WordPress Penetration Testing
WordPress penetration testing across Europe: plugins, themes, wp-admin and custom code tested by hand. Fixed price, free retest. Get a quote.
WordPress penetration testing checks the platform that runs a large share of the web, and the plugins bolted onto it, for the flaws attackers exploit every day. We test your WordPress site by hand across Europe and show you the realistic ways in, starting with the one that causes most compromises we see: an out-of-date plugin nobody remembered to update.
WordPress powers an enormous number of business sites, and that popularity is exactly why it is attacked so relentlessly. Automated bots crawl the whole internet looking for known-vulnerable plugins, exposed login pages and weak credentials, and they do not care whether your site is a Fortune 500 brand or a local firm. In most WordPress compromises we clean up, the entry point was not some clever zero-day. It was a plugin two versions behind with a public advisory, or an admin account with a password that had been reused elsewhere.
What WordPress penetration testing covers
We test the whole WordPress stack: core, the active theme, every plugin, the wp-admin area, the XML-RPC and REST interfaces, and the server configuration underneath. WordPress security testing that only checks core misses the point, because core is the best-maintained part. The risk lives in the third-party code and the way the site has been configured over the years.
Where WordPress sites actually get breached
WordPress compromises follow a very consistent pattern. The technology varies, the root causes rarely do, and a good WordPress website penetration testing engagement goes straight for them.
Vulnerable plugins and themes
By a wide margin the most common cause. The plugin ecosystem is WordPress’s greatest strength and its biggest liability. A form builder, a page builder, an SEO plugin or an abandoned widget with a known flaw gives an attacker a foothold, and there are new advisories every week. We identify every plugin and theme, check them against known vulnerabilities, and test whether an exposed one is actually reachable and exploitable on your site.
Weak authentication and brute force
The wp-login page is a magnet. Without rate limiting, an attacker can throw stolen credential lists at it endlessly, and XML-RPC can amplify that by bundling many login attempts into a single request. We test for weak or reused admin passwords, missing multi-factor authentication, and whether your login can be brute-forced or enumerated for valid usernames.
User enumeration
WordPress leaks usernames in more places than most owners realise: author archive URLs, the REST API users endpoint, and login error messages that distinguish a valid user from an invalid one. Each leak hands an attacker half of a login. We check every route and report the ones that talk.
Exposed sensitive files
A wp-config.php backup left in the web root, a debug.log with credentials in it, a database dump from a migration, a readable git directory. These leak the keys to the site and cost nothing for an attacker to find. Content discovery routinely surfaces them.
How we test
Every WordPress pen testing engagement is run manually by a certified offensive engineer (OSCP, OSWE). We use Burp Suite as the working proxy and WordPress-aware tooling to inventory plugins and themes quickly, but the exploitation and the judgement are a person’s work. A scanner will list your plugins; a tester will tell you which vulnerability actually matters on your specific site and prove it.
Fingerprinting and inventory
We start by identifying the WordPress version, the theme, every plugin and their versions, and the hosting setup. This builds the map of the attack surface and immediately flags any component with a known advisory, which we then verify by hand rather than trusting a version number that may have been patched in place.
Authenticated and unauthenticated testing
We test both as an anonymous visitor and with credentials for each role you use, from subscriber up to administrator. This is where privilege escalation surfaces: a subscriber who can reach an admin-only action through a plugin’s endpoint, or an author who can inject script that runs in an administrator’s browser and takes over the site.
Reporting and retest
You get an executive summary and a technical report with every finding scored by CVSS, its impact explained in plain terms, exact reproduction steps, and a specific fix, whether that is a plugin update, a configuration change or a code correction. After you remediate, the retest is included so you can confirm the site is genuinely secure.
Custom code and page builders
Many WordPress sites are far more than a blog now. They run membership systems, online stores, booking flows and custom post types built by an agency or an in-house developer. That custom code is not covered by any plugin advisory, so it needs testing on its own terms.
Custom plugins and functions
Code written specifically for your site is where we find the bespoke bugs: a custom AJAX handler that trusts input it should not, a shortcode that renders user data unescaped, an endpoint added to functions.php with no capability check. These never appear in a vulnerability database because they exist only on your site.
Membership and e-commerce add-ons
If your site sells or gates content, the plugins that handle payments, subscriptions and access control deserve extra attention. We test whether a low-tier member can reach premium content, whether a checkout trusts a price from the browser, and whether account and order data is properly isolated between users.
Third-party integrations
Forms that post to a CRM, payment links, chat widgets and analytics all extend trust to code you do not control. We test how your site handles data going to and coming back from these services, and whether any of them can be abused to inject content or exfiltrate information from your visitors.
Want this tested on your own systems?
Free 20-minute scoping call, a fixed price with no hourly surprises, and a free retest once you fix what we find.
Compliance and standards
A WordPress site handles the same personal and payment data as any other, so the same obligations apply, and the report is written to prove coverage.
PCI DSS, ISO 27001 and SOC 2
Where a WordPress store or membership site takes card payments, PCI DSS 4.0 requirement 11.4 covers it and our reporting is built to satisfy it. For ISO 27001 the results support control A.8.29, and SOC 2 auditors accept independent testing as evidence under the security criteria.
GDPR
WordPress sites collect personal data through forms, comments, accounts and analytics, and testing supports the technical measures GDPR expects. A dated report is straightforward evidence if a customer or regulator asks how you protect that data.
When to test your WordPress site
WordPress sites drift faster than most, because plugins update on their own schedule and editors add embeds, forms and third-party scripts without anyone reviewing the security impact. Test after installing or replacing a significant plugin, after a redesign or theme change, before launching a membership or store feature, and on a regular cadence for any site that holds accounts or takes payments. A site that has grown by accretion over several years is exactly the kind that benefits most, because nobody remembers what every plugin does or why it was added.
Testing after a suspected compromise
If your WordPress site has behaved strangely, spam pages have appeared, or your host has flagged malware, a test answers the question that matters after cleanup: how did they get in, and is the door still open? Cleaning the visible symptoms without finding the entry point is why so many WordPress sites get reinfected within weeks. We identify the likely route in, whether that was a vulnerable plugin, a weak admin login or an exposed file, so the fix addresses the cause rather than the symptom. If you are dealing with an active compromise right now, our incident response team can help you contain and recover it as well.
Why manual testing beats a plugin scan
WordPress security plugins and online scanners have their place. They catch known-vulnerable components and obvious misconfigurations, and every site should run one. But they cannot judge context. They will not tell you that a low-risk information leak plus a weak admin password equals a full takeover, they cannot test the custom code your agency wrote, and they miss privilege-escalation chains that depend on how your roles are set up. A person who has broken WordPress sites before finds those, and that judgement is what separates real WordPress penetration testing from an automated report you could have run yourself.
Pricing
Pricing depends on how many plugins and custom features the site runs, whether it has accounts or a store, and how deep you want the test to go. Here is the shape of a typical European engagement.
| Engagement | What’s included | Timeline | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Security audit / VA | WordPress core, plugin and theme review with configuration audit, verified findings and free retest | 2–4 working days | from €1,200 |
| Standard pentest | Full manual test of a WordPress site, unauthenticated plus each role, custom code and OWASP Top 10 coverage | 3–5 working days | from €2,500 |
| Business site | Membership or store site with payments and integrations, business-logic testing, exec and technical reports | 5–8 working days | €3,500–€8,000 |
| Compliance add-on | Framework mapping and an attestation letter for PCI DSS, ISO 27001, SOC 2 or GDPR | with any tier | from €800 |
| Custom / multi-site | A WordPress multisite network or several sites, scoped to your needs | on scoping | custom |
Every engagement is fixed-price, quoted after a free 20-minute scoping call, so there are no hourly surprises and a retest is always included. Get a fixed quote
FAQ
How much does WordPress penetration testing cost?
Do you test our plugins and custom code, not just WordPress core?
Will testing take my site down?
How long does the test take?
What will you deliver?
Can you test a WooCommerce store built on WordPress?
Does this satisfy PCI DSS or ISO 27001?
Are the findings kept confidential?
Related services
Any business running WordPress for something that matters: membership and e-learning sites, WooCommerce stores, lead-generation and brand sites with custom plugins, and agencies handing over a build who want it checked before it quietly becomes their client’s problem.
Security you can prove
The same standard on every engagement, big or small.
Evidence, not opinions
Every finding ships with a reproduction and proof of concept — no vague "maybe vulnerable".
Humans over scanners
Certified engineers find the logic flaws and chained attacks automated tools walk straight past.
Fixed price, free retest
You know the cost up front, and verifying the fix is part of the deal — not a second invoice.
Ready to lock this down?
Free scoping call, fixed price, free retest. Tell us what you're running and we'll take it from there — usually within one business day.
Tell us what you're running
Scoping is free. We reply within one business day, and under 30 minutes for active incidents.