Hi @michaelsablone,
Thank you for your message.
I understand that image display issues can be frustrating, although the term “lethal injection” is a bit of hyperbole in this case – we’re talking about a standard Apache directive.
Generating the “RewriteOptions Inherit” rule in the .htaccess file has been added to the plugin since version 4.4.1, which was released on June 19, 2022. So, we’ve had this in the plugin for almost four years.
You can check it here – in version 4.4.0 we don’t have “RewriteOptions Inherit” in the file responsible for generating rules in the .htaccess file. “RewriteOptions Inherit” in this file appears from version 4.4.1, which you can check here. There is also information about this in the changelog:
= 4.4.1 (2022-06-30) =
* <code>[Added]</code> Inheritance of mod_rewrite rules from parent directories
...
We added this rule because plugin users requested it. Many people have added rules in the .htaccess file in the root directory and want to inherit them, such as blocking the execution of .php files in the /wp-content/ directory – without inheriting mod_rewrite rules, this didn’t work. With a plugin used by hundreds of thousands of users, you can never please everyone. There are always compromises to be made. I hope you understand that.
We understand that in certain environments, inheritance can cause conflicts, so you can disable this rule at any time. In the plugin settings, please go to the “Advanced Settings” tab and check the “Disable rewrite inheritance in .htaccess files” option. After saving the changes, the rule will be removed from the .htaccess file.`
Best,
Mateusz
I think all images failing to load — without warning or explanation — on a live production site is lethal.
@michaelsablone, I would like to clarify the technical facts to ensure we can close this thread based on merit rather than emotion. This plugin is currently used by over 500,000 active websites, and the “RewriteOptions Inherit” rule you mentioned is not a new “injection” in version 6.3.2, but has been a standard part of the code since June 2022, starting with version 4.4.1. If this directive were inherently flawed, it would have impacted hundreds of thousands of sites for nearly four years, rather than being an isolated case resulting from a specific, non-standard configuration of your server.
While I understand that errors on a live production site are stressful, as a developer, I must emphasize that updating any plugin directly on a “live” environment without prior verification on a staging site is a high-risk action. Standard security procedures and best practices for system administration dictate that every change should first be tested in an isolated environment to avoid conflicts with local Apache rules or specific server settings, for which the plugin author cannot be held responsible.
The plugin has long offered a ready-made solution for users with a server configuration like yours; simply check the “Disable rewrite inheritance in .htaccess files” option in the Advanced Settings. This allows for the immediate removal of the disputed rule from the .htaccess file and tailors the optimization mechanism to your specific needs. These are all the technical details I have on this matter, and I hope this solution allows you to continue using the plugin safely.
