v9.6.6 is messing up my website as it blocked the Wordfence login security and prevented my users from logging in. I checked out that all logins failed with the status “Pre-authentication block”. I have to use Wordfence plugin as it has some functions that Wpcerber doesn’t. Now I cannot roll back to the previous version (v9.6.5) as Wpcerber feels confident with their inventions in every new update and doesn’t provide the archives of the earlier versions. A lesson for me is: Never turn on ‘Automatic update’ for Wpcerber.
Sorry to hear about that. The situation you’re experiencing is caused by security plugins that are not fully configured to work together. You are using two plugins that both handle the WordPress user authentication process, and each one has its own security settings and policies. These plugins must be configured correctly to function together without issues.
The latest version of WP Cerber brings additional flexibility, which benefits many users by allowing WP Cerber to function alongside other security solutions. For such combinations to work effectively, the plugins must be configured correctly. In previous versions, WP Cerber ignored certain data from other plugins hooked into the authenticate process. This created the illusion that everything was working fine, but some features weren’t functioning as intended. With the improvements in the last version, WP Cerber now brings those setup issues to your attention. It’s just asking for a quick review to make sure everything is aligned. Yes, it might take a bit of effort, but it ensures your security tools run reliably and predictably.
WP Cerber will progress and will get more features, allowing customers to have more flexible and more advanced protection. In the era of rapidly advancing AI, which attackers are increasingly leveraging, having more sophisticated and flexible versions of WP Cerber is essential. That’s the vision we’re working on.
What language have you set for your website in the General settings? Try to manually download translations by navigating to Dashboard > Updates > Update Translations.
I’ve spent several days troubleshooting a conflict between Wordfence and WP Cerber (v9.6.6) that caused significant downtime (1 day in my case). While investigating, I found that WP Cerber appears to be blocking Wordfence’s 2FA process for administrators, a feature not present in WP Cerber itself. I explored every setting in both plugins but couldn’t find a resolution. The only way I can do to resolve the problem is to disable either plugin.
I understand WP Cerber’s goal is to detect interference with login monitoring. However, the current implementation is problematic. Instead of a warning with options (e.g., “Known and Ignore,” “Prevent”), WP Cerber immediately blocks the suspected pre-authentication event. This direct blocking can lead to severe consequences, including extended downtime as I experienced. A more user-friendly approach would be to provide administrators with clear information about the conflict and offer choices on how to handle it. As it stands, WP Cerber v9.6.6 effectively forces a choice between itself and other plugins like Wordfence.
Even though I understand your frustration, WP Cerber does offer 2FA for administrators, and it can be configured for any user role as well as on a per-user basis. I believe we’ve implemented one of the most flexible and advanced 2FA solutions available today.
Next, WP Cerber doesn’t block other plugins. However, as I mentioned earlier, conflicts can happen, especially when two security plugins are running side by side without being configured properly to work together.
When it comes to authentication, WP Cerber’s goal is to ensure that no unauthorized access is possible, even if malicious code tries to hook into the authentication process using WordPress filters. The default WordPress authentication system is far too relaxed, allowing any piece of code to authenticate anyone. Maybe that was fine in the early days of WordPress, but today, hackers use AI to generate malware and launch attacks at an unprecedented rate. I would not feel comfortable knowing that. Without a security plugin, a WordPress site can be hacked in minutes.
I agree that WP Cerber’s approach may feel restrictive in certain configurations, but I prefer that, better safe than sorry. If Wordfence’s 2FA isn’t working as expected, I suspect either it isn’t configured properly, or it’s injecting invalid data (WP Error) into the authentication pipeline. Maybe it’s not WP Cerber that’s forcing users to choose between plugins?
That said, we’ll introduce a way to enable some form of compatibility mode in a future update, though it won’t be the recommended setting. Security comes first.
v9.6.6 is messing up my website as it blocked the Wordfence login security and prevented my users from logging in. I checked out that all logins failed with the status “Pre-authentication block”. I have to use Wordfence plugin as it has some functions that Wpcerber doesn’t. Now I cannot roll back to the previous version (v9.6.5) as Wpcerber feels confident with their inventions in every new update and doesn’t provide the archives of the earlier versions. A lesson for me is: Never turn on ‘Automatic update’ for Wpcerber.
Gregory ( )
Sorry to hear about that. The situation you’re experiencing is caused by security plugins that are not fully configured to work together. You are using two plugins that both handle the WordPress user authentication process, and each one has its own security settings and policies. These plugins must be configured correctly to function together without issues.
The latest version of WP Cerber brings additional flexibility, which benefits many users by allowing WP Cerber to function alongside other security solutions. For such combinations to work effectively, the plugins must be configured correctly. In previous versions, WP Cerber ignored certain data from other plugins hooked into the authenticate process. This created the illusion that everything was working fine, but some features weren’t functioning as intended. With the improvements in the last version, WP Cerber now brings those setup issues to your attention. It’s just asking for a quick review to make sure everything is aligned. Yes, it might take a bit of effort, but it ensures your security tools run reliably and predictably.
WP Cerber will progress and will get more features, allowing customers to have more flexible and more advanced protection. In the era of rapidly advancing AI, which attackers are increasingly leveraging, having more sophisticated and flexible versions of WP Cerber is essential. That’s the vision we’re working on.
P.S. The previous version of WP Cerber is available here: https://downloads.wpcerber.com/plugin/wp-cerber.9.6.5.zip
WordPress is telling me there is a translation update for WP Cerber, but when I try to download it, the file is not found.
What language have you set for your website in the General settings? Try to manually download translations by navigating to Dashboard > Updates > Update Translations.
I’ve spent several days troubleshooting a conflict between Wordfence and WP Cerber (v9.6.6) that caused significant downtime (1 day in my case). While investigating, I found that WP Cerber appears to be blocking Wordfence’s 2FA process for administrators, a feature not present in WP Cerber itself. I explored every setting in both plugins but couldn’t find a resolution. The only way I can do to resolve the problem is to disable either plugin.
I understand WP Cerber’s goal is to detect interference with login monitoring. However, the current implementation is problematic. Instead of a warning with options (e.g., “Known and Ignore,” “Prevent”), WP Cerber immediately blocks the suspected pre-authentication event. This direct blocking can lead to severe consequences, including extended downtime as I experienced. A more user-friendly approach would be to provide administrators with clear information about the conflict and offer choices on how to handle it. As it stands, WP Cerber v9.6.6 effectively forces a choice between itself and other plugins like Wordfence.
Gregory ( )
Even though I understand your frustration, WP Cerber does offer 2FA for administrators, and it can be configured for any user role as well as on a per-user basis. I believe we’ve implemented one of the most flexible and advanced 2FA solutions available today.
Next, WP Cerber doesn’t block other plugins. However, as I mentioned earlier, conflicts can happen, especially when two security plugins are running side by side without being configured properly to work together.
When it comes to authentication, WP Cerber’s goal is to ensure that no unauthorized access is possible, even if malicious code tries to hook into the authentication process using WordPress filters. The default WordPress authentication system is far too relaxed, allowing any piece of code to authenticate anyone. Maybe that was fine in the early days of WordPress, but today, hackers use AI to generate malware and launch attacks at an unprecedented rate. I would not feel comfortable knowing that. Without a security plugin, a WordPress site can be hacked in minutes.
I agree that WP Cerber’s approach may feel restrictive in certain configurations, but I prefer that, better safe than sorry. If Wordfence’s 2FA isn’t working as expected, I suspect either it isn’t configured properly, or it’s injecting invalid data (WP Error) into the authentication pipeline. Maybe it’s not WP Cerber that’s forcing users to choose between plugins?
That said, we’ll introduce a way to enable some form of compatibility mode in a future update, though it won’t be the recommended setting. Security comes first.
@nick the language is set to en-GB like the rest of the site.
I have already tried manually updating, that is how I found the issue.
I can see the translation is now able to update, but it keeps saying there is a new translation available after.
Perhaps you have set the wrong version number in the latest translation, so it is still looking for a higher version?
Translation update neccessary for WP Cerber, but download says the file is not found.
Same here – german is my main language.