f you are running a WordPress site, your logs are likely filled with failed login attempts and strange pings. A significant portion of these “automated noises” often originates from a legacy file called xmlrpc.php.
While it was once a revolutionary feature, in the modern web era, XML-RPC is often more of a liability than an asset. Here is a breakdown of why disabling it is one of the most effective security “quick wins” for your server.
1. Prevention of Brute Force Attacks
Standard login forms are limited; usually, a bot can only try one username/password combination per request. However, the XML-RPC system.multicall method allows an attacker to try hundreds of passwords in a single HTTP request.
The Risk: An attacker can cycle through thousands of password combinations while staying under the radar of traditional “limit login attempt” plugins.
The Solution: Disabling XML-RPC closes this high-speed “backdoor” for credential stuffing.
2. Mitigation of DDoS via Pingbacks
XML-RPC enables a feature called Pingbacks. In theory, this notifies you when another blog links to your content. In practice, hackers use it to turn thousands of innocent WordPress sites into a “botnet.”
The Attack: An attacker sends a pingback request to your site, telling it to “verify” a link on a target’s server. Your server then dutifully pings the target.
The Impact: If thousands of sites do this at once, it results in a massive Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack.
3. Reduced Server Resource Consumption
Every time a bot hits your xmlrpc.php file, your server has to fire up PHP and query the database. Even if the attack fails, the sheer volume of requests can spike your CPU usage and exhaust your RAM, slowing down the site for legitimate visitors.
Will This Break Anything?
In 2026, very little. The only features that require XML-RPC are the WordPress Mobile App (to post), certain Jetpack features, and very old remote blogging clients. If you don’t use these, there is almost no reason to keep it active.
How to Block XML-RPC
There are three main ways to handle this, depending on your comfort level with code:
1) The .htaccess Method (My personal favorite) This is the most efficient method because it blocks the request at the server level before it even touches WordPress. Add this to your .htaccess file:
# Block WordPress xmlrpc.php requests
<Files xmlrpc.php>
order deny,allow
deny from all
# allow from xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
</Files>Important! If you need to allow certain IPs to be able to call XMP-RPC, change xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx to the IP address you wish to allow access.
2) The Plugin Method (User-Friendly)
If you don’t have a shell access to the WodrPress folder or you aren’t comfortable editing system files, using a security plugin is the easiest route. Popular options like Wordfence, Sucuri, or dedicated plugins like “Disable XML-RPC-API” provide a simple toggle switch.
Pros: Easy to undo; no coding required.
Cons: Slightly more resource-intensive than the
.htaccessmethod because WordPress still has to “load” to tell the plugin to block the request.
3) The PHP Filter Method (Theme Level)
You can disable the functionality by adding a filter to your theme’s functions.php file. This tells WordPress specifically to turn off the XML-RPC service.
The Code:
add_filter('xmlrpc_enabled', '__return_false');Note: While this stops the functionality, it doesn’t always stop the request from hitting your server logs. It’s better for stopping legitimate app connections than it is for stopping massive DDoS attacks.
Verifying the Block via Terminal
To verify that your block is working, you don’t need fancy tools—you just need a terminal. Checking this ensures your .htaccess or plugin is actually stopping the requests before they hit your database.
Here is how you can verify the fix and a command-line snippet to include in your post:
The easiest way to check is using the curl command. This sends a manual request to the specific file to see how the server responds.
The Command:
curl -I -X POST https://yourdomain.com/xmlrpc.phpWhat the results mean:
403 Forbidden: Success. This means your
.htaccessrule is working perfectly. The server saw the request and slammed the door.404 Not Found: Success. If you renamed or deleted the file, this is also a win.
200 OK: Fail. If you see a “200 OK” status, the file is still accessible and vulnerable. You should double-check your code or plugin settings.
Why Verification Matters
In technical documentation, “set it and forget it” is a dangerous mindset. Automated bots are persistent; they will probe for xmlrpc.php thousands of times a day. Verifying with curl gives you the peace of mind that your server is ignoring that noise, saving your CPU cycles for real users.
