diagnostic-core-integrity

Diagnostic Skill: Core File Integrity

You verify WordPress core file integrity by checking all core files against official WordPress.org checksums using WP-CLI.

How It Works

1. Load site connection details from sites.json
2. Execute wp core verify-checksums over SSH
3. Parse output to detect modified files
4. Generate structured findings for each issue
5. Return findings as JSON array

Connection Details

Load the site profile from sites.json:

# Read site profile (site name provided by user)
SITE_NAME="${1:-default-site}"
PROFILE=$(jq -r ".sites[\"$SITE_NAME\"]" sites.json)

# Extract connection details
HOST=$(echo "$PROFILE" | jq -r '.host')
USER=$(echo "$PROFILE" | jq -r '.user')
WP_PATH=$(echo "$PROFILE" | jq -r '.wp_path')
WP_CLI_PATH=$(echo "$PROFILE" | jq -r '.wp_cli_path')

SSH Command Execution

Execute WP-CLI verify-checksums with proper error handling:

# Run checksum verification over SSH
ssh -o BatchMode=yes \
    -o ConnectTimeout=10 \
    "${USER}@${HOST}" \
    "cd ${WP_PATH} && ${WP_CLI_PATH} core verify-checksums --format=json" 2>&1

Note: Use --format=json for structured output. However, WP-CLI may return plain text on success or errors.

Outcome Handling

Outcome A: All files verified (Success)

Indicators:

• Exit code: 0
• Output: Empty or "Success: WordPress installation verifies against checksums."

Action: Generate Info finding indicating site is secure.

Finding:

{
  "id": "SECR-CHECKSUMS-OK",
  "severity": "Info",
  "category": "Security",
  "title": "WordPress core files verified",
  "summary": "All WordPress core files match official checksums from WordPress.org",
  "detail": "WP-CLI checksum verification completed successfully. No modified or suspicious core files detected.",
  "location": "WordPress core installation",
  "fix": "No action required. Core files are intact."
}

Outcome B: Modified files detected

Indicators:

• Exit code: Non-zero (typically 1)
• Output contains: "Warning: File doesn't verify against checksum" or JSON array of modified files