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Why are xmlrpc.php entries still in other_vhosts_access.log?

Posted on May 28, 2016

I use ufw and fail2ban, and I’ve come across some behavior I don’t understand, and this leads me to think that something’s not configured correctly. I noticed a ton of POSTs from two IP addresses over and over again that I cannot identify. What’s weird, though, is even if I add them to ufw, they still show in other_vhosts_access.log. These addresses and attempts do not show in access.log, however.

Just to be clear, I added them using “insert” so that the deny statements are above the allow statements for ports 80 and 443. I even tried resetting the rules and starting over.



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Hi John - If you are using NGinx, you should add the following declaration in your .conf file. As the comment states, it will eliminate your ability to use the WP app. But, XMLRPC attacks are pretty common.

Thwarts XMLRPC attacks, which will also remove your ability to control your blog with the smartphone app

location /xmlrpc.php { deny all; }

As for the firewall rules, note that firewall rules are processed in order. If your IP ban rule is last, other rules take precedence.

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