Title: PHP errors from admin menu bar
Last modified: October 30, 2025

---

# PHP errors from admin menu bar

 *  Resolved [kassela](https://wordpress.org/support/users/kassela/)
 * (@kassela)
 * [7 months, 1 week ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/php-errors-from-admin-menu-bar/)
 * I’ve been getting consistent errors in the PHP error log file coming from wp-
   admin/menu-header.php line 263. Specifically, an open_basedir error because it
   is trying to access a bad path to the plugin’s admin page (as far as I can tell.
   The error includes “/wp-content/plugins/https://wpmailsmtp.com/lite-upgrade/)
   is not within the allowed path(s)”. It seems to be substituting the upgrade URL
   into what should be the plugin base folder. I’m not a programmer, just a system
   admin, so I am just guessing and speculating here.
 * The full log entry with paths redacted is:
 * PHP Warning:  file_exists(): open_basedir restriction in effect. File(<redacted
   >/wp-content/plugins/https://wpmailsmtp.com/lite-upgrade/) is not within the 
   allowed path(s): (<redacted>) in <redacted>\wp-admin\menu-header.php on line 
   263

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

 *  Plugin Support [Patrick](https://wordpress.org/support/users/paddyam/)
 * (@paddyam)
 * [7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/php-errors-from-admin-menu-bar/#post-18707084)
 * Hi [@kassela](https://wordpress.org/support/users/kassela/),
 * Thanks so much for sharing this.
 * I’ll check in with our development team to review this behavior and see what 
   might be causing the substitution. Once I have more clarity, I’ll follow up here
   with any findings or recommendations.
 * In the meantime, please note that this should not interfere with your email sending
   process, and your email should continue getting sent as expected.
 * Thanks again for flagging this!
 *  Plugin Support [Patrick](https://wordpress.org/support/users/paddyam/)
 * (@paddyam)
 * [7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/php-errors-from-admin-menu-bar/#post-18708188)
 * Hi [@kassela](https://wordpress.org/support/users/kassela/),
 * Thanks for your patience.
 * I received an update from the team and it appears that you have some `open_basedir`
   rules that restrict access to paths, and the path for this menu item is failing
   those checks (`/wp-content/plugins/[https://wpmailsmtp.com/lite-upgrade/](https://wpmailsmtp.com/lite-upgrade/)`).
 * For context, WP Mail SMTP Lite adds the “Upgrade to Pro” menu item that points
   to `[https://wpmailsmtp.com/lite-upgrade/](https://wpmailsmtp.com/lite-upgrade/)`.
   When rendering menu items, WordPress core uses `file_exists` to check if the 
   file the menu is pointing to exists. If it does it builds the full path, otherwise
   it links directly to the provided menu item URL.
 * To fix this, please either adjust the open_basedir settings in your cPanel, contact
   your hosting provider to disable open_basedir restrictions, or add the paths 
   to the allowed list.
 * I hope this helps.
 *  [josephkozubek](https://wordpress.org/support/users/josephkozubek/)
 * (@josephkozubek)
 * [3 months, 4 weeks ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/php-errors-from-admin-menu-bar/#post-18811815)
 * [Patrick](https://wordpress.org/support/users/paddyam/) (@paddyam)
 * “To fix this, please either adjust the open_basedir settings in your cPanel, 
   contact your hosting provider to disable open_basedir restrictions, or add the
   paths to the allowed list.”
 * Re: [Patrick](https://wordpress.org/support/users/paddyam/) (@paddyam)
 * What you wrote is an evasive answer to User ‘[kassela](https://wordpress.org/support/users/kassela/)(
   @kassela)’ (in need)
 * =======================================
 * Limitations:
   It only restricts filesystem functions and not all PHP functions(
   e.g., might bypass it).system()It disables the realpath cache, which can slightly
   impact performance.It is not affected by .safe_mode
 * Troubleshooting: If you see “open_basedir restriction in effect,” the script 
   is trying to access a restricted file. You may need to add the required path 
   to the directive.open_basedir
 * Example of restricting to multiple directories:
   open_basedir = “/var/www/html/
   site1/:/usr/share/php/:/tmp/”

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

You must be [logged in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.org%2Fsupport%2Ftopic%2Fphp-errors-from-admin-menu-bar%2F%3Foutput_format%3Dmd&locale=en_US)
to reply to this topic.

 * ![](https://ps.w.org/wp-mail-smtp/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=1755440)
 * [WP Mail SMTP by WPForms - The Most Popular SMTP and Email Log Plugin](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-mail-smtp/)
 * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-mail-smtp/#faq)
 * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wp-mail-smtp/)
 * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wp-mail-smtp/active/)
 * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wp-mail-smtp/unresolved/)
 * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wp-mail-smtp/reviews/)

## Tags

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

 * 4 replies
 * 3 participants
 * Last reply from: [josephkozubek](https://wordpress.org/support/users/josephkozubek/)
 * Last activity: [3 months, 4 weeks ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/php-errors-from-admin-menu-bar/#post-18811815)
 * Status: resolved