Title: White Screen & Deprecated Function Error When Using Defender
Last modified: July 17, 2025

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# White Screen & Deprecated Function Error When Using Defender

 *  Resolved [arizos](https://wordpress.org/support/users/arizos/)
 * (@arizos)
 * [10 months, 4 weeks ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/white-screen-deprecated-function-error-when-using-defender/)
 * Ignore this post, the issue is due to a conflict with the WordPress theme not
   the deprecated function.
 * **Details:**
    - **WordPress Version:** 6.8.2
    - **PHP Version:** 8.4.4
    - **Defender Version:** 5.3.1
 * Hi Team,
 * I’ve installed Defender on a local development environment and attempted to set
   it up, but each time I access any of the Defender features, I encounter a white
   screen of death.
 * After enabling error reporting, I received the following message:
 * Deprecated: version_compare(): Passing null to parameter #2 ($version2) of type
   string is deprecated in ../wp-content/plugins/defender-security/src/component/
   security-tweaks/class-php-version.php on line 85
 * It appears this issue is triggered under PHP 8.4 due to a deprecated use of version_compare().
 * Could you please advise whether a fix is planned or available? If there’s a recommended
   workaround in the meantime, I’d appreciate your guidance.
    -  This topic was modified 10 months, 4 weeks ago by [arizos](https://wordpress.org/support/users/arizos/).

Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)

 *  Plugin Support [Imran – WPMU DEV Support](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wpmudev-support9/)
 * (@wpmudev-support9)
 * [10 months, 4 weeks ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/white-screen-deprecated-function-error-when-using-defender/#post-18559435)
 * Hello [@arizos](https://wordpress.org/support/users/arizos/),
 * I hope you’re doing well.
 * I’m glad you found the issue, and I hope you have fixed it too.
 * Regarding the Defender, I checked the same environment with PHP, WordPress, and
   Defender version, but I couldn’t replicate the deprecated notices in the PHP 
   logs.
 * If you still found something more, you can feel free to share with us.
 * –
    Kind Regards, Imran Khan

Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)

The topic ‘White Screen & Deprecated Function Error When Using Defender’ is closed
to new replies.

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 * 2 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [Imran – WPMU DEV Support](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wpmudev-support9/)
 * Last activity: [10 months, 4 weeks ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/white-screen-deprecated-function-error-when-using-defender/#post-18559435)
 * Status: resolved