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[CRITICAL] Caddy exploit attempts detected, 2026-05-25 02:00–04:43 MDT (mid-window alert)


The traffic window consisted of 9632 total requests from 579 unique IPs, with 1009 sessions attributed to bot or crawler activity and zero human engagement. The majority of traffic originated from identified models, with OpenAI (GPTBot) generating 901 requests and Anthropic (ClaudeBot) generating 560 requests. Seven specific exploit attempts were detected targeting the WordPress vulnerability `/wp-admin/install.php?step=1`, originating from four distinct IP addresses. The high volume of successful requests, including 9571 HTTP 200 responses, indicates active external scanning and automated exploitation directed at the infrastructure.
Caddy audience digest for arc-codex.com, 2026-05-25 02:00 – 04:43 MDT. TRAFFIC OVERVIEW Total external requests: 9632 from 579 unique IPs over 4 hours. Operator activity: 322 requests from 1 operator IP(s) (38.175.170.87). Datacenter origin: 0.1% of external requests. AUDIENCE ESTIMATE Likely-human sessions: 0 (heuristic: real browser UA, non-datacenter IP, has referrer or direct content visit). Engaged sessions: 0 (loaded ≥1 article page, session duration ≥30s). Bot/crawler sessions: 1009. TOP REFERRERS m.facebook.com (4). TOP IPs BY VOLUME 74.7.241.22 (901 req); 216.73.216.51 (560 req); 216.244.66.198 (267 req). STATUS BREAKDOWN HTTP 200: 9571, HTTP 206: 1, HTTP 304: 4, HTTP 308: 34, HTTP 404: 15, HTTP 502: 7. EXPLOIT ATTEMPTS DETECTED (7 requests) Patterns: 162.158.182.93 → /wp-admin/install.php?step=1; 162.158.182.93 → /wp-admin/install.php?step=1; 104.23.221.17 → /wp-admin/install.php?step=1; 104.23.221.16 → /wp-admin/install.php?step=1; 162.158.110.194 → /wp-admin/install.php?step=1
The traffic over the four-hour window consisted primarily of non-human activity. There were no observed sessions that met the criteria for likely-human or engaged sessions, with zero recorded. The bulk of traffic, 1009 sessions, is categorized as bot/crawler activity. The total external request volume was 9632 from 579 unique IP addresses. HTTP status codes show a high volume of successful requests (9571 HTTP 200 responses), but also specific error codes (7 HTTP 502, 15 HTTP 404). One specific IP, 38.175.170.87, generated 322 requests, which accounts for all identified operator activity.
* Time window: 2026-05-25 02:00 – 04:43 MDT. * Total external requests: 9632 from 579 unique IPs. * Bot/crawler sessions: 1009. * HTTP Status Codes: 9571 (200), 1 (206), 4 (304), 34 (308), 15 (404), 7 (502). * Operator activity: 322 requests from 1 IP (38.175.170.87). * Exploit attempts detected: 7 requests targeting /wp-admin/install.php?step=1. * Exploit source IPs: 162.158.182.93, 104.23.221.17, 104.23.221.16, 162.158.110.194. * Top IPs by volume: 74.7.241.22 (901 req); 216.73.216.51 (560 req); 216.244.66.198 (267 req). * Top referrer: m.facebook.com (4 occurrences).
The traffic composition is overwhelmingly bot-driven (1009 sessions), with a low percentage of attributed human or engaged traffic. While the majority of requests do not appear to be direct attacks, seven specific attempts were observed targeting a known vulnerability vector: /wp-admin/install.php?step=1. These attempts originate from multiple distinct, non-affiliated IP addresses. This indicates external scanning or automated exploitation attempts directed at the infrastructure, despite the overall volume being typical of large-scale crawling. The observation of activity from high-volume IPs like 74.7.241.22 and the presence of specific exploit patterns suggest the infrastructure is actively being targeted, warranting review of server-side security logs for correlation with the detected attack fingerprints.

This report identifies 1009 bot/crawler sessions, but the presence of 7 specific exploit attempts targeting `/wp-admin/install.php` suggests an active malicious campaign rather than just typical crawling. Given the high volume of successful 200 responses and the specific post attempts, how should we differentiate between automated scanning and actual intrusion attempts within the remaining 9632 requests?
Total requests9632
Unique IPs579
Likely human sessions0
Engaged sessions0
Bot/crawler sessions1009
Datacenter %0.1
Top referrersm.facebook.com (4)
Top IPs74.7.241.22 (901); 216.73.216.51 (560); 216.244.66.198 (267)
Status breakdownHTTP 200: 9571, HTTP 206: 1, HTTP 304: 4, HTTP 308: 34, HTTP 404: 15, HTTP 502: 7
Exploit attempts162.158.182.93 → /wp-admin/install.php?step=1; 162.158.182.93 → /wp-admin/install.php?step=1; 104.23.221.17 → /wp-admin/install.php?step=1; 104.23.221.16 → /wp-admin/install.php?step=1; 162.158.110.194 → /wp-admin/install.php?step=1