[smartplanhelp]

I believe my site was automatically updated to WordPress 4.9.8 today. I went to
Appearance -> Customize, and I got a 505 Internal Error page. After a bit of
digging, I found that bbpress v 2.5.14, when deactivated, makes this problem go
away. When I enable the plugin again, the problem returns. When Deactivated the
problem goes away again. Everything else seems to work fine except for the Customize under Appearance. Since this is isolated to bbpress, I figured I should notify you.

[Robin W]

Looks like a conflict between your theme, bbpress and 4.9.8.

It works fine with a default theme.

what theme are you using?

[smartplanhelp]

I am using the WordPress Twenty Sixteen theme. Does it matter that I did not create a custom theme?
I’m new to WP, so I’m not saying it isn’t my fault. I just figured I should start here.

[Milan Petrovic]

You should find exact error behind this problem, otherwise, it will be hard to replicate. Any 500 internal error means that there is PHP error somewhere, and your server should have logged that error in the error log.

[smartplanhelp]

I’m still new with playing with this stuff. Here is the error log. The most I can do is say “yep, looks like an error.” I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty, but I have no idea what to do about it.

1533062299: /hermes/bosnaweb21a/b1063/myd.fort/public_html/smartplanhelp.com/ssv3_payload_extractor-n1fsgqs3Kq.php startup
[31-Jul-2018 14:38:38 America/New_York] PHP Notice: Undefined variable: listItem in /hermes/bosnaweb21a/b1063/myd.fort/public_html/smartplanhelp.com/ssv3_payload_extractor-n1fsgqs3Kq.php on line 341
[31-Jul-2018 14:38:38 America/New_York] PHP Notice: Undefined property: Install::$setting in /hermes/bosnaweb21a/b1063/myd.fort/public_html/smartplanhelp.com/ssv3_payload_extractor-n1fsgqs3Kq.php on line 362
[31-Jul-2018 14:38:38 America/New_York] PHP Notice: Undefined property: Install::$setting in /hermes/bosnaweb21a/b1063/myd.fort/public_html/smartplanhelp.com/ssv3_payload_extractor-n1fsgqs3Kq.php on line 362

[Milan Petrovic]

This file is not part of WordPress, and it looks awful like a malware.

[Robin W]

Agree – looks like malware – suggest you contact you host provider

[smartplanhelp]

Thank you all. I contacted the host. The Appearance problem was a PHP memory issue. They are going to do a scan and let me know what they find. I did my own scan, and it did not flag than as malware, but it did flag them as files of interest.

It’s crazy that I started this looking for why a screen wouldn’t load, and the problem was php memory, yet during the quest it is discovered that I may have malware on the site.

I know malware can happen at any time, but I started this site 4 days ago. I did not prepare for problems to start this soon. Should I use any plugin for malware? If so, do you have any recommendations or “best practices?”

Thanks again for everyone’s help and direction. Gary

[Milan Petrovic]

For malware to appaear so fast it is either your host is compromised in some way, or you have installed plugin or theme with malware (maybe some pirated versions, and that is universally bad idea, such plugins or themes contain malware in 99% of the cases).

[smartplanhelp]

I try to only do plugins that “seem” reputable. Stuff that has a strong number of positive reviews with recent updates and can be found under the WordPress list. Again, I am new though, so I still may be naive in thinking that makes them safe.

[Milan Petrovic]

You should determinr if the file is indeed malware, and then find where it came from. If you installed plugins only from WordPress.org, they should be safe.

[Robin W]

ssv3 looks like it might be a wordpress theme – is this the theme you are using?