Grey Rock Block Synchroniser for Wordfence and Cloudflare

Grey Rock Block Synchroniser for Wordfence and Cloudflare sends qualifying Wordfence firewall blocks to Cloudflare so hostile traffic can be stopped at Cloudflare's network edge before it reaches the WordPress server. Why Grey Rock? The name Grey Rock is inspired by the grey rock method: becoming uninteresting and unrewarding to someone seeking attention or a reaction. Grey Rock applies that concept to hostile website traffic. Wordfence identifies qualifying blocked IP addresses, and Grey Rock synchronises them with Cloudflare. Cloudflare can then stop those addresses at the network edge before their requests reach WordPress. The objective is simple: make your website boring to repeat attackers. Instead of allowing the same hostile traffic to keep reaching the server, Grey Rock helps the site respond with less exposure, less interaction and fewer consumed server resources. Grey Rock does not replace Wordfence, Cloudflare or a layered security program. It connects them so qualifying Wordfence blocks can be enforced earlier, closer to the source of the traffic. The plugin supports two Cloudflare destinations. Zone Access Rules Creates Cloudflare IP block rules for one zone. Use this mode when Wordfence blocks should protect one Cloudflare zone. Account IP List Adds IP addresses to a reusable Cloudflare account-level IP list. Use this mode when several domains or Cloudflare zones should share the same list. An Account IP List does not block traffic by itself. You must create a Cloudflare Custom Rule with the Block action in every zone that should use the list. Example rule: ip.src in $wordfence_hot_blocklist The recommended list name is: wordfence_hot_blocklist Current and historical Wordfence blocks The plugin can synchronise:

• Current Wordfence blocks when the installed Wordfence version exposes its active-block interface.
• Historical Wordfence Web Application Firewall events recorded as blocked:waf.

Historical synchronisation is configurable:

• Lookback period: 1, 3, 6, 12 or 24 hours.
• Minimum blocked events per IP address: 1 through 100.
• Default lookback: 24 hours.
• Default threshold: 1 event.

Repeated events from the same address are deduplicated before synchronisation. Invalid, private and reserved IP addresses are rejected during historical-event processing. DDNS-resolved administrator allow list The optional administrator allow list is intended for administrators whose public address changes and is already maintained by a DDNS provider. Enter a hostname only, for example: admin.example.com Do not enter a URL, path or port. Grey Rock does not create or update DNS records. It also does not provide a DDNS service or require DNS editing permission. If Cloudflare hosts the DDNS record, configure the dedicated hostname as DNS only. A proxied hostname returns Cloudflare proxy addresses instead of the administrator's actual public address. Grey Rock resolves public A and AAAA records. Private, loopback, link-local, reserved and invalid addresses are rejected. Multiple valid public results are displayed and handled separately. Configuration procedure:

1. Confirm that the DDNS hostname returns the administrator's current public address.
2. Enter the hostname in DDNS domain.
3. Select Save settings and resolve now.
4. Confirm the read-only Resolved addresses values.
5. Select Administrator allow list.
6. Save the settings.
7. Run synchronisation or wait for the next scheduled run.

When enabled, the resolved addresses are excluded from current and historical Wordfence candidates. During synchronisation, Grey Rock removes those addresses from the configured Cloudflare Account IP List or Zone Access Rules destination. Related local synchronisation records are cleared only after Cloudflare confirms the required final state. A failed Cloudflare removal causes the synchronisation to fail so a later run can retry. Grey Rock refreshes the lookup when settings are saved and before synchronisation when the previous attempt is at least five minutes old. A temporary DNS failure retains the last successful addresses for up to 24 hours. After that period, no stored address remains effective until resolution succeeds. A successful lookup replaces the old address set. Previous addresses are no longer trusted after DNS returns a different set. IPv4 and IPv6 addresses remain exact individual addresses. Grey Rock does not expand IPv6 addresses to /64 and does not create inferred CIDR allow-list entries. In multisite, Network Admin may provide one shared DDNS hostname for all inheriting sites. Site-specific configurations may use a separate hostname. A DNS-only DDNS hostname exposes its current public address through DNS. Use a dedicated non-web hostname and consider that disclosure before enabling the feature. Scheduling Grey Rock supports three scheduling methods:

• WordPress WP-Cron schedules synchronization inside WordPress.
• External scheduler removes Grey Rock's synchronization WP-Cron event and permits a system scheduler to invoke WP-CLI.
• Manual synchronization only disables automatic synchronization while retaining the GUI buttons and forced WP-CLI commands.

Available intervals are every minute, every 5 minutes, every 15 minutes and hourly. WP-Cron is request-driven. Selecting every minute makes synchronization eligible every minute but does not guarantee execution at an exact minute boundary. External scheduling does not require Docker. An ordinary WordPress installation can use: wp --path=/var/www/html grey-rock-block-synchroniser-for-wordfence-and-cloudflare sync-site --due A multisite network can use: wp --path=/var/www/html grey-rock-block-synchroniser-for-wordfence-and-cloudflare sync-network --due sync-network processes only sites inheriting Network Admin settings. A selected multisite site can use sync-site with WP-CLI's --url parameter. An external scheduler may check every minute. The --due command reads the GUI interval and exits successfully without synchronizing when the interval has not elapsed or External scheduler is not selected. The GUI buttons and --force commands run immediately regardless of scheduling method or interval. Every attempt, including a manual or failed attempt, resets the due interval. A site-level atomic lock prevents overlapping synchronization. An abandoned lock becomes stale after 15 minutes. Selecting External scheduler or Manual synchronization only removes only Grey Rock's synchronization event. It does not disable WordPress cron globally. Cleanup is separate maintenance and remains scheduled hourly in all three modes. Complete systemd, traditional cron, hosting control-panel and optional Docker Compose examples are provided in the GitHub README. Multisite support When network activated:

• Network Admin can provide shared Cloudflare settings.
• Individual sites may inherit the network configuration.
• Site-specific overrides can be permitted by Network Admin.
• Network Admin provides a Synchronise Network Now action.
• Each site has a Synchronisation Log containing only that site's records, including when it inherits Network Admin configuration.
• Network Admin provides a combined Synchronisation Log containing recent records from every site.
• Individual sites retain their own synchronisation logs and manual IP block pages.
• Sites using independent settings retain their own site-level controls.

Manual management and diagnostics The plugin provides:

• Cloudflare configuration validation.
• A diagnostic add-and-remove test.
• Manual account-list add and remove controls.
• A required reason for manually added account-list entries.
• Manual site-level IP blocking.
• Synchronisation logs.
• Cleanup and reconciliation where Cloudflare-entry ownership is isolated to one site.

Wordfence compatibility Wordfence does not provide a stable public API for every block source used by this plugin. Grey Rock checks whether the installed Wordfence active-block interface is available before using it. When that interface is unavailable, historical WAF synchronisation continues through the Wordfence event table. A future Wordfence release could change its internal class or database schema. Such a change may require a Grey Rock compatibility update. Independence and trademarks Grey Rock Block Synchroniser for Wordfence and Cloudflare is developed independently by Greyscale Zone. This plugin is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Wordfence or Cloudflare. Wordfence and Cloudflare are trademarks of their respective owners.

1. Install and activate Wordfence.
2. Install and activate Grey Rock Block Synchroniser for Wordfence and Cloudflare.
3. Open Grey Rock Block Synchroniser in WordPress Admin.
4. For shared multisite settings, open the plugin in Network Admin.

Recommended Account IP List setup

1. In Cloudflare, open Settings → Configurations → Lists.
2. Select Create new list.
3. Create an IP list named wordfence_hot_blocklist.
4. Create a restricted Cloudflare custom API token.
5. Add Account → Account Filter Lists → Edit.
6. Restrict the token to the account that owns the list.
7. Copy the API token.
8. Copy the Account ID from the Cloudflare account or zone Overview page.
9. In Grey Rock, select Account IP List.
10. Enter the API token, Account ID and List Name.
11. Enter the List Name without the dollar sign.
12. Select the scheduling method, interval, historical lookback and event threshold.
13. Optionally enter a DNS-only hostname in DDNS domain.
14. Optionally select Administrator allow list.
15. Save the settings and confirm the read-only resolved addresses.
16. Select Validate Saved Cloudflare Configuration.
17. Run a test block using a safe public IP address.

The token does not need DNS editing permission. Do not use a Global API Key. Create the Cloudflare blocking rule An Account IP List does not block traffic by itself. Repeat these steps in every protected Cloudflare zone:

1. Open Security rules → Create rule → Custom rules.
2. Enter a descriptive rule name.
3. Enter ip.src in $wordfence_hot_blocklist.
4. Select Block as the action.
5. Deploy the rule.

In the older Cloudflare dashboard, use Security → WAF → Custom rules. Verify operation

1. Select Sync Now or Synchronise Network Now.
2. Confirm that qualifying addresses appear in the Cloudflare list.
3. Open Synchronisation Log.
4. Confirm that Site Admin shows only the current site's records.
5. Confirm that Network Admin combines records from every site.

A site keeps its own Synchronisation Log when it uses Network Admin configuration. Configuration inheritance does not expose another site's records in Site Admin. Zone Access Rules alternative For one zone, select Zone Access Rules and create a token with:

• Zone → Firewall Services → Edit
• Zone → Zone → Read

Enter the token and Zone ID in Grey Rock. This mode does not use an account list or a Custom Rule.

1.3.1

• Added a DNS-resolved administrator allow list for existing DDNS hostnames.
• Added read-only public A and AAAA lookup results.
• Excluded trusted addresses from current and historical Wordfence candidates.
• Automatically removes trusted addresses from the configured Cloudflare block destination.
• Clears related local synchronisation records after confirmed removal.
• Added five-minute refresh control and a 24-hour DNS-failure grace period.
• Added exact IPv6 handling, multisite support, tests and full user documentation.

1.2.2

• Corrected Synchronisation Log table rendering.
• Standardised Site Admin and Network Admin log labels and headings.
• Kept Site Admin logs site-specific when network settings are inherited.
• Retained the combined Network Admin log across all sites.
• Updated Cloudflare permission terminology and dashboard navigation.
• Added step-by-step Cloudflare setup and verification instructions.
• Added a static log and documentation regression test.

1.2.1

• Corrected GitHub release automation to use the authoritative plugin entry point and Makefile release process.
• Added continuous integration across PHP 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 and 8.4.
• Corrected repository documentation for the plugin directory, main plugin file and release process.
• Updated the security policy to identify 1.2.x as the supported release series.
• Updated release commands so the release ZIP is built and verified before a release tag is created.
• No synchronisation, Wordfence or Cloudflare runtime behaviour changed.

1.2.0

• Hardened synchronization locking with unique ownership tokens, atomic stale-lock replacement and owner-only release.
• Added centralized validation for publicly routable IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.
• Added centralized validation and normalization for Cloudflare API tokens, Zone IDs, Account IDs, List IDs and List Names.
• Rejected private, reserved, loopback, link-local, documentation, benchmarking, multicast and unspecified addresses.
• Unified Cloudflare JSON parsing and required valid response envelopes with success: true.
• Added strict Cloudflare response-result and pagination validation.
• Corrected current-block retrieval so HTTP failures and malformed responses fail closed.
• Limited Cloudflare response bodies to 1 MiB before JSON decoding.
• Added explicit HTTPS transport settings, including TLS verification, a 30-second timeout, a three-redirect limit and unsafe-URL rejection.
• Normalized and length-limited Cloudflare comments, access-rule notes and synchronization-log reasons.
• Hardened Cloudflare identifiers returned by the API before using or caching them.
• Audited all administrative actions for capability checks, action-specific nonces, sanitized input and safe redirects.

1.1.12

• Added an every-minute synchronization interval.
• Added WordPress WP-Cron, external scheduler and manual-only scheduling modes.
• Added plugin-specific WP-CLI commands for due and forced site or network synchronization.
• Added synchronization due-time enforcement and overlap locking.
• Separated hourly cleanup maintenance from the synchronization interval.
• Centralized multisite network synchronization for the GUI and WP-CLI.
• Added deployment-neutral scheduling documentation, including standard WP-CLI, systemd, traditional cron, hosting control-panel and optional Docker Compose examples.

1.1.11

• Added a Why Grey Rock explanation to the plugin directory description.
• Updated the short description to explain the goal of making the site less rewarding to repeat attackers.
• Added six screenshot captions for the WordPress.org Plugin Directory.

1.1.10

• Moved Cloudflare Account ID before Cloudflare API Token.
• Left-aligned the Cloudflare Tests controls.
• Moved Validate Saved Cloudflare Configuration above the test IP field.
• Moved Run Test Block directly below the test IP field.
• Updated documentation to match the administration interface.

1.1.9

• Renamed the plugin to Grey Rock Block Synchroniser for Wordfence and Cloudflare.
• Changed the plugin slug and text domain to grey-rock-block-synchroniser-for-wordfence-and-cloudflare.
• Renamed the main plugin file to grey-rock-block-synchroniser-for-wordfence-and-cloudflare.php.
• Moved administration JavaScript to assets/admin.js.
• Enqueued administration JavaScript through WordPress.
• Updated repository URLs, release packaging and translation metadata.

1.1.8

• Changed all branding from Grey Rock to Grey Rock.
• Changed the plugin slug and text domain to grey-rock-block-synchroniser-for-wordfence-and-cloudflare.
• Changed the release ZIP and plugin directory name to grey-rock-block-synchroniser-for-wordfence-and-cloudflare.
• Renamed the translation template to match the new text domain.
• Changed PHP global prefixes from grey_rock_ to grey_rock_.
• Updated repository and documentation URLs for the Grey Rock name.

1.1.7

• Added direct-access protection to the synchronisation log table.
• Corrected log-table pagination input handling and output escaping.
• Added required translator comments for placeholder strings.
• Sanitised submitted settings arrays before configuration processing.
• Documented nonce verification for the shared scope helper.
• Removed obsolete manual translation-domain loading.

1.1.6

• Added WordPress.org-compatible licensing and metadata.
• Added Cloudflare external-service documentation.
• Added privacy and data-retention documentation.
• Aligned the translation domain with the proposed WordPress.org slug.
• Added separate GitHub-compatible and WordPress.org-compatible release packages.
• Included readme.txt in release packages.

1.1.5

• Added configurable historical Wordfence WAF lookback.
• Added a configurable minimum historical-event threshold.
• Added numeric validation for historical settings.
• Added Network Admin synchronisation for sites inheriting shared settings.
• Added a combined Network Admin synchronisation log.
• Added reasons for manually added Cloudflare account-list entries.
• Prevented fatal errors when Wordfence does not expose wfBlock::getBlocks().
• Updated compatibility metadata for WordPress 7.0.

1.1.2

• Added Cloudflare Account IP List mode.
• Added automatic list-identifier resolution from the visible list name.
• Added manual account-list add and remove controls.
• Added Cloudflare configuration validation and diagnostic block testing.
• Corrected Cloudflare account-list item deletion.
• Updated Grey Rock branding and release packaging.