Primary reasons to create a Notice about the significant changes to the BPS htaccess files vs just doing a normal/typical automatic update of the BPS htaccess files:
Affects BPS Pro version 9.8 and higher and BPS free versions .51.2 and higher
Significant Difference in Visual Appearance: The visual appearance/format/structure of the root and wp-admin htaccess files is significantly different. This is probably the most important reason to notify folks about the significant changes to the BPS htaccess files to avoid confusion or concern about the new significant changes made in these files.
Personal Customizations to Help Text: Hypothetically if someone has created their own personal customizations or added additional help text in the htaccess files then doing a typical automatic string replacement in the htaccess files could in theory delete or remove personal customizations. This is probably the second most important reason to notify folks about the significant changes to the BPS htaccess files instead of just doing the normal/typical automatic update of the BPS htaccess files.
Most Important changes/fixes/improvements to the BPS root and wp-admin htaccess files:
Important root htaccess file/code fix: Removal of additional instances of “BEGIN WordPress” and “END WordPress” text from the root htaccess file which caused multiple instances of the default wp htaccess code to be created in the root htaccess file when the WP flush_rewrite_rules function was executed by other plugins and themes.
htaccess help text improvement overall: The help text throughout both the root and wp-admin htaccess files was very dated and was in need of updating. Better/clearer examples have been created in the help text. Overall the htaccess files are more streamlined and less cluttered looking visually.
Structure/Order Code Changes: Several blocks of htaccess code has been structured differently as far as the general order/sequence of code goes in the root htaccess file and more importantly what code will remain in the root htaccess file in the event that the WP flush_rewrite_rules function is executed by another plugin or theme. There are several technical reasons for making these structure/order changes, which I will not bore you with. Basically things are structured/ordered much better for any/every possible scenario that may occur.
Note: This is a one-time BPS Update that requires manual steps to be performed. All future versions of BPS will do the normal/typical automatic update of the BPS htaccess files. Overall we felt that creating a Notice about these significant changes vs just doing a normal automatic update was the best route to take for the primary reasons stated above and some additional reasons not stated here.
Root htaccess File
# BULLETPROOF PRO 9.8 SECURE .HTACCESS
# PHP/PHP.INI HANDLER/CACHE CODE
# Use BPS Custom Code to add php/php.ini Handler and Cache htaccess code and to save it permanently.
# Most Hosts do not have/use/require php/php.ini Handler htaccess code
# BEGIN WordPress
# TURN OFF YOUR SERVER SIGNATURE
# Suppresses the footer line server version number and ServerName of the serving virtual host
ServerSignature Off
# DO NOT SHOW DIRECTORY LISTING
# Disallow mod_autoindex from displaying a directory listing
# If a 500 Internal Server Error occurs when activating Root BulletProof Mode
# copy the entire DO NOT SHOW DIRECTORY LISTING and DIRECTORY INDEX sections of code
# and paste it into BPS Custom Code and comment out Options -Indexes
# by adding a # sign in front of it.
# Example: #Options -Indexes
Options -Indexes
# DIRECTORY INDEX FORCE INDEX.PHP
# Use index.php as default directory index file. index.html will be ignored.
# If a 500 Internal Server Error occurs when activating Root BulletProof Mode
# copy the entire DO NOT SHOW DIRECTORY LISTING and DIRECTORY INDEX sections of code
# and paste it into BPS Custom Code and comment out DirectoryIndex
# by adding a # sign in front of it.
# Example: #DirectoryIndex index.php index.html /index.php
DirectoryIndex index.php index.html /index.php
# BRUTE FORCE LOGIN PAGE PROTECTION
# PLACEHOLDER ONLY
# Use BPS Custom Code to add Brute Force Login protection code and to save it permanently.
# See this link: http://forum.ait-pro.com/forums/topic/protect-login-page-from-brute-force-login-attacks/
# for more information.
# BPS PRO ERROR LOGGING AND TRACKING
# Use BPS Custom Code to modify/edit/change this code and to save it permanently.
# BPS Pro has premade 403 Forbidden, 400 Bad Request and 404 Not Found files that are used
# to track and log 403, 400 and 404 errors that occur on your website. When a hacker attempts to
# hack your website the hackers IP address, Host name, Request Method, Referering link, the file name or
# requested resource, the user agent of the hacker and the query string used in the hack attempt are logged.
# All BPS Pro log files are htaccess protected so that only you can view them.
# The 400.php, 403.php and 404.php files are located in /wp-content/plugins/bulletproof-security/
# The 400 and 403 Error logging files are already set up and will automatically start logging errors
# after you install BPS Pro and have activated BulletProof Mode for your Root folder.
# If you would like to log 404 errors you will need to copy the logging code in the BPS Pro 404.php file
# to your Theme's 404.php template file. Simple instructions are included in the BPS Pro 404.php file.
# You can open the BPS Pro 404.php file using the WP Plugins Editor or by using the BPS Pro File Manager.
# NOTE: By default WordPress automatically looks in your Theme's folder for a 404.php Theme template file.
ErrorDocument 400 /wp-content/plugins/bulletproof-security/400.php
ErrorDocument 401 default
ErrorDocument 403 /wp-content/plugins/bulletproof-security/403.php
ErrorDocument 404 /404.php
# DENY ACCESS TO PROTECTED SERVER FILES AND FOLDERS
# Use BPS Custom Code to modify/edit/change this code and to save it permanently.
# Files and folders starting with a dot: .htaccess, .htpasswd, .errordocs, .logs
RedirectMatch 403 \.(htaccess|htpasswd|errordocs|logs)$
# WP-ADMIN/INCLUDES
# Use BPS Custom Code to remove this code permanently.
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^wp-admin/includes/ - [F]
RewriteRule !^wp-includes/ - [S=3]
RewriteRule ^wp-includes/[^/]+\.php$ - [F]
RewriteRule ^wp-includes/js/tinymce/langs/.+\.php - [F]
RewriteRule ^wp-includes/theme-compat/ - [F]
# WP REWRITE LOOP START
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
# REQUEST METHODS FILTERED
# If you want to allow HEAD Requests use BPS Custom Code and
# remove/delete HEAD| from the Request Method filter.
# Example: RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} ^(TRACE|DELETE|TRACK|DEBUG) [NC]
# The TRACE, DELETE, TRACK and DEBUG Request methods should never be removed.
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} ^(HEAD|TRACE|DELETE|TRACK|DEBUG) [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ - [F]
# PLUGINS/THEMES AND VARIOUS EXPLOIT FILTER SKIP RULES
# To add plugin/theme skip/bypass rules use BPS Custom Code.
# The [S] flag is used to skip following rules. Skip rule [S=12] will skip 12 following RewriteRules.
# The skip rules MUST be in descending consecutive number order: 12, 11, 10, 9...
# If you delete a skip rule, change the other skip rule numbers accordingly.
# Examples: If RewriteRule [S=5] is deleted than change [S=6] to [S=5], [S=7] to [S=6], etc.
# If you add a new skip rule above skip rule 12 it will be skip rule 13: [S=13]
# Adminer MySQL management tool data populate
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/wp-content/plugins/adminer/ [NC]
RewriteRule . - [S=12]
# Comment Spam Pack MU Plugin - CAPTCHA images not displaying
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/wp-content/mu-plugins/custom-anti-spam/ [NC]
RewriteRule . - [S=11]
# Peters Custom Anti-Spam display CAPTCHA Image
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/wp-content/plugins/peters-custom-anti-spam-image/ [NC]
RewriteRule . - [S=10]
# Status Updater plugin fb connect
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/wp-content/plugins/fb-status-updater/ [NC]
RewriteRule . - [S=9]
# Stream Video Player - Adding FLV Videos Blocked
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/wp-content/plugins/stream-video-player/ [NC]
RewriteRule . - [S=8]
# XCloner 404 or 403 error when updating settings
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/wp-content/plugins/xcloner-backup-and-restore/ [NC]
RewriteRule . - [S=7]
# BuddyPress Logout Redirect
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} action=logout&redirect_to=http%3A%2F%2F(.*) [NC]
RewriteRule . - [S=6]
# redirect_to=
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} redirect_to=(.*) [NC]
RewriteRule . - [S=5]
# Login Plugins Password Reset And Redirect 1
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} action=resetpass&key=(.*) [NC]
RewriteRule . - [S=4]
# Login Plugins Password Reset And Redirect 2
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} action=rp&key=(.*) [NC]
RewriteRule . - [S=3]
# TIMTHUMB FORBID RFI and MISC FILE SKIP/BYPASS RULE
# Use BPS Custom Code to modify/edit/change this code and to save it permanently.
# Remote File Inclusion (RFI) security rules
# Note: Only whitelist your additional domains or files if needed - do not whitelist hacker domains or files
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^.*(http|https|ftp)(%3A|:)(%2F|/)(%2F|/)(w){0,3}.?(blogger|picasa|blogspot|tsunami|petapolitik|photobucket|imgur|imageshack|wordpress\.com|img\.youtube|tinypic\.com|upload\.wikimedia|kkc|start-thegame).*$ [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^.*(http|https|ftp)(%3A|:)(%2F|/)(%2F|/)(w){0,3}.?(blogger|picasa|blogspot|tsunami|petapolitik|photobucket|imgur|imageshack|wordpress\.com|img\.youtube|tinypic\.com|upload\.wikimedia|kkc|start-thegame).*$ [NC]
RewriteRule .* index.php [F]
#
# Example: Whitelist additional misc files: (example\.php|another-file\.php|phpthumb\.php|thumb\.php|thumbs\.php)
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (timthumb\.php|phpthumb\.php|thumb\.php|thumbs\.php) [NC]
# Example: Whitelist additional website domains: RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} ^.*(YourWebsite.com|AnotherWebsite.com).*
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} ^.*aitpro.local.*
RewriteRule . - [S=1]
# BEGIN BPSQSE BPS QUERY STRING EXPLOITS
# The libwww-perl User Agent is forbidden - Many bad bots use libwww-perl modules, but some good bots use it too.
# Good sites such as W3C use it for their W3C-LinkChecker.
# Use BPS Custom Code to add or remove user agents temporarily or permanently from the
# User Agent filters directly below or to modify/edit/change any of the other security code rules below.
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} (havij|libwww-perl|wget|python|nikto|curl|scan|java|winhttp|clshttp|loader) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} (%0A|%0D|%27|%3C|%3E|%00) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} (;|<|>|'|"|\)|\(|%0A|%0D|%22|%27|%28|%3C|%3E|%00).*(libwww-perl|wget|python|nikto|curl|scan|java|winhttp|HTTrack|clshttp|archiver|loader|email|harvest|extract|grab|miner) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} (\?|\*|%2a)+(%20+|\\s+|%20+\\s+|\\s+%20+|\\s+%20+\\s+)HTTP(:/|/) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} etc/passwd [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} cgi-bin [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} (%0A|%0D|\\r|\\n) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} owssvr\.dll [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} (%0A|%0D|%27|%3C|%3E|%00) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} \.opendirviewer\. [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} users\.skynet\.be.* [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} [a-zA-Z0-9_]=http:// [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} [a-zA-Z0-9_]=(\.\.//?)+ [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} [a-zA-Z0-9_]=/([a-z0-9_.]//?)+ [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} \=PHP[0-9a-f]{8}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{12} [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (\.\./|%2e%2e%2f|%2e%2e/|\.\.%2f|%2e\.%2f|%2e\./|\.%2e%2f|\.%2e/) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ftp\: [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} http\: [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} https\: [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} \=\|w\| [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^(.*)/self/(.*)$ [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^(.*)cPath=http://(.*)$ [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (\<|%3C).*script.*(\>|%3E) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (<|%3C)([^s]*s)+cript.*(>|%3E) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (\<|%3C).*embed.*(\>|%3E) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (<|%3C)([^e]*e)+mbed.*(>|%3E) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (\<|%3C).*object.*(\>|%3E) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (<|%3C)([^o]*o)+bject.*(>|%3E) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (\<|%3C).*iframe.*(\>|%3E) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (<|%3C)([^i]*i)+frame.*(>|%3E) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} base64_encode.*\(.*\) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} base64_(en|de)code[^(]*\([^)]*\) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} GLOBALS(=|\[|\%[0-9A-Z]{0,2}) [OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} _REQUEST(=|\[|\%[0-9A-Z]{0,2}) [OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^.*(\(|\)|<|>|%3c|%3e).* [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^.*(\x00|\x04|\x08|\x0d|\x1b|\x20|\x3c|\x3e|\x7f).* [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (NULL|OUTFILE|LOAD_FILE) [OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (\.{1,}/)+(motd|etc|bin) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (localhost|loopback|127\.0\.0\.1) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (<|>|'|%0A|%0D|%27|%3C|%3E|%00) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} concat[^\(]*\( [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} union([^s]*s)+elect [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} union([^a]*a)+ll([^s]*s)+elect [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} \-[sdcr].*(allow_url_include|allow_url_fopen|safe_mode|disable_functions|auto_prepend_file) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (;|<|>|'|"|\)|%0A|%0D|%22|%27|%3C|%3E|%00).*(/\*|union|select|insert|drop|delete|update|cast|create|char|convert|alter|declare|order|script|set|md5|benchmark|encode) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (sp_executesql) [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ - [F]
# END BPSQSE BPS QUERY STRING EXPLOITS
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
# WP REWRITE LOOP END
# DENY BROWSER ACCESS TO THESE FILES
# Use BPS Custom Code to modify/edit/change this code and to save it permanently.
# wp-config.php, bb-config.php, php.ini, php5.ini, readme.html
# Replace 88.77.66.55 with your current IP address and remove the
# pound sign # in front of the Allow from line of code below to be able to access
# any of these files directly from your Browser.
<FilesMatch "^(wp-config\.php|php\.ini|php5\.ini|readme\.html|bb-config\.php)">
Order Allow,Deny
Deny from all
#Allow from 88.77.66.55
</FilesMatch>
# END WordPress
# HOTLINKING/FORBID COMMENT SPAMMERS/BLOCK BOTS/BLOCK IP/REDIRECT CODE
# PLACEHOLDER ONLY
# Use BPS Custom Code to add custom code and save it permanently here.