Sentinel Security Center is now Vokull Security Center. Settings, log and baselines are preserved. One manual step: the main plugin file was renamed, so WordPress leaves the plugin switched off after updating \u2014 activate it again on the Plugins screen.<\/p>","1.6.6":"
Documentation and housekeeping only, with no functional change and nothing to do after updating. The readme now spells out the two external services the plugin can contact, what each request sends, and when.<\/p>","1.6.5":"
Adds an alert for plugins that have an update waiting. Nothing is e-mailed until you set that event to e-mail under Settings; until then it is written to the log like any other event.<\/p>","1.6.0":"
The plugin no longer updates itself from GitHub; updates come through WordPress.org from this version on. Install this one through the update offer as it stands, or by uploading the ZIP. WPSEC_GITHUB_TOKEN, if you set it, can be removed from wp-config.php.<\/p>","1.5.2":"
Fixes "Check again" reporting no update for hours after one was published. The fix only takes effect once this version is installed: to see it now, use the plugin's update offer as it stands, or clear the wpsec_gh_release transient.<\/p>","1.5.1":"
A build-tooling fix with no functional change from 1.5.0. Nothing to do after updating.<\/p>","1.5.0":"
Packaging and metadata only: no functional change, and nothing to do after updating.<\/p>","1.4.0":"
A rename and nothing else: WP Security Center is now Sentinel Security Center. Settings, log and baselines are preserved. One manual step: the main plugin file was renamed, so WordPress leaves the plugin switched off after the update. Nothing is monitored until you activate it again.<\/p>","1.3.0":"
Adds an IP deny list on the Login & Location tab; nothing changes until you put an address in it. Also fixes the plugins screen offering an update that is already installed, and lets the log search box find rows by event type, IP address and time rather than only by description.<\/p>","1.2.0":"
Start at the Hardening screen: it grades this installation against the official WordPress hardening guide and says what to change. Adds optional two-factor authentication \u2014 nothing changes for anyone until a user enrols, or until you require it in Settings. Also fixes three false alarms.<\/p>","1.1.1":"
Required if your copy of this plugin is hosted in a private GitHub repository: without it, automatic updates are detected but cannot be downloaded. Install this version once by hand, and every later update will work on its own.<\/p>","1.1.0":"
The first release that actually does anything. Review Settings after upgrading: alerts are off until recipients are set, and login blocking stays in monitor mode until you arm it.<\/p>","1.0.0":"
Initial release.<\/p>"},"ratings":[],"assets_icons":{"icon-256x256.png":{"filename":"icon-256x256.png","revision":3667003,"resolution":"256x256","location":"assets","locale":"","width":256,"height":256},"icon.svg":{"filename":"icon.svg","revision":3667003,"resolution":false,"location":"assets","locale":false}},"assets_banners":[],"assets_blueprints":{},"all_blocks":[],"tagged_versions":["1.7.0"],"block_files":[],"assets_screenshots":[],"screenshots":[]},"plugin_section":[],"plugin_tags":[8531,8534,168808,600,9217],"plugin_category":[54],"plugin_contributors":[277624],"plugin_business_model":[],"class_list":["post-356632","plugin","type-plugin","status-publish","hentry","plugin_tags-activity-log","plugin_tags-audit-log","plugin_tags-file-integrity","plugin_tags-security","plugin_tags-two-factor","plugin_category-security-and-spam-protection","plugin_contributors-glogger","plugin_committers-glogger"],"banners":[],"icons":{"svg":"https:\/\/ps.w.org\/vokull-security-center\/assets\/icon.svg?rev=3667003","icon":"https:\/\/ps.w.org\/vokull-security-center\/assets\/icon.svg?rev=3667003","icon_2x":false,"generated":false},"screenshots":[],"raw_content":"\n
Vokull Security Center (\"v\u00f6kull\" is Icelandic for \"vigilant\/watchful\") watches the things an attacker actually has to touch in order to keep a foothold in a WordPress site, records them in a searchable log, and e-mails you immediately when something matters.<\/p>\n\n
It is built around two goals that pull against each other: miss as little as possible, and produce as few false alarms as possible. Every event type can be set individually to immediate e-mail, log only, or off. Login blocking always starts in monitor mode so you can see what a rule would have done before you arm it.<\/p>\n\n
What is monitored<\/strong><\/p>\n\n A separate Hardening screen reports the current posture \u2014 file editor, permissions, salts, updates, HTTPS, two-factor coverage and more \u2014 against the official WordPress hardening guide, linking to it at each point.<\/p>\n\n The plugin never modifies, quarantines or deletes a scanned file.<\/strong> It reports, and leaves recovery to you.<\/p>\n\n Hardening report<\/strong><\/p>\n\n A read-only screen grading this installation against the official WordPress hardening guide, with a link to the relevant section of that guide on every check. Twenty-two checks covering the dashboard file editor and DISALLOW_FILE_MODS, file permissions, wp-config.php location and permissions, authentication salts, error output, core and extension updates, unused plugins and themes, administrator count, open registration, HTTPS, two-factor coverage, XML-RPC, alerting, file monitoring and backups.<\/p>\n\n Checks are graded Good, Fix this, Worth fixing \u2014 or \"Your call\", for the ones that genuinely depend on how the site is run rather than having a right answer. Nothing on the page changes anything.<\/p>\n\n Two-factor authentication<\/strong><\/p>\n\n A one-time code from any authenticator app, asked for after the password is accepted \u2014 and the session is only issued once that code is right. Enrolment is per account and voluntary by default; a site setting can require it for administrators, with a grace period whose clock starts when you switch the requirement on.<\/p>\n\n Shared secrets are encrypted with AES-256-GCM under a key derived from the site salts, so a database dump without wp-config.php is useless. Each code is accepted once, so a code read over your shoulder cannot be replayed. The QR code is drawn on your own server \u2014 the secret is never sent to an external QR service.<\/p>\n\n Recovery, in order: ten single-use recovery codes issued at enrolment; optionally a one-time code mailed to the account address; and failing everything, a reset by another administrator.<\/p>\n\n Geo-aware login control<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Country is resolved from your CDN or reverse proxy's country header when the request demonstrably came through it, otherwise from a local MaxMind GeoLite2 database. No external API is called during login. X-Forwarded-For is only trusted when the connecting address is in your configured trusted-proxy list, so the client IP cannot be spoofed.<\/p>\n\n Because locking yourself out is the real risk, there are four independent ways back in: monitor mode is the default, an IP\/CIDR allow list is exempt from blocking, a wp-config.php constant disables blocking outright, and every blocked login e-mails you a single-use, time-limited link that unblocks your current IP.<\/p>\n\n Administrator-only<\/strong><\/p>\n\n The plugin adds no front-end output, no REST routes and no shortcodes. Its menu, notices, assets and actions all require the manage_options capability, and a blocked login is indistinguishable from an ordinary wrong password. The one exception is two-factor enrolment: that belongs to the account holder, so every signed-in user finds a Two-factor entry in their own profile menu and can set it up there. Nothing else about the plugin becomes visible to them.<\/p>\n\n About the name<\/strong><\/p>\n\n \"V\u00f6kull\" is Icelandic for \"vigilant\", \"watchful\". Which is fairly close to the entire job description: watch, and say something the moment it matters.<\/p>\n\n This plugin contacts two external services. Both are optional, neither is contacted from the front end or during a login, and no information about your site, your users or your visitors is sent to either.<\/p>\n\n MaxMind GeoLite2<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Used to resolve the country a login came from. The lookup itself happens locally against a downloaded database file, which is why no API is called while anyone signs in \u2014 but the database has to be fetched in the first place, and refreshed as it is reissued.<\/p>\n\n What is sent: a download request to When: only after you enter a MaxMind licence key under Security Center \u2192 Settings \u2192 Login & Location. Until you do, the service is never contacted. After that, when you press \"Download the GeoIP database now\", and weekly via a scheduled task.<\/p>\n\n Service provided by MaxMind, Inc. \u2014 GeoLite2 End User Licence Agreement<\/a>, privacy policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n Cloudflare IP ranges<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Used to offer Cloudflare's own address ranges as a ready-made option for the trusted-proxy list, so you do not have to find and paste them yourself.<\/p>\n\n What is sent: nothing beyond the HTTP request. The plugin performs a plain read of the public text files at When: only when an administrator presses \"Fetch Cloudflare's address ranges\" under Security Center \u2192 Settings \u2192 Login & Location. Nothing is requested by opening that screen, or by any other part of the plugin, and there is no scheduled task for it; the stored list is re-read only when you press the button again. Fetching alone changes nothing \u2014 the ranges are offered as a suggestion, every line is validated as CIDR notation, and nothing reaches your trusted-proxy list until you separately click to merge them.<\/p>\n\n Service provided by Cloudflare, Inc. \u2014 website terms of use<\/a>, privacy policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n Use one of the ten recovery codes issued when you switched two-factor on. If those are gone too and the site has the e-mail fallback enabled, the sign-in screen can mail a one-time code to the address on your account. If everything is lost, any other administrator can reset your second factor from your profile screen \u2014 you then set it up again.<\/p>\n\n The e-mail fallback is off by default on purpose. It means whoever can read that mailbox can finish the sign-in, which on many sites is the same person who controls the hosting account. Turn it on when losing a phone would otherwise mean losing the site; leave it off otherwise. Every code sent and every code used is written to the log.<\/p><\/dd>\n No. They are non-interactive \u2014 there is nobody there to type a code \u2014 and an application password is already a separate credential you can revoke on its own. If an account has to be locked down completely, revoke its application passwords as well.<\/p><\/dd>\n No, by design. Failed attempts are logged \u2014 Set the event to \"E-mail\" only if you know the site is quiet. On a public site bots guess passwords around the clock, and an inbox that learns to ignore this plugin is worse than no alert at all.<\/p><\/dd>\n No. An attacker using a VPN endpoint inside an allowed country resolves to that country and passes. There is no VPN or Tor detection. Treat this control as something that removes opportunistic foreign traffic, not as a boundary.<\/p><\/dd>\n An individual IP that cannot be resolved is treated as not allowed and is blocked. But if the lookup subsystem as a whole is unavailable, blocking automatically falls back to monitor mode and raises a critical alert, so a deleted database file can never lock you out.<\/p><\/dd>\n Blocking is off until you arm it, and the settings screen refuses to arm it without a working database. If it does happen: the Not by default. Application passwords and XML-RPC authenticate through the same WordPress hook as an interactive login, so blocking them would silently break integrations hosted abroad. There is a setting to include them.<\/p><\/dd>\n No. Activation on a network stops with a message rather than misbehaving quietly.<\/p><\/dd>\n\n<\/dl>\n\n\n\n
External services<\/h3>\n\n
https:\/\/download.maxmind.com\/app\/geoip_download<\/code> carrying the MaxMind licence key you configured and the edition name (GeoLite2-Country<\/code>). MaxMind requires both to authorise the download. Nothing else is transmitted.<\/p>\n\nhttps:\/\/www.cloudflare.com\/ips-v4<\/code> and https:\/\/www.cloudflare.com\/ips-v6<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n
\/wp-content\/plugins\/vokull-security-center<\/code> or install the ZIP from the Plugins screen.<\/li>\n\n
What happens if I lose my authenticator app?<\/h3><\/dt>\n
Does two-factor cover the REST API and application passwords?<\/h3><\/dt>\n
Does it block brute-force login attempts?<\/h3><\/dt>\n
login.failed<\/code>, at Info and log-only, so a burst of them is visible in the log and searchable by user name and IP \u2014 but nothing is enforced: no counters, no thresholds, no lockouts. Rate limiting belongs in your firewall, CDN or fail2ban, where it can act before the request reaches PHP. Every rule this plugin enforces reacts only to logins that actually succeeded.<\/p>\n\nWill country blocking stop a determined attacker?<\/h3><\/dt>\n
What happens if the GeoIP database is missing or broken?<\/h3><\/dt>\n
Can I get locked out?<\/h3><\/dt>\n
WPSEC_DISABLE_BLOCKING<\/code> constant in wp-config.php disables blocking immediately, and the alert e-mail for every blocked login contains a single-use bypass link.<\/p><\/dd>\nAre logins over the REST API or XML-RPC blocked too?<\/h3><\/dt>\n
Does it support Multisite?<\/h3><\/dt>\n
1.7.0<\/h4>\n\n
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1.6.6<\/h4>\n\n
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1.6.5<\/h4>\n\n
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1.5.2<\/h4>\n\n
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1.5.1<\/h4>\n\n
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1.5.0<\/h4>\n\n
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1.4.0<\/h4>\n\n
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1.3.0<\/h4>\n\n
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1.2.0<\/h4>\n\n
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1.1.1<\/h4>\n\n
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1.1.0<\/h4>\n\n
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1.0.0<\/h4>\n\n
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