How to Scan a WordPress Site for Vulnerabilities (3-Step Guide)

If you have a WordPress website, you’re probably familiar with themes and plugins. They’re incredibly valuable tools for designing your site and adding functionality but, as with any software, they can introduce vulnerabilities that compromise your site security.

Thankfully, there are some excellent tools that automatically scan your site for vulnerabilities so that you can prevent problems and continue to use the themes and plugins you love.  

In this guide, we’ll take a closer look at WordPress vulnerabilities and how they can affect your site. We’ll then show you how to scan your site for vulnerabilities and fix potential threats. 

What are vulnerabilities in WordPress?

Vulnerabilities are weaknesses or flaws in a website’s code or configuration that attackers can exploit to gain unauthorized access to your website. 

In WordPress, they typically occur in core software, themes, and plugins. 

How do vulnerabilities affect WordPress sites?

Even a minor vulnerability can have significant consequences for your WordPress website, including: 

1. Unauthorized access. Bad actors can use vulnerabilities as a way into your site, where they can then perform any number of nefarious actions.
2. Data breaches. Hackers can steal sensitive user data, including login credentials, personal information, and financial details.
3. Website defacement: Though rare, cybercriminals might deface your website out of spite. This can wreak havoc on your operations and damage your brand’s reputation.
4. Malware injection. Attackers can insert malicious scripts to harm visitors or use your site for phishing.

A hacked website may be completely inaccessible, full of suspicious code and links, or load extremely slowly. Not only could this affect your sales and reputation, if someone were to download malware from your site, for example, this could also lead to legal ramifications.

Plus, search engines may blocklist your compromised site, which could have long-term negative impacts on your business or blog.

Common vulnerabilities in WordPress sites

Before taking the necessary steps to protect your site, you’ll need a solid understanding of potential WordPress vulnerabilities. Typically, these fall into three categories:

1. Core vulnerabilities

WordPress core includes all the code included with WordPress by default, which you either installed through your hosting provider or downloaded from WordPress.org. 

While WordPress contributors work tirelessly to keep the software secure, no system is perfect all the time. New updates and releases typically include bug fixes and vulnerability patches, so it’s important that you regularly update to the latest version. Note that WordPress core makes up a very small percentage of vulnerabilities compared to themes and plugins.

2. Theme vulnerabilities

Themes impact the look and feel of your website, but if you go with a poorly-coded option or fail to update your theme regularly, you could expose your site to attacks.

Take the time to vet a theme before you install it on your website. Ideally, choose one that has a lot of positive reviews and downloads, and make sure that it receives regular updates. As with core, you also want to update your theme whenever a new version is available, as it may contain vulnerability fixes.

3. Plugin vulnerabilities

Plugins expand your site’s functionality, but they’re also one of the most common sources of vulnerabilities. And the more plugins you install, the more opportunities a hacker has to find a vulnerability to exploit.

Attackers often target bad code in plugins to infiltrate WordPress websites. As with themes, you’ll want to stick with popular, well-reviewed plugins and update them frequently.

How to scan your WordPress site for vulnerabilities

The best way to protect your site is to be proactive. Regularly scanning your software to identify vulnerabilities allows you to address security risks before hackers have a chance to exploit them. Here’s how to scan your WordPress site for vulnerabilities:

Step 1: Choose the right vulnerability scanner

Thankfully, when you choose the right vulnerability scanning plugin, you have to do very little work yourself. You can simply trust the security tool to handle the heavy lifting for you. So let’s explore a few popular vulnerability scanners for WordPress.

Jetpack Scan is an excellent option for any type of WordPress site, from small blogs to large ecommerce stores. It includes a web application firewall (WAF) that blocks suspicious traffic from accessing your website, along with automated vulnerability and malware scans.

Jetpack will notify you immediately if it detects suspicious behavior or security threats. You can fix the majority of known threats with a single click.

Jetpack Scan uses the WPScan database — the most comprehensive library of verified vulnerabilities. It contains more than 56,000 vulnerabilities vetted by experienced WordPress professionals.

Sucuri’s free SiteCheck tool is an option if you’re looking for a one-off scan. All you have to do is enter your URL, and it will check your site for malware, outdated software, and other security issues.

Unfortunately, Sucuri’s free security checker isn’t a good long-term option, as it doesn’t run automatically. And, since it’s not installed on your site, it can’t access the majority of files, so the scans are incomplete at best.

This is exactly why Jetpack Scan is the best option for the majority of WordPress sites. It runs daily, automatic scans, and has access to the full backend of your website once it’s installed. And thanks to additional features like a WAF, it’s exactly the security tool you need on your site.

Step 2: Install and activate the vulnerability scanner

For the purpose of this article, let’s go with Jetpack Scan. To get started, purchase either Jetpack Scan by itself or Jetpack Security, which includes additional tools like real-time backups and spam protection.

In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins → Add New Plugin and install Jetpack. You’ll be taken to a welcome page. Scroll down and select Purchase a Plan. There, click the Get button next to Scan or Security.

Follow the on-screen steps to purchase the plan. Once that’s completed, vulnerability scans will start automatically.

If you don’t want access to the Jetpack plugin’s full suite of security, performance, and marketing tools, you can still get access to Jetpack Scan features through the dedicated Jetpack Protect plugin. 

You’ll need to upgrade to include all the features included with Jetpack Scan, like malware scanning, auto-fixes, and instant notifications. With the plugin installed, simply navigate to Jetpack → Protect in your WordPress dashboard. Scroll down and click the prompt to Upgrade Jetpack Protect now.

Follow the on-screen prompts to upgrade your plan.

Step 3: Launch a scan of your WordPress website

As mentioned above, Jetpack Scan will get started as soon as your purchase is complete. Scans occur automatically and on a daily basis. But there may be times that you want to initiate a scan on demand.

In your WordPress dashboard, go to Jetpack → Scan. You’ll be directed to your WordPress.com account and, if you’re not already logged in, you’ll need to do so.

Here, you’ll find two tabs: Scanner and History.

On the Scanner page, you’ll see an overview of your site’s status, including any active threats. To check your website, just click on the Scan now button.

Jetpack scans the following components on your website: 

• Your plugins, mu-plugins, themes, and uploads directories
• Certain files in your root directory (including wp-config.php) and wp-content directory

When the scan is complete, you’ll receive a notification if threats are found. You can also view alerts on your WordPress.com dashboard.

If you navigate to the History page, you’ll see a list of all threats that have been detected on your website to date. You can filter them by status: fixed or ignored.

Understanding your scan results

After running a scan, take a look at the results so you can repair any vulnerabilities found on your site.

What to do if no vulnerabilities are found

If Jetpack Scan doesn’t detect any issues, congratulations! There’s no immediate action you need to take. 

However, make sure that you regularly continue to implement best practices like performing updates on your site. This doesn’t need to be a time-consuming or strenuous task — you can even turn on auto-updates so you don’t have to worry about it.

If you want to turn on plugin auto-updates, you can navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins and click Enable auto-updates to the right of each individual plugin.

For themes, go to Appearance → Themes, select the theme you’re using, and click Enable auto-updates.

What to do if vulnerabilities are identified

Don’t panic if you get a threat alert from Jetpack Scan! In most cases, the plugin will provide a one-click fix.

Navigate to the History tab of Jetpack Scan and find the threat you want to fix. There, you can view information about the problem and choose either the Ignore threat or Fix threat button. You’ll also have the option to Auto fix all.

Here are some issues that Jetpack Scan might flag:

• Changes to core files. If you didn’t make any changes, then someone might have unauthorized access to your site. You’ll want to delete these files immediately and replace them with new ones from WordPress core. Also, take the time to go through your administrator accounts, update passwords, and delete anything that seems suspicious.
• Outdated or insecure plugins. This is an easy fix — just navigate to the Plugins page in your WordPress dashboard and update or delete the plugin identified by Jetpack Scan. 
• Web-based shells. These are malicious scripts that give hackers access to your server. If Jetpack Scan finds these shells on your site, simply remove the infected files and replace them with clean versions.

If your site has been hacked, there’s no one-click fix. Instead, you’ll want to go through this guide to cleaning a hacked website. 

Why Jetpack Scan is the trusted choice to detect WordPress vulnerabilities

Jetpack Scan offers a comprehensive and user-friendly solution. Here’s why it’s the top choice for WordPress website owners:

It focuses on ease of use and automation

Unlike other solutions, Jetpack Scan runs daily, automated scans, so you’ll always know if there’s a vulnerability on your site.

Scans start running as soon as you install the tool, and the dashboard is simple. Information is easy to understand, and you can quickly resolve common vulnerabilities, like outdated software. You can even handle most issues with a one-click fix. 

Jetpack Scan will notify you if it detects any threats so you can take prompt action to protect your website. 

It harnesses an enterprise-level vulnerability database

Jetpack leverages an extensive database of known WordPress vulnerabilities, powered by WPScan. It checks your site for more than 56,000 vulnerabilities that affect WordPress core, themes, and plugins.

WordPress security experts continuously update the WPScan database to include all the latest threats.

Scanning is decentralized

Since all of Jetpack’s scans take place on their own servers, they won’t slow down your site. This also means that you can access your scans even if your website is down.

It integrates with other Jetpack security services

Jetpack Scan seamlessly integrates with other Jetpack features for a holistic security approach. These features include real-time backups, brute force attack protection, spam protection, and more.

For example, if Jetpack Scan flags a change to a core WordPress file, you can use the Jetpack activity log to find out exactly when that change was made, along with who made it. If you suspect your site was hacked, you can use VaultPress Backup to quickly restore a backup to right before that change was made.

It includes expert support and guidance

Jetpack provides dedicated support to help you address vulnerabilities and implement best practices for site security.

In addition to one-click fixes for most threats detected on your site, you can contact the Jetpack team for further assistance. 

It’s cost-effective

Jetpack Scan is a very cost-effective solution, offering powerful tools for just a few dollars a month. And if you choose a plan like Security or Complete, you’ll get a wealth of additional tools for one low price.

Frequently asked questions

In this article, we covered WordPress vulnerabilities and how to protect your site against them. Let’s now address any remaining questions.

What is a vulnerability scan and why is it important for my WordPress site?

A vulnerability scan identifies weaknesses in your software’s code that hackers can use to gain access to your site. This allows you to quickly resolve any potential issues before a bad actor can take advantage of them, thus protecting your website data and reputation.

How often should I scan my WordPress site for vulnerabilities?

Ideally, you should run vulnerability scans on a daily basis so that you can quickly identify and solve any potential issues. Jetpack Scan runs these automatically so you don’t have to remember every single day.

Is it easy to scan a WordPress site for vulnerabilities?

This largely depends on the tool you use. Jetpack Scan, for example, automates the entire process. It runs scans on a daily basis and, in most cases, provides a one-click fix for threats. Other solutions may run them less frequently, involve a complicated setup, or require you to run scans manually.

What is the difference between a vulnerability and malware?

A vulnerability is a weak spot in your website’s code. Malware is harmful software that attackers use to get through that weak spot. Think of a vulnerability as a broken lock on your door. The malware is the person who walks through the unlocked door to cause problems.

A vulnerability scanner works to find the broken locks so you can fix them. A malware scanner looks for bad software that may have already gotten inside your site. Many security tools, including Jetpack Scan, look for both.

Can I scan my WordPress site for vulnerabilities for free?

Yes, you can use free tools to scan your WordPress site, but they have major limitations. Most free online scanners can only look at your site from the outside. They check for issues that are visible to the public but cannot inspect your website’s internal files. This means they often miss hidden threats inside your plugin or theme files.

A paid, internal scanner like Jetpack Scan installs inside your WordPress setup. This allows it to check every file and line of code for a much more accurate and complete security review.

Will running a security scan slow down my WordPress site?

Some security scanners can slow down your website. This happens when the scanner uses your website’s server resources to run its checks. A heavy scan can take up a lot of power, making your pages load slowly for visitors.

To prevent this, some premium security tools run their scans on their own servers. For example, Jetpack Scan performs all scanning operations on its own powerful servers. This means your site’s speed and performance are not affected at all, and your visitors will not notice anything.

What should I do if a scan finds no vulnerabilities, but I still think my site is hacked?

A clean scan result is great news, but it is not a 100% guarantee. If you still feel something is wrong, you should look for other signs of a hack.

Check for new user accounts with administrator roles that you did not create. See if your website redirects to spammy or unwanted pages. Look for strange files or folders in your hosting account. Your site might also be sending out spam emails, which could get you a warning from your web host. If you find any of these signs, your site is likely compromised and you need expert help immediately.

Does fixing a vulnerability mean my site is completely safe from hackers?

No, fixing a single vulnerability does not make your site completely safe. Security is a continuous process, not a one-time fix. When a scanner helps you fix a weakness, it closes one specific door to attackers. However, new vulnerabilities are discovered all the time, and hackers are always looking for new ways in.

A secure website requires ongoing attention. You must continue to use a scanner, keep all your software updated, use strong passwords, and maintain regular backups. Security is about having multiple layers of protection.

Which is more dangerous: a plugin, theme, or WordPress core vulnerability?

A vulnerability in the WordPress core software is often the most dangerous. This is because it affects every website using that version of WordPress, making it a huge target for attackers.

However, vulnerabilities in plugins are the most common reason for websites getting hacked. This is because an average website uses many plugins, and it’s easy to forget to update one of them. In reality, any vulnerability is a serious risk. You should fix all of them as quickly as possible, no matter if they are in the core, a theme, or a plugin.

What is a vulnerability database, and why does it matter for a scanner?

A vulnerability database is a huge, constantly updated list of known security weaknesses. A good security scanner connects to one of these databases to power its scans. When a security researcher finds a new flaw in a plugin, it gets added to the database. The scanner then checks this list against the software installed on your website. If it finds a match, it alerts you.

Using a tool with a large, high-quality database is critical. Jetpack Scan, for example, uses the comprehensive WPScan database, which helps it identify a very wide range of threats.

Can a WordPress scanner also find security issues on my hosting server?

No, a WordPress scanner does not typically check your hosting server for security problems. The scanner focuses on your website’s application layer. This includes your WordPress core files, plugins, and themes.

The security of the server itself, including the operating system, network configuration, and firewall, is the responsibility of your web hosting company. This is why it is so important to choose a high-quality, reputable hosting provider that takes server security seriously. A secure website requires both a secure application and a secure server.

What is a “false positive” in a security scan, and what should I do about it?

A false positive is an alert from a security scanner about a threat that is not actually real. The scanner might flag a perfectly safe file as malicious by mistake. This can happen if a file contains code that looks suspicious but is actually legitimate.

If you receive an alert you think is a false positive, do not ignore it. The best first step is to investigate the file. See which plugin it belongs to. If you are still unsure, you can contact the plugin’s developer or your security scanner’s support team for guidance.

Besides scanning, what is the single most important action for WordPress security?

The single most important action you can take to secure your WordPress site is to keep everything updated. This means you must regularly update three things: the WordPress core software, all of your installed plugins, and your active theme.

The majority of successful hacks target websites that are running outdated software with well-known security holes. Developers release updates to fix these holes. By updating quickly, you close the door on attackers before they have a chance to get in. Regular scanning helps you find what needs updating.