Filesystem Unlocker
Plugin to completely lockdown the wordpress filesystem so that no hacker can write to it.
Consider an alternative
Filesystem Unlocker shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 10+ sites and was last updated 11 years ago, and scores 23/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (10+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 10 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 4.4 (latest is 7.1)
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Filesystem Unlocker stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| file system | >100 |
| filesystem | >100 |
| ftp | >100 |
| lock | >100 |
| security | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
About Filesystem Unlocker
From the official readme · v1.0Description
I created this plugin because I am tired of having my WordPress sites being hacked. It is used to completely lock the filesystem with the help of a bash script. The said script is external from the website and ran via cron so you need cron access to make this work. Otherwise, this plugin is useless to you.
This plugin has a known bug. See FAQs.
Installation
- Upload the plugin files to the
/wp-content/plugins/filesystem-unlockerdirectory, or install the plugin through the WordPress plugins screen directly. - Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ screen in WordPress
- Use the left menu Filesystem Unlocker to configure the plugin (this has to be done before configuring and cron’ing scripts)
- You need to put the folowing script somewhere on your filesystem, elsewhere then in the webserver’s directory. It needs to be run with the webserver’s privileges or a higher privilege that can chmod files in the webserver’s directory.
- Edit the script to match your users, passwords, database prefixes, paths and the like.
- Minimaly, cron a job that runs this script every minute of everyday
- Ideally, cron this job to run only when you are EFFECTIVELY playing in your ftp. You are sleeping from 10pm to 6am ? Then don’t run the script. It won’t unlock your filesystem if it’s not ran. But then, you need an additionnal script to be ran the minute after you go to sleep to ensure the ftp is locked in the scenario where there was “time left in the parking meter” when your cron stop to execute.
The script in step 4 goes as follows:
#!/bin/bash
####################################################################################################
# You NEED to edit the folowing strings #
####################################################################################################
# #
# -uuser : -uYourMySQLUser... ex.: -umarc #
# -ppassword : -pYourUserSPassword... ex.: -pabracadabra #
# MySQLDatabaseName : Your MySQL database name... ex.: datab1f32 #
# wpTablePrefix__ : Your wordpress installation table prefixes... ex.: wp_prefix123__ #
# /path/to/public_html : the path to your webserver's root document... ex.: /home/user/public_html #
# #
####################################################################################################
####################################################################################################
# Note on the choice of the path to be locked... #
####################################################################################################
# #
# The above mention of /path/to/public_html may or may not be accurate in the case your WordPress #
# installation is not at the root of your webserver's tree. But take into account I suggest you #
# lock your WHOLE filesystem because if you choose to lock only your WordPress's files, any hacker #
# being "ethical" as they are, will write outside of your "locked zone" and exploit your webserver.#
# Thus, I STRONGLY suggest you lock your WHOLE filesystem. #
# #
# Should you choose otherwise, you could adapt the above #
# /path/to/public_html #
# with #
# /path/to/public_html/wordpress/install/path #
# #
####################################################################################################
timetolock=$(mysql -uuser -ppassword -se "select option_value from MySQLDatabaseName.wpTablePrefix__options where option_name='filesystem_unlocker_plugin_options'");
isitlockedalready=$(mysql -uuser -ppassword -se "select option_value from MySQLDatabaseName.wpTablePrefix__options where option_name='filesystem_unlocker_plugin_lock_state'");
if [ $timetolock -gt 0 ] && [ $isitlockedalready -eq 1 ]
then
find /path/to/public_html -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \; && find /path/to/public_html -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;
mysql -uuser -ppassword -se "update MySQLDatabaseName.wpTablePrefix__options set option_value = 0 where option_name='filesystem_unlocker_plugin_lock_state'";
fi
if [ $timetolock -eq 0 ] && [ $isitlockedalready -eq 0 ]
then
find /path/to/public_html -type d -exec chmod 555 {} \; && find /path/to/public_html -type f -exec chmod 444 {} \;
mysql -uuser -ppassword -se "update MySQLDatabaseName.wpTablePrefix__options set option_value = 1 where option_name='filesystem_unlocker_plugin_lock_state'";
fi
if [ $timetolock -gt 0 ] && [ $isitlockedalready -eq 0 ]
then
mysql -uuser -ppassword -se "update MySQLDatabaseName.wpTablePrefix__options set option_value = option_value-1 where option_name='filesystem_unlocker_plugin_options'";
fi
The optional script in step 7 goes as follows:
#!/bin/bash
####################################################################################################
# You NEED to edit the folowing strings #
####################################################################################################
# #
# -uuser : -uYourMySQLUser... ex.: -umarc #
# -ppassword : -pYourUserSPassword... ex.: -pabracadabra #
# MySQLDatabaseName : Your MySQL database name... ex.: datab1f32 #
# wpTablePrefix__ : Your wordpress installation table prefixes... ex.: wp_prefix123__ #
# /path/to/public_html : the path to your webserver's root document... ex.: /home/user/public_html #
# #
####################################################################################################
####################################################################################################
# Note on the choice of the path to be locked... #
####################################################################################################
# #
# The above mention of /path/to/public_html may or may not be accurate in the case your WordPress #
# installation is not at the root of your webserver's tree. But take into account I suggest you #
# lock your WHOLE filesystem because if you choose to lock only your WordPress's files, any hacker #
# being "ethical" as they are, will write outside of your "locked zone" and exploit your webserver.#
# Thus, I STRONGLY suggest you lock your WHOLE filesystem. #
# #
# Should you choose otherwise, you could adapt the above #
# /path/to/public_html #
# with #
# /path/to/public_html/wordpress/install/path #
# #
####################################################################################################
find /path/to/public_html -type d -exec chmod 555 {} \; && find /path/to/public_html -type f -exec chmod 444 {} \;
mysql -uuser -ppassword -se "update MySQLDatabaseName.wpTablePrefix__options set option_value = 1 where option_name='filesystem_unlocker_plugin_lock_state'";
Changelog
Nothing to do.
1.1
- Transformed all admin pages request into admin_url( $path, $scheme ) instead of hardcoding paths.
1.0
- Initial release
For developers
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FAQ
Filesystem Unlocker: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 21, 2026
Is Filesystem Unlocker free?
Yes. Filesystem Unlocker is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Filesystem Unlocker safe to use in 2026?
Filesystem Unlocker shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 10+ sites and was last updated 11 years ago, and scores 23/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Filesystem Unlocker?
Filesystem Unlocker is active on 10+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 1,768 times since it launched in March 2016. It was downloaded 47 times in the last 30 days.
Does Filesystem Unlocker work with WordPress 7.1?
Filesystem Unlocker is officially tested up to WordPress 4.4.34, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was Filesystem Unlocker last updated?
The latest version, 1.0, was released on March 9, 2016 (11 years ago).
Who makes Filesystem Unlocker?
Filesystem Unlocker is developed and maintained by duke_justice.
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