How to block WPMU DEV Hub
Operated by WPMU DEV. WPMU DEV Hub is a bot operated by WPMU DEV, a WordPress platform provider that offers hosting, site management, and agency tools. This bot monitors and manages WordPress sites from their centralized dashboard, performing automated updates, performance monitoring, and site maintenance.
How it identifies itself
Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; WPMU DEV Hub/2.0; +https://wpmudev.com)
nginx
In the server block, then reload.
# In the server block. 403 rather than 444: a closed connection tells the
# operator nothing, and an agent that gets a status code can log it.
if ($http_user_agent ~* "(WPMU DEV Hub)") {
return 403;
}
Apache
In .htaccess or the vhost.
BrowserMatchNoCase "WPMU DEV Hub" bad_bot
<RequireAll>
Require all granted
Require not env bad_bot
</RequireAll>
Cloudflare
Security → WAF → Custom rules.
# Security → WAF → Custom rules, action: Block (http.user_agent contains "WPMU DEV Hub")
WordPress
A child theme's functions.php, or a small plugin.
// functions.php of a child theme, or a small plugin. Runs before WordPress
// builds the page, so a blocked agent costs one PHP process and no queries.
add_action('init', function () {
$agent = $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'] ?? '';
foreach (['WPMU DEV Hub'] as $needle) {
if (stripos($agent, $needle) !== false) {
status_header(403);
exit('Blocked: WPMU DEV Hub');
}
}
});
A rule on the user agent is a rule on a string it chose
The server rules match on a header the requester sets, which stops the agent that says who it is and not the one that copies somebody else's name. Botscope verifies identity against DNS and published address ranges, records which check decided each request, and shows you the ones that lied.