can’t create proper user accounts

Hi,

A partner’s client’s site got hacked.

I cleaned it using suggestions from https://www.gravityscan.com, and manually cleaning the exported SQL by removing <noindex><script …>*</script></noindex> using regex find replace in Notepad++.

However, since then any new user accounts created get shunted back to the login screen after logging in, with no error at all. We’ve cleared cache and cookies, and the issue remains.

If I manually create a new admin user by inserting SQL into the database, the same symptom occurs.

Wordfence used to be installed, but I have deactivated it. No other security plugins are installed.

Site is on shared hosting.

Help appreciated.

Regards,
Steve