Account Protection: Do not activate by default on new connections by bobmatyas · Pull Request #52715 · Automattic/jetpack

bobmatyas · 2026-09-23T15:16:04Z

Proposed changes

Set the Account Protection module's Auto Activate header to No, so new Jetpack connections, and upgrades from versions before 14.5, no longer turn it on.
Stop Jetpack Protect from activating Account Protection when the plugin is activated. Firewall and Brute Force Protection are still activated as before.
Existing sites keep their current setting. Neither activation path ever deactivates modules, so sites with Account Protection on stay on, and sites with it off stay off.
Add PHPUnit coverage checking that account-protection is not among the default modules for a new connection or for an upgrade from before 14.5.

Closes #52708

Side effects

My Jetpack "new user" check: Initializer::get_active_modules() excludes Jetpack::get_default_modules(). Sites that already have Account Protection on from the old auto-activation will now count it as a user-enabled module, so is_jetpack_user_new() can return false and hide the welcome-banner red bubble when the site is connected but no user account is. This is low impact, so it's left as is rather than special-casing account-protection in My Jetpack.
Resetting modules: "Reset modules" (the settings reset endpoint and wp jetpack reset modules) replaces the active modules with the defaults, so a reset now turns Account Protection off. That's expected for a reset, and it's the only path where an existing site's setting doesn't carry over.

Related product discussion/links

https://linear.app/a8c/issue/JETH-10031/jetpack-nmit-disable-auto-activation-of-account-protection-in-jetpack

Screenshots

Account Protection disabled on connection in main Jetpack plugin:

Account Protection disabled on connection in Jetpack Protect plugin:

Does this pull request change what data or activity we track or use?

No.

Testing instructions

Automated

Regenerate the gitignored modules/module-headings.php first, or a stale build can make the tests pass against the old header: jp build plugins/jetpack, or php tools/build-module-headings-translations.php from projects/plugins/jetpack.
jetpack docker phpunit jetpack -- --filter Jetpack_Account_Protection_Auto_Activate_Test

Jetpack

On a fresh site that has never been connected, install this branch of Jetpack and connect it.
Go to Jetpack → Settings → Security. Confirm Account Protection is off.
Turn it on and confirm it activates normally.
On an existing site with Account Protection on, update to this branch. Confirm it's still on.
Repeat step 4 with it off. Confirm it stays off.

Jetpack Protect

On a fresh site, install and activate this branch of Jetpack Protect, then connect it.
Confirm the Firewall and Brute Force Protection modules are active and Account Protection is not.
On an existing Protect site with Account Protection on, update to this branch. Confirm it's still on.

Known follow-up (not in this PR): the breached-password notice in packages/account-protection/src/class-password-detection.php says the feature "was automatically activated with a recent Jetpack update", which will no longer be accurate for sites that turn it on manually.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

Set the module's Auto Activate header to No so new Jetpack connections and upgrades no longer turn it on, and stop Jetpack Protect from activating it on plugin activation. Existing sites keep their current setting, since neither activation path deactivates modules. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

github-actions · 2026-09-23T15:17:24Z

Are you an Automattician? Please test your changes on all WordPress.com environments to help mitigate accidental explosions.

To test on WoA, go to the Plugins menu on a WoA dev site. Click on the "Upload" button and follow the upgrade flow to be able to upload, install, and activate the Jetpack Beta plugin. Once the plugin is active, go to Jetpack > Jetpack Beta, select your plugin (Jetpack), and enable the update/account-protection-no-auto-activate branch.
To test on Simple, run the following command on your sandbox:

bin/jetpack-downloader test jetpack update/account-protection-no-auto-activate

Interested in more tips and information?

In your local development environment, use the jetpack rsync command to sync your changes to a WoA dev blog.
Read more about our development workflow here: PCYsg-eg0-p2
Figure out when your changes will be shipped to customers here: PCYsg-eg5-p2

github-actions · 2026-09-23T15:17:38Z

Thank you for your PR!

When contributing to Jetpack, we have a few suggestions that can help us test and review your patch:

✅ Include a description of your PR changes.
✅ Add a "[Status]" label (In Progress, Needs Review, ...).
✅ Add testing instructions.
✅ Specify whether this PR includes any changes to data or privacy.
✅ Add changelog entries to affected projects

This comment will be updated as you work on your PR and make changes. If you think that some of those checks are not needed for your PR, please explain why you think so. Thanks for cooperation 🤖

Follow this PR Review Process:

Ensure all required checks appearing at the bottom of this PR are passing.
Make sure to test your changes on all platforms that it applies to. You're responsible for the quality of the code you ship.
You can use GitHub's Reviewers functionality to request a review.
When it's reviewed and merged, you will be pinged in Slack to deploy the changes to WordPress.com simple once the build is done.

If you have questions about anything, reach out in #jetpack-developers for guidance!

Jetpack plugin:

The Jetpack plugin has different release cadences depending on the platform:

WordPress.com Simple releases happen as soon as you deploy your changes after merging this PR (PCYsg-Jjm-p2).
WoA releases happen weekly.
Releases to self-hosted sites happen monthly:
- Scheduled release: October 6, 2026

If you have any questions about the release process, please ask in the #jetpack-releases channel on Slack.

Protect plugin:

No scheduled milestone found for this plugin.

If you have any questions about the release process, please ask in the #jetpack-releases channel on Slack.

jp-launch-control · 2026-09-23T15:28:05Z

Code Coverage Summary

Coverage changed in 1 file.

File	Coverage	Δ%	Δ Uncovered
projects/plugins/protect/src/class-jetpack-protect.php	0/182 (0.00%)	0.00%	-1 💚

Full summary · PHP report · JS report

Copilot

Copilot review overview

🟢 Approval recommended

No unresolved blocking issues were identified.

Review effort: Lite
Findings: None

What changed in this PR

Prevents Account Protection from activating automatically for new connections, upgrades, or Jetpack Protect activation while preserving existing settings.

Changes:

Sets Auto Activate: No.
Removes Protect’s explicit activation.
Adds PHPUnit coverage and changelog entries.

File	Description
`projects/plugins/protect/src/class-jetpack-protect.php`	Stops Protect from activating Account Protection.
`projects/plugins/protect/changelog/update-account-protection-no-auto-activate`	Documents the Protect behavior change.
`projects/plugins/jetpack/tests/php/general/Jetpack_Account_Protection_Auto_Activate_Test.php`	Verifies default module exclusions.
`projects/plugins/jetpack/modules/account-protection.php`	Disables automatic activation.
`projects/plugins/jetpack/changelog/update-account-protection-no-auto-activate`	Documents the Jetpack behavior change.

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kraftbj

Three notes inline, none blocking: one question about Atomic, and two small test tweaks.

The breached-password notice you listed as a follow-up (class-password-detection.php, "was automatically activated with a recent Jetpack update") will read wrong for anyone who turns the feature on after this ships, so it'd be good to land that close behind this one.

kraftbj · 2026-09-30T14:40:03Z

 * Requires Connection: Yes
 * Requires User Connection: No
- * Auto Activate: Yes
+ * Auto Activate: No


Atomic sites will still get this turned on: wpcomsh_woa_post_process_activate_jetpack_modules() activates account-protection after every clone, reset, and transfer (woa.php). Can you confirm that's expected?

The main intent here was to improve the experience on self-hosted sites. I think it's okay to leave the Atomic part untouched.

Language follow-up here: #52993

Thanks for the other quick fixes on the tests.

bobmatyas · 2026-09-30T16:39:03Z

The breached password notice follow-up is in #52993. It changes the wording to "This security feature is enabled on this site to help keep your account safe."

enejb

Tested this on a fresh Jurassic Ninja site, and it works as described. Nothing blocking from me, just two small things that aren't covered above.

Testing

I synced Jetpack and Protect from this branch before connecting, then connected. 15 modules were activated, and account-protection was not among them. Protect is installed but not activated yet.
Mutation check on the new tests: with auto_activate flipped back to Yes, both "not a default" assertions fail. With this branch, all four pass. One thing to know when running them locally: the header is read from the build-generated modules/module-headings.php (gitignored), not from the module file itself. Editing only account-protection.php without rebuilding leaves the tests passing, so a stale local build can hide a regression. CI rebuilds that file, so this isn't a problem for the PR.

My Jetpack "new user" check shifts a little
Initializer::get_active_modules() (packages/my-jetpack/src/class-initializer.php) leaves out Jetpack::get_default_modules(). Sites that already have Account Protection on from the old auto-activation will now count it as a module the user turned on, so is_jetpack_user_new() can return false. That hides the welcome-banner red bubble on sites where the site is connected but no user account is. It's low impact, but it might deserve a line in the description, or account-protection could be excluded there if that banner matters.

Changelog wording (nit)
The Jetpack entry only mentions new connections, but the upgrade path from before 14.5 changes too, and that was the path in the lockout reports. "the module" is also implementation wording. Maybe:

Account Protection: Stop turning the feature on automatically for new connections and upgrades from versions before 14.5. Sites where it is already on keep it on.

FYI
"Reset modules" (the settings reset endpoint and wp jetpack reset modules) replaces the active modules with the defaults, so a reset will now turn Account Protection off. That seems right for a reset. It's just the one case where an existing site's setting doesn't carry over.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

bobmatyas · 2026-10-03T16:11:59Z

@enejb Thanks for taking a look here. I made the change to the changelog and added the note to the PR description about the banner. It seems like this is good to go along with #52993

github-actions Bot added [Plugin] Jetpack Issues about the Jetpack plugin. https://wordpress.org/plugins/jetpack/ [Plugin] Protect A plugin with features to protect a site: brute force protection, security scanning, and a WAF. [Status] In Progress [Tests] Includes Tests labels Sep 23, 2026

github-actions Bot added the [Status] Needs Author Reply We need more details from you. This label will be auto-added until the PR meets all requirements. label Sep 23, 2026

bobmatyas requested a lite review from Copilot September 23, 2026 15:36

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of bobmatyas September 23, 2026 15:37 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Sep 23, 2026

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bobmatyas added [Status] Needs Review This PR is ready for review. and removed [Status] Needs Author Reply We need more details from you. This label will be auto-added until the PR meets all requirements. labels Sep 24, 2026

bobmatyas marked this pull request as ready for review September 24, 2026 11:48

kraftbj reviewed Sep 30, 2026

View reviewed changes

Account Protection: Add positive control to auto-activate test

a88a549

bobmatyas mentioned this pull request Sep 30, 2026

Account Protection: Update breached password notice wording #52993

Open

enejb reviewed Oct 2, 2026

View reviewed changes

Changelog: Reword Account Protection entries from a user's perspective

c4ccb9a

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

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Account Protection: Do not activate by default on new connections - #52715

Account Protection: Do not activate by default on new connections#52715
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Proposed changes

Side effects

Related product discussion/links

Screenshots

Account Protection disabled on connection in main Jetpack plugin:

Account Protection disabled on connection in Jetpack Protect plugin:

Does this pull request change what data or activity we track or use?

Testing instructions

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