. * When I do that, I get a blue line in the box and on the left, by the spinning wheel, it says “undefined %” and at the top of the page there is a box which says “Error during scanning”! * I took a screenshot but I see I can’t upload any photos to show you so I made a page on one of my sites and uploaded the screenshot there, fpr easy referemce. * [https://www.all-about-ferrets.com/defenders-malware-scan-not-working.html](https://www.all-about-ferrets.com/defenders-malware-scan-not-working.html) * I have 2 websites and they each have a different theme, so I know it’s not that causing the problem. * I deactivated all my plugins and then reactived them one-by-one to see if it was a plugin which caused the problem, but no luck! Most of the plugins were there when the scans were working perfectly. * Can anyone please offer some advice? I am in my mid-70s and am a real technophobe so I would be unable to understand any really technical advice but any help would be very much appreciated! * Thank you in anticipation 😊 Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 24 total) 1 [2](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/malware-scanner-doesnt-work/page/2/?output_format=md) [→](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/malware-scanner-doesnt-work/page/2/?output_format=md) * Plugin Support [Dmytro – WPMU DEV Support](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wpmudevsupport16/) * (@wpmudevsupport16) * [5 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/malware-scanner-doesnt-work/#post-14075867) * Hi there [@shanghailander](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shanghailander/) * I just tested by installing version 2.3.2 on my test site, and reset the plugin to its defaults under Defender > Settings, the ran a Malware Scan, which worked fine. I then updated progressively to each new version and scanned again. Each scan ran well as expected, so I was unable to replicate the issue on my own site. * It sounds like there may be something either blocking access to files or some of the requests Defender makes to the server during the process. * I understand you’re not too comfortable with the techy side of things, but are you able to check the debug.log located in the wp-content directory? * If you can check that debug.log file and see if there are any errors related to defender in there, that would be very helpful in troubleshooting this issue. * Another thing you can try is to deactivate and delete Defender from your site, then install a fresh copy. If it works as it should then, that would mean that a connection hiccup had interrupted the plugin update at some point and caused this * Cheers! Patrick * Thread Starter [shanghailander](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shanghailander/) * (@shanghailander) * [5 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/malware-scanner-doesnt-work/#post-14079835) * Hi Patrick. Shanghailander’s SO here :). There is no debug.log in the wp-content folder for the site. the logs folder is also empty * Thanks Philip * Thread Starter [shanghailander](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shanghailander/) * (@shanghailander) * [5 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/malware-scanner-doesnt-work/#post-14079863) * Hi Patrick * Thanks so much for answering my call for help! It was very much appreciated ❤ * I left the kinda-tecky stuff re your suggestion about the debug.log to my long- suffering husband but I did delete the Defender plugin yesterday and only re- installed it this afternoon. * Checked the malware scanner and again, no luck 😧 Same as before – little wheel spinning valiantly on the left and nothing happening 😕 * I have a genealogical website (which I would hate to lose and Updraft doesn’t seem to be able to back up), and a website about ferrets, which is backed up by Updraft but which still isn’t able to do Defender’s malware scan! * Both are different themes and both worked fine with the Defender plugin until the 2nd but last update! * Thank you again for your very kind suggestions 😊 * Cheers * Nona * Plugin Support [Amin – WPMU DEV Support](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wpmudev-support2/) * (@wpmudev-support2) * [5 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/malware-scanner-doesnt-work/#post-14111328) * Hello [@shanghailander](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shanghailander/) , * I’m sorry that this is still not working. Can you also check the browser console if there are any errors when the Malware Scan is stuck? If yes, please send us a screenshot of the error. [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Tools/Browser_Console](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Tools/Browser_Console) * kind regards, Kasia * Thread Starter [shanghailander](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shanghailander/) * (@shanghailander) * [5 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/malware-scanner-doesnt-work/#post-14132215) * Hi Kasia * My apologies for taking so long to answer but it was hard to pin down my husband as he has been out and about a lot! * He told me what to do to get the screenshot for you so I did it but I can’t see any way to upload the image to this forum 🤷‍♀️ * Could you please let me know your email address so that I can send it to you that way? * Many thanks for your help 😊 * Best wishes * Nona * Plugin Support [Jair – WPMU DEV Support](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wpmudevsupport15/) * (@wpmudevsupport15) * [5 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/malware-scanner-doesnt-work/#post-14136573) * Hey there [@shanghailander](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shanghailander/) thank you for following up. * In this case, we will need you to send this through our contact form, click here [https://premium.wpmudev.org/contact/](https://premium.wpmudev.org/contact/), in the subject, please add “ATTN: Jorge Diaz” * And include a link to the screenshot, perhaps you could upload it to Google Drive/ Dropbox or any other similar service. * You could also use Monosnap which can help you to take the screenshot and upload it to the cloud to directly share the link with us. * Regards, * Jorge Díaz * Thread Starter [shanghailander](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shanghailander/) * (@shanghailander) * [5 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/malware-scanner-doesnt-work/#post-14193503) * Here you go * [https://monosnap.com/file/49IK02ikrql1klABPFgVqQB2PWKUoj](https://monosnap.com/file/49IK02ikrql1klABPFgVqQB2PWKUoj) * Thanks 🙂 * Plugin Support [Patrick – WPMU DEV Support](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wpmudevsupport12/) * (@wpmudevsupport12) * [5 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/malware-scanner-doesnt-work/#post-14201811) * Hi [@shanghailander](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shanghailander/) * Thank you for the screenshot, we would need to have one from the Browser console: * [https://monosnap.com/file/oeBgMVM7nbLzuzr2tSc0cqtlXLpoRG](https://monosnap.com/file/oeBgMVM7nbLzuzr2tSc0cqtlXLpoRG) * The 0% stuck means the plugin is not able to trigger the scan, it usually happens if the cURL is not working or the WPMU DEV IPs are blocked on the server firewall. * Can you please send the screenshot of the browser console also ask your Hosting support to verify the server cURL and add the WPMU DEV IPs to the server > Firewall > Allow List: * [https://wpmudev.com/docs/getting-started/wpmu-dev-ip-addresses/](https://wpmudev.com/docs/getting-started/wpmu-dev-ip-addresses/) * Let us know the result you got, Best Regards Patrick Freitas * Thread Starter [shanghailander](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shanghailander/) * (@shanghailander) * [5 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/malware-scanner-doesnt-work/#post-14212506) * Here you go [https://monosnap.com/file/4Mvv8kFndnHrckTmgnSLqwSyWUKgZT](https://monosnap.com/file/4Mvv8kFndnHrckTmgnSLqwSyWUKgZT) * Plugin Support [Patrick – WPMU DEV Support](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wpmudevsupport12/) * (@wpmudevsupport12) * [5 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/malware-scanner-doesnt-work/#post-14214126) * Hi [@shanghailander](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shanghailander/) * Thank you for the link * There is no console issue, so we can remove a JavaScript conflict from the troubleshooting. * Can you please contact your hosting support and ask about the information that I sent in the previous reply? * Let us know once hearing back from the hosting team Best Regards Patrick Freitas * Thread Starter [shanghailander](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shanghailander/) * (@shanghailander) * [5 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/malware-scanner-doesnt-work/#post-14226138) * Hi Patrick * Many thanks for letting me know there is no console issue. * I’ve forwarded your instructions to my husband and will try and pin him down when he gets back home to call our hosting company. No doubt he’ll let you know the answer once he speaks to them. * Cheers * Nona * Plugin Support [Patrick – WPMU DEV Support](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wpmudevsupport12/) * (@wpmudevsupport12) * [5 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/malware-scanner-doesnt-work/#post-14233756) * Hi [@shanghailander](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shanghailander/) * Thank you for the update. * Sure, let us know once hearing back from hosting * Best Regards Patrick Freitas * Plugin Support [Patrick – WPMU DEV Support](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wpmudevsupport12/) * (@wpmudevsupport12) * [5 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/malware-scanner-doesnt-work/#post-14264758) * Hi [@shanghailander](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shanghailander/) * Let me return on this for a quick question. * Do you have any IP added in the blocklist in Defender > Firewall? * If so, can you copy the list of IPs to a TXT file, remove the banned IPs and run a new Defender scan? * It is possible the plugin itself blocked the server IP or the WPMU DEV IPs, in case the issue persists then it still need to contact the hosting support. * Let us know the result you got. Best Regards Patrick Freitas * Thread Starter [shanghailander](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shanghailander/) * (@shanghailander) * [5 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/malware-scanner-doesnt-work/#post-14267923) * Hi Patrick * Once again I must apologise for not keeping you in the loop! * Philip got in contact with our hosting company 2 Sundays ago and he was told that what he asked them would be handballed up the ladder and that they would send him an email within 24-48 hours. * Of course that didn’t happen and after a few days, Philip contacted the hosting company and the person on the other end promised they would give “upstairs” a prod to reply as they promised! So we are still waiting 😕 * I will do as you suggested re the blocklist tomorrow and let you know but I very much doubt that that is what is causing the problem. * I have 2 websites and both of them had Defender’s malware scanner working perfectly until the plugin was updated. If you look at my first post (which was 1 month, 1 week ago) the scanner stopped working on both websites two updates ago when I posted that comment – however you or someone with the same name tested the plugin after various updates and it all worked perfectly! * Philip will be speaking to our hosting company tomorrow (Saturday, April 3) so fingers crossed that he’ll be able to get some information out of them!! * Thank you for all your help so far – it is very much appreciated ❤ * Happy Easter (if you celebrate it) 😊 * Cheers * Nona * Thread Starter [shanghailander](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shanghailander/) * (@shanghailander) * [5 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/malware-scanner-doesnt-work/#post-14271781) * Hi Patrick * Philip finally got an email from our hosting company and I have copied and pasted it below. I hope it gives you some clues about the malware scanning! * ``` Hello, Thank you for contacting HostGator Support. My name is Kenneth and I had the pleasure of reviewing your case today. I apologize for the delay in our response time. We have been experiencing a higher than normal volume of requests. I understand you contacted our support team about trouble with a 3rd party plugin for "pio-ulski.com". After reviewing your case, you contacted the support for this plugin, who advised you the issue could be with the server firewall or cURL trouble. First, for shared hosting servers, HostGator does NOT whitelist access for IPs in the server firewall. This is due to you being in a shared environment, so whitelisting access would affect other users. However, HostGator does not generally block any specific IPs. Second, for cURL, I can confirm cURL itself is working. However, I did see that when cURL-ing your specific domain, it was getting a 403 error (both from the server and from external locations). The code 403 mean permission denied or unauthorized. Again, HostGator does not block specific access, so most likely you have security settings you've put in place on your site specifically that is causing the cURL to be blocked. Looking at your site, I see multiple security plugins installed that could be blocking the cURL request (based on user-agent most likely). Some plugins I see are "Wordfence Security", "All In One WP Security", and "Anti-Malware Security and Brute-Force Firewall". So, you may need to try disabling some of these plugins (or modifying settings in those plugins). In addition to this, I also see various security rules and blocks setup in the htaccess file for the specific site. This is the file: /home1/kahlua/public_html/pio-ulski.com/.htaccess . Some of these rules are ones setup by the various security plugins you have installed. Though, I also see some IP deny rules are that denying your actual server IP as well (IP: 192.185.226.186) which is strange. At this point, it could be that your malware scan from this 3rd party plugin is failing due to the cURL 403 error. However, this is not caused by the server firewall, but rather your specific security settings on the site. Since we did not setup this, we do not want to start modifying or disabling it to avoid any issues. I recommend that you review the configuration or seek assist reviewing it with a developer (or the providers of the plugins used). If you have any questions or if anything was unclear, you can reply to this email for further assistance. For any other inquires, please contact our Live Support team at anytime. Our associates are available 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Live Chat Support: https://chat.hostgator.com Live Phone Support: (866)-964-2867 Warm regards, Kenneth J. Escalated Support ``` Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 24 total) 1 [2](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/malware-scanner-doesnt-work/page/2/?output_format=md) [→](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/malware-scanner-doesnt-work/page/2/?output_format=md) The topic ‘Malware scanner doesn’t work’ is closed to new replies. * ![](https://ps.w.org/defender-security/assets/icon-256x256.gif?rev=3435930) * [Defender Security - Malware Scanner, Login Security & Firewall](https://wordpress.org/plugins/defender-security/) * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/defender-security/#faq) * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/defender-security/) * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/defender-security/active/) * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/defender-security/unresolved/) * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/defender-security/reviews/) * 24 replies * 7 participants * Last reply from: [Predrag – WPMU DEV Support](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wpmudev-support1/) * Last activity: [4 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/malware-scanner-doesnt-work/page/2/#post-14615033) * Status: resolved