What to do when Wordfence reports the OpenSSL version is too old? Let’s look into the solution in this article. At Bobcares, with our WordPress Support Services, we can handle your Wordfence-related issues.

What to do when Wordfence reports the OpenSSL version is too old?

Sometimes we may see the below message:

From this warning, it’s clear that Wordfence reports the OpenSSL version is too old. The website appears to be running on a server with an older version of OpenSSL, and the Wordfence plugin does not accept any OpenSSL versions older than five years. Therefore, OpenSSL must be updated to the most recent version, or at the very least to the version, Wordfence starts supporting, in order to resolve this issue.

The plugin requires a connection to the Wordfence cloud servers in order to function effectively. These servers also employ the most recent SSL/TLS technologies. Check to see if Wordfence can connect to its cloud servers if Wordfence says that the website is using an outdated version of OpenSSL.

Go to Wordfence >> Tools and select the “Diagnostics” option to do that. Look under the “Connectivity” option for “Connecting to Wordfence servers.” If we notice the following warning, Wordfence is having trouble connecting to its cloud servers.

wp_remote_post() test to noc1.wordfence.com failed! Response was: cURL error 35: Unknown SSL protocol error in connection to noc1.wordfence.com:443

Under “PHP Environment,” look at the OpenSSL version.

On the diagnostics screen, we can also go down to the “Other tests” section and select “Click to view your system’s configuration in a new window.” This will launch a new tab with the system configurations shown. Search the page for the OpenSSL version indicated there. If we see that the version of OpenSSL is more than five years old, we must update OpenSSL in order for Wordfence to function properly.

How to fix it?

When PHP or cURL are updated, OpenSSL should typically be upgraded as well. If the website is hosted on a shared server, we need to get in touch with the hosting company to request an upgrade to the OpenSSL version.

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Conclusion

The article provides a simple solution when Wordfence reports OpenSSL version is too old.