{
    "title": "WordPress file integrity check",
    "seo_title": "WordPress File Integrity Check: Core Checksums Daily",
    "h1": "WordPress file integrity check",
    "description": "Know when WordPress core files change: a daily check against the official wordpress.org checksums flags modified, missing or unknown files. With Pro.",
    "lead": "Every day, WP Masquerade Pro compares your WordPress core files with the official wordpress.org checksums and flags modified, missing or unknown files.",
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    "locale": "en-US",
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    "url": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/features/wordpress-integrity-check/",
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    "published": "2026-10-27T23:16:49+00:00",
    "modified": "2026-11-05T20:53:42+00:00",
    "site": {
        "name": "WP Masquerade",
        "url": "https://www.wp-masquerade.com/"
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            "title": "WordPress file integrity check",
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            "title": "Contrôle d’intégrité WordPress",
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            "hreflang": "es-ES",
            "title": "Control de integridad de WordPress",
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            "title": "WordPress-Integritätsprüfung",
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            "title": "Verificação de integridade do WordPress",
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    "headings": [
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            "level": 1,
            "text": "WordPress file integrity check"
        },
        {
            "level": 2,
            "text": "What the integrity check does"
        },
        {
            "level": 2,
            "text": "Why it matters"
        },
        {
            "level": 2,
            "text": "What’s included Pro"
        },
        {
            "level": 2,
            "text": "How to use it"
        },
        {
            "level": 2,
            "text": "Data sent"
        },
        {
            "level": 2,
            "text": "Limits and precautions"
        },
        {
            "level": 3,
            "text": "Related reading"
        },
        {
            "level": 2,
            "text": "Start free, upgrade to Pro when you’re ready"
        }
    ],
    "body": "## What the integrity check does\n\nOnce a day, WP Masquerade Pro computes a hash for every WordPress core file (the `wp-admin` and `wp-includes` folders, plus the root files) and compares it with the official list published by wordpress.org for your version and language. It sorts any differences into three groups:\n\n- **Modified files**: their content no longer matches the original;\n- **Missing files**: present in the official release but absent from your site (except readme.html, license.txt and wp-config-sample.php, which are often removed on purpose);\n- **Unknown PHP files** in wp-admin or wp-includes: they are not part of WordPress.\n\n## Why it matters\n\nA modified core file, or a PHP file added to wp-includes, is the usual trace of a hacked site: a [backdoor](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/backdoor/), a hidden redirect, injected links. These changes often go unnoticed for weeks. A daily check lets you respond quickly.\n\n## What’s included Pro\n\n- **Daily scan** via [WP-Cron](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/glossary/cron-wp-cron/), plus a **Scan now** button.\n- **Report** in the Monitoring tab: date of the last scan, reference version, number of files checked, and the list of affected files, with a “New” label for differences that appeared since the previous scan.\n- **Next steps** shown when there’s a problem: reinstall the core, deal with unknown PHP files, secure your accounts.\n- **[Email alert](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/features/email-alerts/)** as soon as the daily scan finds new modified or unknown files.\n- **Lightweight scan**: it stops after 25 seconds so it doesn’t slow down the server, and tells you if the result is incomplete.\n\n![\"WordPress core integrity\" card: Intact status, date of the last scan, reference version, number of files checked and a Scan now button](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/media/2026/10/admin-integrite.webp)\n\n*The integrity check, in the Monitoring tab of WP Masquerade Pro.*\n\n## How to use it\n\n1. Go to **WP Masquerade → Monitoring** (the mask icon in the admin menu). The first scan runs about an hour after Pro is activated; you can run it right away with **Scan now**.\n2. Status “Intact”: nothing to do.\n3. Modified or missing files: **Dashboard → Updates → “Re-install version”** replaces them without touching your content, plugins or themes.\n4. Unknown PHP files: reinstalling does not remove them. If you didn’t add them, they are very likely a backdoor: keep a copy for analysis, delete them or restore a clean backup, then change your administrator passwords and the security keys in wp-config.php.\n\n## Data sent\n\nTo get the official list, your site queries the public wordpress.org API with **only your WordPress version and language**. No files, no hashes and no other information about your site are sent: the comparison happens on your server. The list is cached for a week to avoid unnecessary requests.\n\n## Limits and precautions\n\n- **Core only**: plugins, themes, uploaded files and wp-config.php are not checked. This module won’t detect a compromised plugin.\n- It is not an antivirus: it spots core files that differ from the original, not malicious code in the database or in wp-content.\n- If the server can’t reach wordpress.org, or if no list is published for your version, the scan shows an error and keeps the previous reference.\n- A core you modified on purpose (manual patch, file added by your host) shows up as a difference: that’s expected.\n- The scan relies on WP-Cron: if it’s disabled, set up your host’s task scheduler to run it.\n\n**What about plugins?** The integrity check covers WordPress core. For plugins and themes, Pro checks the installed versions against known vulnerabilities every day (data from WPVulnerability.net): see [vulnerable plugin alerts](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/features/vulnerable-plugin-alerts/).\n\n### Related reading\n\n- [Email alerts and weekly report](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/features/email-alerts/)\n- [Security headers](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/features/security-headers/)\n- [Two-factor authentication](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/features/two-factor-authentication/)\n- [Vulnerable plugin alerts](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/features/vulnerable-plugin-alerts/)\n\n## Start free, upgrade to Pro when you’re ready\n\nThe free version already hides WordPress, moves the login page, blocks XML-RPC and counts bots. Pro locks down logins, renames file URLs and monitors your sites for you: known vulnerabilities, core integrity, activity log, email alerts and the update status of all your sites in your member area. From €59 per year excl. tax, far less than the cleanup offers whose prices we checked. [Compare the costs](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/pricing/#cout-piratage).\n\n[See Pro pricing](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/pricing/)\n\n[Download the free version](https://www.wp-masquerade.com/download/)",
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}