Admin Dashboard Show but all links give a no page found

Thank you for your reply.

(1)(2) I cannot access the permalinks page. Settings/Permalinks => Page not found
(3) All OK as I can see with FTP (Filezilla)
(4) Already tried => Same problem
(5) Cannot See any .Maintenance file in root or main directories
(6) None that I can see.
(7) Entirely useless. I prefer not to talk about the support there :/

I have read quite a lot of posts/articles but cannot find the same exact problem.
The theme load since the site and the error page display in that format.
(Screenshot of the error page)

Thank you for continuous help

It sounds like you’re encountering issues with accessing the permalinks page in your WordPress dashboard, and you’re unable to resolve the problem using the steps you’ve tried so far. Since you’re experiencing difficulty accessing the permalinks page, it’s possible that there may be an underlying issue with your WordPress installation or configuration.

Here are a few additional troubleshooting steps you can try to resolve the issue:

1. Check for Plugin or Theme Conflicts: Sometimes, conflicts with plugins or themes can cause issues with WordPress functionality. Try deactivating all plugins and switching to a default WordPress theme (such as Twenty Twenty-One) to see if the problem persists. If the permalinks page works after deactivating plugins or switching themes, you can then re-enable them one by one to identify the conflicting plugin or theme.
2. Check File Permissions: Ensure that the file permissions for your WordPress files and directories are set correctly. File permissions that are too restrictive can prevent WordPress from functioning properly. Typically, directories should have a permission of 755, and files should have a permission of 644. You can use an FTP client or file manager in your hosting control panel to check and adjust file permissions as needed.
3. Check for .htaccess File: WordPress uses an .htaccess file to manage permalinks and rewrite rules. Make sure that your WordPress installation has an .htaccess file in the root directory, and that it is not missing or corrupted. If the .htaccess file is missing or corrupted, you can try regenerating it by going to Settings > Permalinks in your WordPress dashboard and clicking the “Save Changes” button.
4. Check Server Configuration: Check with your web hosting provider to ensure that your server environment is compatible with WordPress and that there are no server-side issues affecting the permalinks functionality. They may be able to provide additional insights or assistance in troubleshooting the issue.
5. WordPress Debugging: Enable WordPress debugging to see if any error messages or warnings are being generated that could help identify the cause of the issue. You can enable debugging by adding the following line to your wp-config.php file:

   define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );

If you’ve tried these troubleshooting steps and are still unable to resolve the issue, it may be helpful to seek assistance from a WordPress developer or support specialist who can investigate the problem further and provide personalized assistance.

Unfortunately, Your website seems to be infected by the Japanese SEO Spam hack. It’s trying to hide it and make it stealthy as long as possible that’s why it’s triggered when visited using specific useragents only.

An example of this SEO spam injection, this link, Remove the brackets and try to visit it? Your antivirus will just warn you about something malicious and you will get instantly redirected to .jp and .top malicious websites.

neurologica[.]ai/goods/suspect101466235?id=6281

Here is a screenshot of the shown seo spam when visited using google bot useragent https://snipboard.io/iyTG2k.jpg

Here is a guide that may help fixing it https://web.dev/articles/fix-the-japanese-keyword-hack

Thanks for your reply.

@moe : your suggestion is interesting but there are no directories in there that would suggest that virus. It might have existed though. But your suggestion gave me some idea (like deleting all .htaccess and see if it works – if I can access permalinks in setting it should write them back(?))

@muddassirnasim : Do you use ChatGPT or your answers? I do too but so far it did not help much. Thanks anyway for all suggestions.

Be back later, this might take a while.

Cheers and wish me good luck ??

@algisj The spammy links are created by a malicious code injected in one of your files or in your db entries. It may be due to spammy .htaccess rewrite rules as well so this is a good start point to search and check your .htaccess files and try replacing the core WP folders (wp-admin & wp-includes) using a clean & fresh copy of WP and check the timestamps of your wp-content files & folders, Compare it to clean copies to determine if something there is causing this.

@moeo : Thanks, I am almost there… It seems to load all the posts, pages, plugins etc… I am currently testing them (Plugins) but I’ll go sleep (0100 Monday here) so I will finish tomorrow.

The key so far has been the .htaccess files – I know – basic but there are literally hundreds of them ?? – I assumed (wrongly – never assume) that WP would modify handlers so that .htaccess were recursive… Mea culpa

I already know :
backuply is not working; it hangs at 65% forever…
Softaculous WP Toolkit hang also – seems forever since no %ge nor progress is shown.

ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Thanks BBL

Bingo ! 3 sites out of 4 were restored with no loss !

They really were infected like the hell.

The way I made it works has finally been by :
Restoring the core with a downloaded version that I stored locally.
Deleted wp-admin and wp-includes on the site.
FTP’d those 2 directories to the site.
FTP’d core files in site root (wp-config is not in the downloaded fresh copy.
From now on, site load and wp-admin works
In the Dashboard, re-save the permalinks.
And Voilà !

## Remain Backuply that is not working. I will save all the backups in another directory and delete/re-install it.

It took so long because I tried to understand what happened and :
Found many files corruped by obfuscated code in many .php files.
Found php.ini with code that modify php security and behavior
Sparse “anygibberish.php” in few directories (gibberish always 10 characters long as filename and php as extension, like srwixqrjss.php).
Other anomalies like libraries to compile encrypted scripts in a directory named “sodium-compat”.

It was way to much to clean so I decided to clean only the wp-contents directory and then re-install a fresh core after having FTP’d to my PC for safety (one of the site have posts back to 2014 so darn long FTPs ?? )

That’s it. Thanks @moeo and @muddassirnasim for their help and suggestions. I will mark the post as “resolved”.

Cheers !