We could not fetch a core WordPress file from the Wordfence API.

Hi @zulumoongondolas, thanks for contacting us about this.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen this come up, but it appears that the API message can occur when an empty file (0 bytes) is created by a plugin upon installation and later populated with information such as log or settings data.

It should be safe to ignore that file being modified — we can’t say it’s permanently safe, as it could still be modified maliciously, but it is likely expected to be modified in the plugin’s normal operation.

Since it won’t match what’s in the repository, it will still be scanned for malware as long as you don’t add it to your excluded files list in Wordfence > All Options. Using the “Ignore” link in the scan results should be fine though, so you can do that to suppress the message.

It could also be worth mentioning this issue to the plugin author so they’re aware that including a 0-byte file when releasing their plugin can end up being flagged during a Wordfence scan.

Thanks,
Peter.