ERROR: Cookies are blocked due to unexpected output.

  • Resolved asciidan

    (@asciidan)


    9 years ago

    I’m terribly frustrated and after several days of looking through the forums and online, I have to turn here.

    A site I run for a client was hacked, and it made everything terrible. I’ve tried unsuccessfully to clean it up, deleting all the files I can find via FTP that don’t belong there. I’ve removed and replaced all the WP core files. But after all of this, I can’t log in. wp-admin brings me to a blank page and wp-login.php brings me ERROR: Cookies are blocked due to unexpected output.

    I’ve tried every solution I’ve seen online. I’ve checked the encoding in wp-config and functions.php. I’ve deleted all the theme files and replaced them with fresh ones. I’ve renamed all the plugin folders. On Friday, I finally was able to login, but only for a few hours — enough to delete any unused plugins, update the plugins I am using and run look-see scanner to catch any malicious files I’d missed. Everything was working pretty much as expected. I struggled this morning for three hours, following again everything I have seen online. All I want to do is start over — to export the content on the site and import it elsewhere so I can create a fresh installation and start all over from scratch. But what I click to export the content, rather than giving me an XML file, I’m getting an html page.

    I’m getting “cannot send header information” error messages all over the place. I’ve reinstall WP and updated everything. I’ve looked through all the plugins and files and the database. I just can’t figure out what’s wrong.

    Could someone tell me what I might be missing to fix the blocked cookies error, or maybe just tell me how I can safely rescue my data so I can start over? I can certainly export the database and import it to a new installation, but I fear it’ll bring the problems along with it — especially since all the other files are new.

    Thank you for your help.

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
  • kjodle

    (@kjodle)

    Did you check for hidden files in all of those directories?

    I was troubleshooting for a few days and thought I’d tried everything short of reinstalling. It turned out that an extra space at the beginning of my wp-config.php was it. Very aggravating. Here’s where I found that idea.

    https://www.ads-software.com/support/topic/error-cookies-are-blocked-due-to-unexpected-output-8?replies=2

    Moderator t-p

    (@t-p)

    site url?

    KC

    (@benxy20gylinxu)

    To asciidan:
    Would you mind to share a brief reply in regard the final solution to your problem? Assuming your problem had solved since you had not make any following post again. I’m asking because I recently encounter similar problem. Thanks in advance for your attention.

    Thread Starter asciidan

    (@asciidan)

    Hey there. I found one of the plugin files had some code inserted into after the initial php tag, after enough spaces that it was no longer visible at first look in my text editor. I suggest if you’re having this issue, first disable all your plugins and revert to the default theme. If the problem’s gone, first activate your theme again. If the problem doesn’t pop back up again, activate each plugin, one at a time, testing the site after you activate each until the problem recurs. That will at least help you to find which plugin is infected.

    Another way to attack it is just reinstall all your plugins. It’s going after it with a club instead of a scalpel, but it’ll do the trick. Once you’ve actually found the problem, however, you’ll know where to look for it in the future.

    KC

    (@benxy20gylinxu)

    To asciidan:
    Thanks for your reply, I need sometime to digest it.

    AstroNut

    (@gretchenpatti)

    I got this same error starting yesterday (Aug 1). After trying ALL the steps posted in ALL the forum discussions – it turns out my site has been hacked! A very sneaky, subtle hack – it had been going on for at least a week before the error alerted me. Grrr.

    Moderator t-p

    (@t-p)

    @gretchenpatti,

    – This is an eight months since the OP posted.
    – It’s been Four months since the OP posted what the issue was (“found one of the plugin files had some code inserted”).
    – If you are looking for topics that could benefit from your help, please try looking in https://www.ads-software.com/support/view/no-replies instead of piling in on this one.

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
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