Login Email Back-Up Method Broken (Critical Error After WP 5.5)

The iTSec (Pro) plugin is only using the WordPress core wp_mail() function.

Hmm, I’m not entirely convinced this is an iTSec plugin issue. Time will tell.

@nlpro,

Yes, the issue was created by WP 5.5. Look at the debug.log link posted above.

All plugins using and/or depending on PHP mailer will have to be updated in order to satisfy WP 5.5.

Cheers!

@jetxpert

All plugins using and/or depending on PHP mailer will have to be updated in order to satisfy WP 5.5.

With:

The iTSec (Pro) plugin is only using the WordPress core wp_mail() function.

I also mean to say:

The iTSec (Pro) plugin does not directly depend on PHP mailer. It does indirectly through the use of wp_mail(). And since WP 5.5 changes in wp_mail() take into account the PHPMailer external library update all should be fine. And as far as I can see in regular operation all is fine. Still you might be hitting some edge case …
Only plugins that juggle with the PHPMailer class directly are expected to make changes…

@nlpro,

Not a developer, so wouldn’t know.

When all plugins (not just one) containing some type of “mail” function fail after WP 5.5 is installed, I surmise it’s either a WP 5.5 issue or a plugin issue. So far, WP is suggesting plugins need to be updated.

Would be great to hear from the developer(s) of iThemes Security for input on this.

Again, the debug.log clearly shows iThemes Security conflicts with WP 5.5.

Cheers!

Hi @jetxpert,

@nlpro is correct. iThemes Security appears in that message because we are sending the email that is kicking off the issue. But the actual root cause is the WP SMTP plugin. I would suggest updating that plugin to the latest version.

@timothyblynjacobs, @nlpro,

Yes, you are correct. Finally verified the issue was caused by the WP SMTP Mail plugin. We updated from V2.0.1 to V2.2.1 and all other plugins containing an email function were fixed as well.

The fix was not that simple. We followed (again) what we posted here. Add to that the debug.log message which was misleading.

The root cause lied in not having WP SMTP V2.2.1 installed AND not having the action_scheduler table(s) installed in our database which we did not need until now.

We learned the action_scheduler table(s) are usually required for woocommerce websites which ours is not.

Thanks for your help and reassurance. No harm.

Cheers!