Folders
Folder permissions, writable paths, and directories left behind by an install.
10 checks in this group.
The folders an install leaves behind
Small group, and every check in it is really about the same underlying issue: a folder that was useful for exactly one moment, during installation or a migration, and was never revisited afterwards. The installer folder Joomla and WordPress both use to set the site up in the first place is the clearest example: it has one job, it finishes that job in minutes, and every day after that it stays on the server doing nothing except waiting for someone to find a use for it that was never intended. Folder permissions drift the same way a database prefix does: someone loosens a permission to solve an upload problem under time pressure, the upload works, and the permission never gets put back.
The other pattern in this group is about where things end up rather than what state they are left in, which is the same instinct behind checking core folders for impostor files: hidden folders sitting inside a public path, or a webspace that turns out to contain more than one CMS installation stacked on top of each other, usually the result of a migration that never finished cleaning up after itself. Neither is dangerous in the way a rogue admin account is dangerous, but both widen what is reachable from the outside without anyone deciding that should be the case.
Across a portfolio, this group rewards being checked once properly rather than repeatedly: a folder left over from installation two years ago is not going to fix itself, and it is not going to get worse on its own either. The value is catching it at all, on every site, not catching it faster on any one of them, which is also why most of this group sits on the site’s audit schedule (weekly by default) rather than the twice-daily snapshot.
Generic
Folder Permissions That Should Be Avoided
Scans every folder for 0777 (world-writable) permissions, which let any other process on a shared server read, write or replace your files.
Paths With Hidden Folders In Them
Looks for folders with a dot-prefixed name, which some FTP clients and file managers hide by default, making them a handy place to stash something malicious.
Joomla
Folder Permissions That Should Be Avoided
Scans every folder for 0777 (world-writable) permissions, which let any other process on a shared server read, write or replace your files.
Installation Folders Should Be Deleted
Checks for a leftover Joomla installation folder, even one renamed to hide it, since leaving it in place risks someone finding and misusing it.
Paths With Hidden Folders In Them
Looks for folders with a dot-prefixed name, which some FTP clients and file managers hide by default, making them a handy place to stash something malicious.
"tmp/logs" Folders Should Be Writable
Checks whether the tmp and logs folders configured in Joomla are writable, since Joomla writes temporary files and its error log there and breaks without access.
One Webspace Should Contain One Joomla Installation
Counts how many Joomla installations exist inside the same webspace, since more than one risks a compromise in one spreading straight into the other.
WordPress
Folder Permissions That Should Be Avoided
Scans every folder for 0777 (world-writable) permissions, which let any other process on a shared server read, write or replace your files.
Paths With Hidden Folders In Them
Looks for folders with a dot-prefixed name, which some FTP clients and file managers hide by default, making them a handy place to stash something malicious.
One Webspace Should Contain One WordPress Installation
Counts how many WordPress installations exist inside the same webspace, since more than one risks a compromise in one spreading straight into the other.
Find out which of these your sites fail
Connect a site and every check in this group runs against it automatically, with the result and the fix in one place. The quick checks here run twice a day; the deeper file scans run with the full audit, which most sites schedule weekly.
Run a free audit