Technical summary
How does Rule Sets presets: WP Login Protection / XML-RPC Hard Block / WP-JSON Throttle work in Aegisify WAF, and what should administrators verify? provides security telemetry and forensic context for inspected, challenged, rate-limited, blocked, and operational events. This article is grounded in the supplied Aegisify WAF 1.20.13 plugin package. It documents current behavior and defaults rather than relying on older FAQ wording.
Where administrators configure or verify it
Primary wp-admin path: wp-admin → Aegisify WAF → Logs. Exact controls can be distributed across the related tab/page when the feature is composed of multiple engines.
Current 1.20.13 defaults and related controls
The table below lists settings in the supplied current source that are directly related to this topic. The current default/bound/status shown is code-derived. Where the product does not define a named Medium preset, the shipped default is documented as the baseline operating point rather than inventing a value.
| Setting | Current default / bound / status | Why this default | How to tune safely |
|---|---|---|---|
ddos.groups.wp_login.block |
60 | The shipped value of 60 is the exact current default encoded by the plugin and should be treated as the baseline unless site evidence supports a change. | Treat this numeric value as the shipped baseline. Adjust one step at a time, document the reason, and verify the operational effect before making the setting more extreme. |
ddos.groups.wp_login.challenge |
20 | The shipped value of 20 is the exact current default encoded by the plugin and should be treated as the baseline unless site evidence supports a change. | Treat this numeric value as the shipped baseline. Adjust one step at a time, document the reason, and verify the operational effect before making the setting more extreme. |
ddos.groups.wp_login.rate_limit |
35 | The shipped value of 35 is the current baseline threshold or capacity. It is intentionally finite so the control can provide useful protection or bounded resource use without starting at an extreme. | For abuse/rate thresholds, a lower number is generally more aggressive and can stop attacks sooner but may affect legitimate bursts; a higher number is more tolerant but allows more activity before intervention. Change incrementally and validate against logs. |
access.login_branding |
OFF / false | Disabled in the shipped baseline because enabling it can change live request handling, indexing behavior, automation, enforcement, or integration traffic and should be reviewed for the specific site first. | OFF leaves the behavior inactive. Turn it ON only after checking prerequisites and expected traffic/content because this setting can introduce enforcement, automation, indexing, outbound integration, or additional processing depending on the feature. |
access.login_logo_id |
0 | Disabled in the shipped baseline because enabling it can change live request handling, indexing behavior, automation, enforcement, or integration traffic and should be reviewed for the specific site first. | OFF leaves the behavior inactive. Turn it ON only after checking prerequisites and expected traffic/content because this setting can introduce enforcement, automation, indexing, outbound integration, or additional processing depending on the feature. |
logs.alert_rule.blank_recipients_use_wp_admin_email |
Blank → WordPress admin email | This is the current recipient fallback behavior when no explicit alert email is configured. | This row documents fixed current-version behavior or a capability boundary. Change the related user-facing setting rather than attempting to tune this reference value. |
custom_rules.action_default |
log | “log” is the shipped baseline so administrators can collect evidence and verify normal traffic or behavior before moving to stronger enforcement where applicable. | Use the shipped observation mode while establishing a baseline. Move toward enforcement only when logs show the signal is reliable. Returning to monitor/observe is preferable to disabling a control entirely during false-positive tuning. |
custom_rules.allowed_actions |
Allowed values: ["log","block","skip_waf"] | This list is the current accepted-value set enforced by the supplied implementation. | Choose only from the supported set. Narrower methods/actions reduce unintended scope; unsupported values are normalized or rejected by the current implementation. |
Adjustment strategy
Change one control at a time, save it through the product UI, reproduce the legitimate and malicious/test flow, and review the product log/status surface. For enforcement controls, use Monitor/Observe first when normal behavior is uncertain; move to Block only after the signal is reliable. For thresholds, do not jump directly from the default to an extreme unless an active incident requires emergency containment and a recovery path exists.
Operational guidance
On a production WordPress site, a sudden block spike after a plugin/API deployment should first be investigated in WAF logs. Narrow the issue to the exact route, rule family, client identity, or payload characteristic. Prefer a precise exclusion/allowlist or threshold adjustment over disabling broad protection.
Technical keywords
Aegisify WAF, 1.20.13, authentication, block, brute, credential, custom, hard, json, lockout, login, managed, password, presets, protection, rpc
Source baseline
Verified package: Aegisify WAF 1.20.13. Primary source files: includes/class-aegiswaf-storage.php; includes/class-aegiswaf-ai-security.php; includes/class-aegiswaf-api-security.php; includes/class-aegiswaf-managed-rules.php; includes/ddos/class-aegiswaf-ddos-storage.php; includes/admin/pages/class-aegiswaf-page-waf-rules.php; includes/admin/pages/class-aegiswaf-page-logs.php; includes/admin/pages/class-aegiswaf-page-access.php. If a future plugin version changes these settings, support should re-read the installed version rather than carry these defaults forward automatically.