Aug
8

WordPress Error: The server XYZ at Magic Requires a Username and Password.

Daniel Curran on August 8th, 2009
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars6 Stars (8 votes, average: 5.25 out of 6)
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WordpressHere is a little surprise I received upon returning from vacation. I was editing a blog and when I went to save the post an error popped up reading:

  • The server (our server domain, e.g. DOMAIN.COM) at Magic requires a username and password.

Well isn’t that special?

The problem is caused by the vars.php file located in the WP-INCLUDES folder. Someone did a SQL Injection (Read More Here) and added code to the file.

The fix is an easy one – 2 steps:

  1. Download a new version of the vars.php file from WordPress and replace the corrupted one. Look here – Simply choose your WordPress version
  2. Update WordPress to the latest version!

Normally, the files starts:

<?php
/**
 * Creates common globals for the rest of WordPress
 *
 * Sets $pagenow global which is the current page. Checks
 * for the browser to set which one is currently being used.
 *
 * Detects which user environment WordPress is being used on.
 * Only attempts to check for Apache and IIS. Two web servers
 * with known permalink capability.
 *
 * @package WordPress
 */

But after it has been “hacked” there is encrypted text reading something like:

eval(base64_decode("JGxsbD0wO2V2YWwoYmFzZT....

So once again, Look here – Simply choose your WordPress version, go to WP-INLUDES, download Vars.php and replace the one on your server. Then update WordPress for better security.

Repost, Pass Along, Share and Enjoy:
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    • 9 Responses to “WordPress Error: The server XYZ at Magic Requires a Username and Password.”

    1. xgv
      October 5th, 2009 at 3:59 pm

      Thanks so much, at last a place where things are explained clearly. I fixed the problem in 10 secs.

    2. Ilan Kriger
      October 11th, 2009 at 4:20 pm

      thanks so much!!! great tutorial, saved my life

    3. David Yeagley
      October 11th, 2009 at 8:22 pm

      You should have the Nobel Peace Price

    4. esther
      October 17th, 2009 at 2:53 pm

      thank you SOOO much! you really helped me a TON!!

    5. Leonard Schoelkopf
      October 17th, 2009 at 11:31 pm

      This was GREAT! Newbie to WordPress and this was just what the doctor ordered. many thanks.

    6. tony
      October 18th, 2009 at 6:04 pm

      This is what being a great citizen in the internet is.. Having an issue solving it and letting other people know in case they get into the same circumstance.
      Many Thanks

    7. Fikret
      November 4th, 2009 at 4:30 pm

      Thank you for this bug fixing.
      in Turkish: Ellerin dert görmesin : )

    8. Linux Öğren
      December 26th, 2009 at 1:15 pm

      thanks you good education

    9. Edgar
      July 6th, 2010 at 2:51 pm

      Thanks so much. I kill the problem!

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