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WordPress Guide → Security → How Hackers Mine Admin Email
How do hackers mine WordPress for admin email addresses (and how to prevent it)
Your WordPress admin email is more exposed than you might think. Hackers actively hunt for this information to launch spam attacks, phishing schemes, and brute-force login attempts.
If you’re running a WordPress site, understanding how they gather admin emails, and how to protect yours, is crucial for keeping your website safe.
Why hackers target WordPress admin email addresses
WordPress admin emails are a valuable target for cybercriminals. Here’s why they focus on finding them:
- Credential stuffing: If hackers know your admin email, they can attempt to log in with leaked passwords from previous breaches.
- Phishing attacks: Knowing your admin email allows hackers to send convincing fake emails trying to trick you into revealing your login credentials.
- Spam and malware: Once they have your email, they can bombard you with spam or malicious links aiming to compromise your site or your computer.
- Account takeover attempts: Using password reset functions linked to your email, hackers may try to take control of your WordPress admin account.
How hackers mine WordPress for admin email addresses
Hackers use several methods to find exposed admin emails on WordPress websites. Here’s a breakdown of the most common tactics:
1. Author archive pages
By default, WordPress creates an “author” page for each user who publishes content. Many themes and plugins display the author’s publicly associated email, either directly or through metadata.
- When visiting yoursite.com/author/username, hackers can view the author’s profile.
- Some themes show the author’s Gravatar image, which is linked to an email address.
- Even if the email isn’t displayed, hackers may cross-reference the username with known breaches or public databases.
2. Comment sections
If your site allows comments and users must log in to comment, WordPress sometimes associates their email addresses with their profiles publicly or semi-publicly. Plugins or poor coding practices can leak this information.
- A hacker can view the HTML source code of your comment sections and search for hidden email addresses.
- Some older themes or plugins might accidentally output emails into the page metadata.
3. Contact forms and page scraping
Many websites include a public email on contact pages or footers. Hackers use bots to scrape websites for anything resembling an email address.
- Even if you obscure your email (like “admin [at] site [dot] com”), some bots are smart enough to recognize and reformat it.
- Contact form plugins that leak submission metadata could also expose your admin email.
4. WordPress REST API
The WordPress REST API can leak information if improperly secured. By accessing certain endpoints, hackers can pull details about registered users, sometimes including email addresses.
- The /wp-json/wp/v2/users/ endpoint can expose user data like usernames and Gravatar hashes.
- From a Gravatar hash, attackers can sometimes guess the underlying email address.
5. XML-RPC Exploits
XML-RPC is a WordPress feature that allows remote connections. While it doesn’t directly expose emails, it’s often used for brute-forcing login attempts once an admin email is discovered.
- Hackers pair mined admin emails with XML-RPC attacks to automate password guessing.
- Some XML-RPC methods, like system.listMethods, can reveal available actions hackers can exploit.
6. Theme and plugin vulnerabilities
Poorly coded or outdated plugins and themes may accidentally leak admin email addresses through their templates, error messages, or support forms.
- Attackers often scan a WordPress site’s theme and plugin versions to look for known vulnerabilities.
- Exploiting a vulnerable plugin might dump user tables that include admin emails.
How to prevent hackers from finding your WordPress admin email
While WordPress exposes certain information by default, you can take strong steps to minimize risks and protect your email address.
1. Create a dedicated public user
Instead of posting content under your admin account, create a separate “Editor” or “Author” account.
- Use a generic name and email for this public account, not your real admin email.
- Only log into your true admin account when necessary.
2. Disable or restrict the REST API
If your site doesn’t use the REST API publicly, you can disable or restrict it.
- Use a plugin like Disable WP REST API to control access.
- Alternatively, restrict API access to logged-in users only.
3. Hide author archives
If your WordPress theme automatically creates author pages, disable them unless you really need them.
- Use an SEO plugin like Yoast SEO or Rank Math to noindex or disable author archives.
- Redirect /author/username pages to the homepage or a custom page.
4. Protect your comment section
Configure your comment settings carefully to avoid exposing user metadata.
- Disable HTML output that leaks user emails.
- Use plugins like Antispam Bee to manage comments securely without exposing personal info.
5. Use email obfuscation techniques
If you must list an email address publicly:
- Use JavaScript-based obfuscation plugins like Email Address Encoder.
- Replace visible email addresses with contact forms whenever possible.
6. Harden XML-RPC
If you don’t need XML-RPC, disable it completely.
Add the following line to your .htaccess file:
<Files xmlrpc.php> Order Deny,Allow Deny from all </Files>Alternatively, use a plugin like Disable XML-RPC to shut it off.
7. Keep plugins, themes, and WordPress core updated
Many vulnerabilities that leak admin emails are patched quickly by developers.
- Always run the latest version of WordPress, your active theme, and all plugins.
- Delete any unused plugins or themes to reduce your attack surface.
8. Use strong security plugins
A comprehensive security plugin can help monitor and prevent email mining attempts.
- Wordfence can block malicious bots and attempts to exploit REST API endpoints.
- Sucuri Security provides site hardening options to prevent information leaks.
Next steps for protecting your WordPress admin email
Keeping your WordPress admin email safe is one of the smartest moves you can make to prevent cyberattacks. Hackers use surprisingly simple techniques to mine emails, but a few preventative steps can close those gaps and keep your site secure.
Start by creating a separate public user account, securing your REST API and author pages, and tightening comment section settings. Then move on to harder defenses like disabling XML-RPC, keeping everything updated, and using a good security plugin.
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Lindsey Miller is the former Partner Manager for Liquid Web Managed WordPress Hosting. She’s been involved in various aspects in the WordPress community for over 7 years and helped start a non-profit teaching kids to code, The Div.