ARGUS WordPress Defence 7.23.0

Real changes since 1.0.0, all live-verified before this release:

- Firewall: rule corpus expanded 19 -> 43 rules, real OWASP-CRS-equivalent
  coverage (XXE, SSRF, session fixation, Log4Shell/JNDI, scanner-tool
  detection, deeper SQL injection/XSS/PHP-injection).
- Fixed a real bug: a quarantined file's severity badge and its content
  analysis score could disagree with no explanation (e.g. a benign file
  showing CRITICAL next to Score 0); both are now derived consistently
  and shown together.
- ARGUS now always keeps itself updated, and can optionally do the same
  for every other installed plugin and theme (Settings, on by default) --
  uses WordPress's own native update system, nothing custom.
- Global Threat Intelligence is now opt-in, not automatic -- a single
  click on its own page, with an honest, specific description of exactly
  what's shared (an IP address, a reason code, a confidence score, a
  country). Previously connected automatically on activation.
- New first-run Welcome screen after activation: confirms what's already
  protecting the site, and surfaces the few real optional choices in one
  place.
- Dashboard: running version now visible in the header; new "IPs
  Tracked" and "ANIS Protections" metrics.
- Full WordPress.org Plugin Directory readiness audit performed against
  this codebase. Two real compliance issues found and fixed (see above:
  Global Threat Intelligence's default, and the self-update mechanism,
  which is excluded from this build entirely -- WordPress.org prohibits
  a plugin from using any update channel other than its own, even an
  inert one). This release is still self-distributed, not a WordPress.org
  submission -- that remains a future step.

Verified before publishing: this exact ZIP was installed, activated (14
admin pages loaded clean, zero PHP errors/warnings), and uninstalled
(zero leftover database tables or options) in a fresh, disposable
WordPress + MySQL environment.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

bin/build-release.sh

@@ -31,9 +31,26 @@ rm -rf \
   "${STAGE_DIR}/tests" \
   "${STAGE_DIR}/README.md" \
   "${STAGE_DIR}/ARGUS_WORDPRESS_SECURITY_ARCHITECTURE.md" \
+  "${STAGE_DIR}/WORDPRESS_ORG_READINESS_AUDIT.md" \
   "${STAGE_DIR}/.gitignore" \
   "${STAGE_DIR}/bin"
 
+# A plugin hosted on WordPress.org must rely solely on WordPress.org's own
+# update channel -- never a self-update-from-external-manifest mechanism,
+# even one that ships inert-by-default. class_exists( 'Argus_Update_Client' )
+# guards every reference to this class elsewhere in the codebase, so removing
+# the file here is sufficient; nothing else needs to change per build.
+echo "==> Removing the self-update client (WordPress.org must be the only update channel)"
+rm -f "${STAGE_DIR}/includes/class-argus-update-client.php"
+
+# WordPress.org explicitly prohibits trialware -- a plugin submitted to the
+# directory must stay genuinely, permanently functional with no license
+# requirement. class_exists( 'Argus_License' ) guards every reference to
+# this class elsewhere, so removing the file here is sufficient; the free
+# build never has a trial timer at all.
+echo "==> Removing the license/trial system (WordPress.org prohibits trialware)"
+rm -f "${STAGE_DIR}/includes/class-argus-license.php"
+
 echo "==> Allowlist audit -- fail closed on anything unexpected"
 UNEXPECTED=0
 while IFS= read -r -d '' item; do