As a WordPress site owner, securing your website should be a top priority. One often overlooked vulnerability is directory browsing, which can allow hackers and bots to view sensitive files and gather information to exploit. Fortunately, disabling directory browsing in WordPress is a straightforward process that you can complete in just a few minutes using your site‘s .htaccess file.
In this expert guide, we‘ll walk through exactly what directory browsing is, why it‘s a risk, and the step-by-step process to disable it on your WordPress site. We‘ll also cover some important tips and best practices to lock down your web server even further.
Whether you‘re a beginning blogger or manage a large WordPress site, this is a critical security measure that every website owner should implement. Let‘s dive in and secure your site!
What Is Directory Browsing?
Most web servers, including Apache and Nginx, have a feature called directory browsing or directory listing enabled by default. When enabled, this means that visitors can see a list of all the files and subdirectories in a particular folder on your website just by navigating to the URL for that directory.
For example, if directory browsing was enabled on your WordPress site, someone could go to yoursite.com/wp-includes/ and see the full list of files instead of getting an error message.
While this might be convenient in some cases, like when you want to quickly share files, it poses a significant security risk. It allows anyone to snoop around your WordPress directories, look at filenames for your themes and plugins, and potentially find vulnerabilities or sensitive information.
"Directory listings are meant to be used as an aid to the user, and not a way to spy on the contents of your web server. Disabling the feature will make it more difficult for hackers to find things that they can use against your website."
– Daniel Cid, Sucuri founder and CTO
In the early days of the web, directory listings were very common, but nowadays most websites disable it as a security precaution. For a WordPress site in particular, there is rarely a good reason to have directory browsing enabled, so it‘s best to turn it off completely.
How Directory Browsing Works
To understand how to disable directory browsing, it helps to know a bit about how web servers decide what to display when a user requests a URL.
When a visitor navigates to a directory on your site, the web server will first look for a default index file in that folder, usually named index.php, index.html, or index.htm. If an index file is found, the web server will display that file instead of showing the directory contents.
However, if no index file is found, the web server will fall back to displaying a directory listing – unless directory browsing is disabled. This is why your WordPress site‘s root directory and most folders include an index.php file. It prevents directory listings and tells WordPress to load the appropriate template instead.
The wp-includes and wp-content/uploads folders notably do not contain index files by default, which is why it‘s important to disable directory browsing on your web server. Let‘s look at how to do that now using .htaccess.
Disable Directory Browsing Using .htaccess
The .htaccess file is a special Apache web server configuration file that allows you to set custom rules and parameters for your website. It‘s placed in the root directory of your WordPress installation.
To disable directory browsing, you simply need to add the following line to your .htaccess file:
Options -Indexes
This tells Apache to turn off directory indexing for your entire site. You can also use this version of the command for more fine-grained control:
Options All -Indexes
The "All" keyword ensures that directory browsing is disabled even if it was previously enabled somewhere else.
Here are the step-by-step instructions:
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Connect to your WordPress site using FTP or the file manager in your hosting control panel.
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Navigate to the root directory of your WordPress installation (usually called public_html or www).
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Look for the .htaccess file. If you don‘t see it, make sure your FTP client is configured to show hidden files, or create a new file and name it .htaccess.
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Download the .htaccess file and open it in a text editor.
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Add the following line to the very bottom of the file:
Options -Indexes
- Save the changes and reupload the .htaccess file, overwriting the previous version.
That‘s it! Directory browsing should now be disabled on your entire WordPress site. It‘s a good idea to test it to make sure.
Testing Directory Browsing
To verify that directory browsing is disabled, try opening URLs for a few different directories on your site, like:
yoursite.com/wp-content/uploads/yoursite.com/wp-includes/yoursite.com/wp-content/plugins/
If directory browsing is disabled correctly, you should see a "403 Forbidden" error message instead of a list of files. This means the web server is preventing access to view the contents of the directory.
If you still see a file listing, double check your .htaccess file and make sure the Options -Indexes line is present. Also check that your web server is configured to allow .htaccess overrides.
Important Notes and Best Practices
Here are a few important things to keep in mind when editing your WordPress .htaccess file:
Always backup your .htaccess file before making changes. Even a small mistake or typo can bring down your whole site. Having a backup lets you quickly restore if anything goes wrong.
Place the directory browsing code at the very end of the file. WordPress uses the .htaccess file for permalinks and other functionality, so make sure not to overwrite anything else. Putting the code at the end ensures it won‘t interfere.
The .htaccess file can be used for many other security and performance configurations. In addition to disabling directory browsing, you can strengthen your site by restricting access to PHP files, enabling caching, or even blocking bad bots and IP addresses.
"A well-configured .htaccess file is an essential part of WordPress security. In addition to disabling directory listings, make sure you‘re also blocking PHP execution and following hardening best practices."
– Francesca Marano, WordPress security team lead
Remember to retest directory browsing if you change WordPress themes or edit the .htaccess file. Some plugins and themes may modify the .htaccess file without you realizing, so it‘s good to periodically check that your security rules are still in place.
If you‘re using a web server other than Apache, like Nginx, Microsoft IIS, or OpenLiteSpeed, the method for disabling directory browsing will be slightly different. Check your web server documentation for the exact steps.
Additional WordPress Security Tips
Disabling directory browsing is an important step, but it‘s just one of many ways to harden your WordPress site‘s security. Here are a few other measures you can take:
Keep WordPress and plugins updated. Outdated software is one of the most common entry points for hackers. Always run the latest versions of WordPress core, themes, and plugins and set up auto-updates if possible.
Use strong passwords and limit login attempts. Require all users to set a unique, non-guessable password and consider enforcing password complexity. You can also add two-factor authentication and use a plugin to limit failed login attempts.
Install a security plugin. While not a complete solution, a good WordPress security plugin like Wordfence, Sucuri, or iThemes Security can help lock out attackers and notify you of any issues. They also make it easy to implement other best practices.
Regularly back up your site. Having reliable, recent backups is essential for recovering from a hack or just user error. Store backups off-site and test restoring them periodically to make sure your process works.
Disable XML-RPC and hide your WordPress version.. XML-RPC is a legacy WordPress API that exposes vulnerabilities. Your .htaccess file can also hide which version of WordPress your site runs, making it harder for hackers to target known weaknesses.
By taking the time to disable directory browsing and follow other WordPress security best practices, you can greatly reduce the risk of your site getting hacked or compromised. While no site is 100% safe, these steps go a long way towards protecting your hard work.
Wrapping Up
Whether you‘re running a simple blog or a complex WordPress site, disabling directory browsing is a quick change that has a big impact on your site‘s security. By preventing access to the contents of key directories like wp-includes and wp-content, you make an attacker‘s job much harder and reduce your exposure to exploits.
In this post, we‘ve covered why directory browsing is a risk, how to disable it via .htaccess, and how to test that the change is working. We‘ve also highlighted some WordPress security best practices that go hand-in-hand with disabling directory listings.
Hopefully you found this guide helpful and are on your way to a more secure WordPress site. The key is not to put off these security configurations, but to be proactive in protecting your site.
Do you have any other tips for securing WordPress? Let us know in the comments!
