Marc Armengou

Security Hardener is inspired by the official WordPress hardening guide (Advanced Administration / Security / Hardening). It uses the platform’s standard functions and does not override core. Applies a prudent set of defenses:
<ul>
<li>Security headers: <code>X-Frame-Options</code>, <code>X-Content-Type-Options</code>, <code>Referrer-Policy</code>, <code>Permissions-Policy</code>, <code>COOP/CORP</code>. </li>
<li>HSTS (optional; HTTPS only). </li>
<li>Basic nonce-based CSP (optional; requires testing). </li>
<li>Disable XML-RPC and pingbacks (optional; enabled by default). </li>
<li>Hide the WordPress version in the <code><head></code>. </li>
<li>Block user enumeration via <code>/?author=</code> by returning 404. </li>
<li>Generic login errors (prevents information leakage). </li>
<li>IP-based login rate limiting with transients (configurable threshold and window). </li>
<li>Restrict the REST API to authenticated users, with a minimal allowlist for oEmbed/index.</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
⚠️ Important: The restrict REST API option and CSP can affect integrations and plugins. Test it in staging first.
</blockquote>
Privacy: the plugin does not send data to external services or create new tables. It only uses transients to count failed login attempts.

Security Hardener

Basic hardening: secure headers, enumeration blocking, generic login errors, IP-based rate limiting, and optional restriction of the REST API.

wonderfulplugins

Keep your WordPress site clean and secure! Wonderful Secure Cleanup provides a simple interface to disable unnecessary and often risky core features.
This plugin helps you harden your WordPress installation by reducing the attack surface. It selectively disables functions like comments, XML-RPC, pingbacks, and RSS feeds. By blocking risky endpoints like <code>xmlrpc.php</code> and feed URLs, you can significantly reduce spam and automated attacks, leading to better security and improved performance.
It is the ideal tool for business websites, landing pages, and any WordPress setup that doesn’t require legacy blogging functionality.

Wonderful Secure Cleanup

A simple way to clean and secure WordPress by disabling unnecessary features like comments, XML-RPC, and RSS feeds.

Security Hardener vs Wonderful Secure Cleanup