Title: [Plugin: WordPress Exploit Scanner] Exploit Scanner not working Last modified: August 19, 2016 --- # [Plugin: WordPress Exploit Scanner] Exploit Scanner not working * [Georg Portenkirchner](https://wordpress.org/support/users/portenkirchner/) * (@portenkirchner) * [16 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-wordpress-exploit-scanner-exploit-scanner-not-working/) * I just downloaded the Exploit Scanner Plugin. After starting it I got to a page telling me * > Exploit Scanner > This script searches through your WordPress install for signs > that may indicate that your website has been compromised by hackers. It does > NOT remove anything, this is left for the user to do. * And nothing happened afterwards. After one hour there is still nothing telling me, if there are any results, even no sign that there is happening anything at all. * [http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/exploit-scanner/](http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/exploit-scanner/) Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 30 total) 1 [2](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-wordpress-exploit-scanner-exploit-scanner-not-working/page/2/?output_format=md) [→](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-wordpress-exploit-scanner-exploit-scanner-not-working/page/2/?output_format=md) * [Donncha O Caoimh (a11n)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/donncha/) * (@donncha) * [16 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-wordpress-exploit-scanner-exploit-scanner-not-working/#post-1251229) * Was there any error in your php error log? * [acdc_rulz](https://wordpress.org/support/users/acdc_rulz/) * (@acdc_rulz) * [16 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-wordpress-exploit-scanner-exploit-scanner-not-working/#post-1251387) * Hello, I had the same problem as **portenkirchner** above and could not find my php error log. I host my own blog and determined that the error log directory parameter in my php.ini was not set correctly. I fixed this and discovered when I ran the Exploit Scanner again that indeed I was getting an out of memory error in my php error log. However, the Exploit Scanner script does not return anything if this error occurs and all I would get is the same result “This script searches through your WordPress install for signs that may”…maybe this can be fixed in a future version to at least tell someone if there was a memory error??? * Here is the exact error from my php error log: “[21-Oct-2009 11:40:42] PHP Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 134217728 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 51118080 bytes) in /www/xxxxxxx/wp-content/plugins/exploit-scanner/exploit-scanner.php on line 80 “ I corrected this by going into my wp-config.php per the README instructions and added the following: define( ‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ‘256M’ ); * After doing this, the error went away but the Exploit Scanner now had a different problem. Now, when I started a scan, the “Please Wait while Loading” animated. gif would display for hours on end. After some painstaking debugging of the Exploit Scanner code, I determined the problem. It seems that the Exploit Scanner does not handle scanning binary files if they are anywhere in the WordPress directory structure. To fix this problem, I simply moved my “files” outside of the WordPress directory structure and voila, the scanner completed properly! Again, this should be fixed in a future version by either telling the user that the scanner does not work with binary files or build in intelligence to skip over these files/ scan them in a different way. * Anyone have a similar problem using this script with binary files? * Thanks! * [Donncha O Caoimh (a11n)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/donncha/) * (@donncha) * [16 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-wordpress-exploit-scanner-exploit-scanner-not-working/#post-1251494) * Try the development version. It allows you to set the php memory size and file size limit. * [sdamy](https://wordpress.org/support/users/sdamy/) * (@sdamy) * [16 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-wordpress-exploit-scanner-exploit-scanner-not-working/#post-1251501) * Hello, I had the same problem with “define( ‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ‘256M’)”: * > Exploit Scanner > This script searches through your WordPress install for signs > that may indicate that your website has been compromised by hackers. It does > NOT remove anything, this is left for the user to do. * Where can I find the development version? * thanks * [Donncha O Caoimh (a11n)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/donncha/) * (@donncha) * [16 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-wordpress-exploit-scanner-exploit-scanner-not-working/#post-1251502) * [http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/exploit-scanner/download/](http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/exploit-scanner/download/) * [Rev. Voodoo](https://wordpress.org/support/users/rvoodoo/) * (@rvoodoo) * [16 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-wordpress-exploit-scanner-exploit-scanner-not-working/#post-1251530) * sweet, the dev version finally worked for me! Found one file hidden in my default theme that was dirty…I’d assumed it just got fixed with an update…. * [debncgal](https://wordpress.org/support/users/debncgal/) * (@debncgal) * [16 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-wordpress-exploit-scanner-exploit-scanner-not-working/#post-1251545) * I’m having a problem now getting WordPress Exploit Scanner 0.7 to run. I’m only getting the “Please wait while loading…” message. I ran it earlier on WP 2.8.5, but since experiencing some malicious activity, I’ve since upgraded to 2.8.6 and have also changed the “wp_” prefix for the database. * Are there possibly some additional modifications that I need to make in the database because I did change the “wp_” prefix, and that might be causing WordPress Exploit Scanner not to run now? * I’m just guessing, though. Any ideas on getting this plugin to run? I really need to use it! * Thank you. * Deb Phillips * [bobnolin](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bobnolin/) * (@bobnolin) * [16 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-wordpress-exploit-scanner-exploit-scanner-not-working/#post-1251546) * @DebnNCgal * Same problem here. It was working in a prior incarnation, but 0.7 has never worked for me. Just spins its wheels until I pull the plug. * I’m running the latest version of Firefox on my Mac. * [Thorsten Ott](https://wordpress.org/support/users/tott/) * (@tott) * [16 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-wordpress-exploit-scanner-exploit-scanner-not-working/#post-1251547) * [@bobnolin](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bobnolin/) , #DebNCgal I’ll look into this in a bit. Was working fine on my Firefox + Mac and IE8. Do you by any chance have FireBug install so you could give some more details on eventual errors. * [Thorsten Ott](https://wordpress.org/support/users/tott/) * (@tott) * [16 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-wordpress-exploit-scanner-exploit-scanner-not-working/#post-1251548) * Something you might want to try. Could you run the “General Infos” scan alone without the other two and let me know if this works. I just tried the script on a fresh install on a shared hosting with Firefox 3.5.5 on a Mac and it worked like a charm. It would be great if you could pass along as many details as possible so I can figure out what fails. * Thanks Thorsten * [lokrin2000](https://wordpress.org/support/users/lokrin2000/) * (@lokrin2000) * [16 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-wordpress-exploit-scanner-exploit-scanner-not-working/#post-1251549) * If I uncheck the box for FILE SCAN and check every other box then it works fine. The moment I check FILE SCAN it just sits there and “rotates” like it is working, but I let it work overnight and in the morning it was still going. * Using Firefox 3.55 on Ubuntu KK * I just tried checking FILE SCAN and NOTE only and got the following error: * Fatal error: Out of memory (allocated 167772160) (tried to allocate 334 bytes) in /home/censored/www/wp/wp-content/plugins/exploit-scanner/exploit-scanner.php on line 261 * I moved the PHP MEMORY LIMIT up to 500 and now it is just sitting there rotating again (for the past several minutes now. * [Thorsten Ott](https://wordpress.org/support/users/tott/) * (@tott) * [16 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-wordpress-exploit-scanner-exploit-scanner-not-working/#post-1251550) * You might have a huge amount of files, or big files. Have you tried adjusting the filesize limit to a lower value? * [debncgal](https://wordpress.org/support/users/debncgal/) * (@debncgal) * [16 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-wordpress-exploit-scanner-exploit-scanner-not-working/#post-1251551) * tott, yes, I have Firebug installed and would be happy to help, if I can. BTW, I can successfully run the “General Infos” scan by itself. Let me know how I might help in the troubleshooting process. Thanks very much. * [Thorsten Ott](https://wordpress.org/support/users/tott/) * (@tott) * [16 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-wordpress-exploit-scanner-exploit-scanner-not-working/#post-1251552) * DebNCgal, if you can run General Infos I’m afraid Firebug will not help as you already proved that it’s not a browser issue related to the ajax call or similar. * [debncgal](https://wordpress.org/support/users/debncgal/) * (@debncgal) * [16 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-wordpress-exploit-scanner-exploit-scanner-not-working/#post-1251553) * Sorry about that, tott. I was hoping to be of some direct help. I hope the fix will not be a daunting task. Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 30 total) 1 [2](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-wordpress-exploit-scanner-exploit-scanner-not-working/page/2/?output_format=md) [→](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-wordpress-exploit-scanner-exploit-scanner-not-working/page/2/?output_format=md) The topic ‘[Plugin: WordPress Exploit Scanner] Exploit Scanner not working’ is closed to new replies. * 30 replies * 15 participants * Last reply from: [joefletcher](https://wordpress.org/support/users/joefletcher/) * Last activity: [15 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-wordpress-exploit-scanner-exploit-scanner-not-working/page/2/#post-1251620) * Status: not resolved ## Topics ### Topics with no replies ### Non-support topics ### Resolved topics ### Unresolved topics ### All topics