Support » Fixing WordPress » Parse Error after Upgrade

  • I just upgraded my WordPress to 2.6.5 and now I get the following error:

    Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STRING in /home4/svenlerc/public_html/nonkonformist/wp-blog-header.php on line 5

    The first lines of that file look like this:

    <?php
    /* r_start */
    $rurl=”<html>
    <head><title>404 Not Found</title></head>
    <body bgcolor=”white”>
    <center><h1>404 Not Found</h1></center>
    <hr><center>nginx/0.5.37</center>

Viewing 11 replies - 31 through 41 (of 41 total)
  • i don’t have a clean version of 2.1.2

    you don’t want a clean version of 2.1.2. You want to be running 2.6.5.

    Reading this support thread trying to solve a similar issue. I have the error below showing up today:

    Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STRING in /export/home/el/elisalou.com/public_html/blog/wp-blog-header.php on line 5

    However, I wasn’t doing this related to an upgrade (I’m running 2.0.4). It just seems to have occurred overnight. I’m enough of a novice to not know how to find the wp-blog-header.php (must find through FTP?).

    Suggestions on the first step to take? Upgrade to the newest version? Or find the .php file and show the contents to see what is wrong with line 5?

    The only change since yesterday, when it was working fine, is a blog post, which I’ve since un-published and moved back to a draft.

    – Andy

    I think my issue (Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STRING in …) will be resolved shortly. I’ll try to follow-up with the sequence that we used to resolve.

    A clean install at nothirdsolution.com, using WP 2.6.5, seemed to resolve the Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STRING in … problem. There still seems to be some theme problems and some admin password / FTP issues with file permissions.

    Still working on it.

    Firstly a number have people have suggested that the following change in 2.6.5 could be what is being exploited to hack blogs here:

    http://trac.wordpress.org/ticket/8291

    The code affected by this change is already protected by a nonce and so it was not possible to craft a simple XSS attack to exploit this issue.

    Secondly, The symptoms of the issue here suggest a server level hack has taken place and the hacker has run a script to change the content of lots of files on a shared server.

    It doesn’t look to me like a WordPress security issue.

    From a look at the script, it looks like it changes some permissions… might need help from your host to fix those.

    Steve

    (@stevejohnson)

    People! Some of you aren’t following directions…when you upgrade, you need to do a CLEAN upgrade, especially when you are dealing with issues like this!

    That means deleting all WordPress files in the root directory (after you’ve backed up wp-config.php, of course…) and deleting the wp-admin and wp-includes folders.

    Merely copying new WordPress files over your old files does not guarantee that they will be replaced properly.

    Follow the detailed upgrade instructions here: http://codex.wordpress.org/Upgrading_WordPress_Extended

    A client brought this issue to my attention today as well. I have no idea how it occurred but I was able to restore their site.

    1. FTP access worked fine. But permissions, deleting or renaming the file did not work. Viewing allowed me to see the site and the issues. A huge “new” file instead of what was supposed to be there.

    2. Hopefully you have a copy of the install, which we had on our local machines. Open the file and copy the contents into your clipboard.

    3. Using the simple web admin tool panel, we run Cpanel, I went into the File Manager on the server.

    4. The File Manager has a text editor, open that, copy+all, and then paste overwriting the old text with the copy from your local version.

    5. Save and test. Ours worked.

    6. CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD FOR THE SERVER ACCESS. While this is not likely the cause, it can’t hurt at all to make a change.

    For reference this client is running WP2.02.
    Also for reference we have seen random files in many client installs have <br /> and “1” inserted into the code over the past 9 months.

    Even though my host SAYS it has changed the permissions so that I can delete the files, I still can’t. Not in FTP. And I can’t download telnet to be able to try to get in that way to chmod.

    I can try at home. But I’m really ticked off at this moron who did this.

    Well, someone or something (host hasn’t responded yet – it’s the holiday) deleted the entire /blog/ folder for me. Or something.

    But I was able to go in and kill 99% of every file that was on my website (after backing it up, of course) except a placeholder front page.

    NOW I can’t create a folder called /blog/. I can create a folder called /BLOG/ or /anyotherwordyoucanthinkof, but not /blog/ and that makes no sense.

    I can’t even make a folder and then RENAME it /blog/.

    Every time, my FTP program says:

    MKD blog
    550 blog: no such file or directory

Viewing 11 replies - 31 through 41 (of 41 total)
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