WordPress Blocks High-Risk Plugin Releases With New AI-Powered Automated Security Review
WordPress.org now runs AI-powered automated security reviews on every plugin release, automatically blocking high-risk updates before distribution to millions of sites.
WordPress launched an automated security review that combines multiple AI models and Jetpack Scan during a six-hour cooldown to score each plugin release; updates above the blocking threshold are automatically held back from the WordPress.org update API. The change follows a July 28 incident where a backdoor added to a plugin with roughly 20,000 active installations was detected during cooldown and never delivered; the Plugins Team removed it 26 minutes after a Wordfence notification. Blocked developers receive an email with findings and are advised to publish a corrected version rather than await manual appeal.