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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteThe gaps that recur in WordPress security audits are rarely the ones a routine core update would catch. In a DEV Community post, Elsie Rainee of WPWeb Infotech reports on 20 WordPress security audits and groups the recurring problems into five areas: outdated software beyond core, weak account and permission controls, backups that were never restored, hosting and configuration issues, and security tools that were installed but not configured. Those five areas are the blind spots worth checking in any maintenance cycle.
What the review covers, and what it cannot establish
The author reviewed 20 WordPress security audits, compared the issues they uncovered, and looked for patterns that were easy to miss during routine maintenance. The write-up does not name or link the 20 reports, publish the underlying data, or explain how findings were sampled or scored. The patterns below are therefore the author’s account of what the audits showed, not a measured prevalence rate.
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Official WordPress documentation can confirm whether the recommendations are sound. It cannot confirm that each finding appeared across the 20 audits. Read the five areas as a checklist of places to look, not as statistics.
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The five blind spots
1. Stale plugins, themes, and unused components
Core updates are necessary, but the author’s audits repeatedly found exposure in everything around core. WordPress’s Advanced Administration Handbook, in its hardening guidance published March 28, 2023, states: “Older versions of WordPress are not maintained with security updates.” WordPress.org’s security overview adds that the project officially supports only the latest WordPress version and backports some fixes to older versions as a courtesy. A site running an older release should not assume it will receive every fix.
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Unused plugins and themes are a separate problem. Each one is code that has to stay patched even though nothing on the site depends on it. The review flagged installed-but-idle components as a recurring source of risk.
- Plugins: open Plugins > Installed Plugins and list every inactive plugin.
- Themes: open Appearance > Themes and list every theme other than the active one and any child theme you rely on.
2. Old administrator accounts and broad permissions
Accounts created for a former developer, an agency, or a short campaign often stay active with administrator rights. The author’s audits treated these as a permission problem rather than a configuration detail. The official hardening guidance groups its advice around limiting access and containing damage if something goes wrong, which is the right lens here.
Open Users > All Users and ask two questions of every row: does this person still need access, and does their role match the work they do? An editor who only publishes articles does not need administrator rights. The same guidance also recommends keeping the administrator’s own computer free of malware, because a compromised workstation can expose a valid login without any flaw in WordPress itself.
3. Backups that have never been restored
The author’s central point on recovery is direct: “A backup is only useful if you can actually restore the website from it.” Official WordPress guidance recommends regular backups and also addresses integrity and trusted storage. What the handbook does not do is tell you to test restores on a schedule, and it does not prescribe a particular backup product or storage medium. The restore test is the step the review adds.
A useful test restores the most recent backup to a separate staging copy, not the live site. Confirm that the front end loads, that administrators can log in, that forms and uploads are present, and that the database matches the content you expect. If any of those checks fail, the backup was incomplete, whatever the backup tool reported.
4. Hosting and environment-specific configuration
Several audits pointed to settings that were correct on a developer’s machine or staging copy but wrong on production, and to server-level controls that the site owner assumed the host handled. The hardening handbook advises running secure, stable server software or using a trusted host. It does not define who patches the server or who configures it, so that split has to be settled explicitly.
Ask your host in writing what it patches, what it backs up, how often, and whether it retains backups outside the server. Then compare the production settings against staging. Differences that were never intentional are where audits tend to find problems.
5. Security tools installed but not configured
The author quotes a common shortcut and rejects it: “Plugin installed = website protected.” A security plugin can scan, block, or alert, but it cannot decide who should keep administrator access, and it cannot guarantee that a backup will restore. Those decisions belong to the site owner.
A tool that sends alerts that nobody reads provides little protection. Decide who receives security notifications, who reviews the logs the tool keeps, and what action follows an alert. Official WordPress guidance covers logs alongside updates, hosts, and backups, which reflects that monitoring is a process, not an installation.
How to read vulnerability statistics
Wordfence’s 2024 annual WordPress security report, published April 2025, gives disclosure figures for 2024. Plugins account for 96% of WordPress vulnerabilities disclosed that year. Two vulnerability categories stand out:
| Category (2024 disclosures) | Disclosures | Share of total, as reported by Wordfence |
|---|---|---|
| Cross-site scripting (XSS) | 3,795 | 46% |
| Missing authorization | 1,178 | 13% |
These are counts of disclosed vulnerabilities. They are not a count of vulnerable live websites, and they are not a probability that any given site will be compromised. They also do not come from the author’s 20 audits. Wordfence itself distinguishes between factors such as whether an attack requires authentication and whether it requires user interaction, so a high disclosure count does not automatically mean high risk for your site.
The two categories map onto the blind spots above. The WordPress Theme Handbook, last updated January 26, 2024, describes XSS as JavaScript injection into a page and advises: “To avoid XSS vulnerabilities, any output should be escaped,” using a function suited to the type of data. That is a developer obligation, so for a site owner the practical question is whether each plugin and theme is maintained and patched. Missing authorization is a flaw in whether code checks who is allowed to perform an action. Reviewing your accounts does not fix that flaw, but keeping plugins current is how a patch reaches you.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.A maintenance checklist for the blind spots
- Confirm that WordPress core, plugins, and themes are on supported versions by opening Dashboard > Updates.
- Remove unused plugins and themes, starting from Plugins > Installed Plugins and Appearance > Themes.
- Review Users > All Users, deleting accounts nobody uses and lowering roles that exceed the work being done.
- Restore your latest backup to a staging copy and confirm that the site loads, logins work, and uploads and forms are present.
- Compare production settings with staging and record the reason for every difference.
- Name the person who receives security alerts and reviews logs, and write down the response to each type of alert.
When to bring in an outside audit or host review
An outside review is most useful when nobody on your side has the time or access to check the server, hosting responsibilities, or account history. Before engaging a service, make sure its scope covers the same areas the author’s audits examined:
- Core, plugins, and themes, including inactive components
- User accounts and role assignments
- Hosting and server controls, with a clear split between what the host manages and what you manage
- Evidence of backup restoration, not only confirmation that backups run
- Monitoring and alert handling after the review ends
A review that covers only plugin scanning leaves most of the blind spots above unaddressed.
If you are running WordPress yourself, the sensible sequence is to start with the checklist, then decide whether any item requires help you cannot provide in-house.
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