Featured Repo

Sudo ⛩️

WordPress risky-action gating with mandatory reauthentication, time-bounded sessions, 2FA support, rate limiting, and policy controls across wp-admin, REST, WP-CLI, Cron, WPGraphQL, and XML-RPC.

42 Jun 14, 2026 View Source Download v2.14.0 Playground Demo

Gate Any Privileged Action

When a user attempts a gated action, Sudo intercepts the request at admin_init. It is the clearest expression of the security work in this collection: no role escalation, no new permissions, just a deliberate gate in front of dangerous actions.

Key docs worth reading here include the Security Model, the Developer Reference, the Two-Factor Integration guide, and the Sudo Architecture Comparison Matrix.

Related Repo: WordPress 2FA Ecosystem Documentation.

Repository Details

Owner: @dknauss
Source: dknauss/Sudo
Latest release: v2.14.0
CI: GitHub Actions
Tests: PHPUnit + Playwright e2e
License: GPL-2.0
Try It! →: 🛝 WordPress Playground
Last updated: Jun 14, 2026
Primary language: PHP
Stars: 42

Sudo for WordPress! 🥪

Risky actions — activating plugins, deleting users, changing key settings — are gated by a required reauthentication step, regardless of user role. Time-bounded sessions, 2FA support, rate limiting, and configurable policies for REST, WP-CLI, Cron, WPGraphQL, and XML-RPC. No role escalation, no new permissions — just a gate.

Screenshot Gallery

Selected screenshots from Sudo. Click any image to enlarge it.

WP Sudo challenge page asking the current user to confirm their identity with a password. — Challenge page — reauthentication interstitial with password field.

Settings tab with policy presets, session settings, and the active sudo timer in the admin bar. — Settings tab — policy presets, session settings, and active sudo timer.

Gated Actions tab showing protected operations and the surfaces where each rule applies. — Gated Actions tab — protected operations with rule IDs and covered surfaces.

Rule Tester tab evaluating a representative admin request without executing it. — Rule Tester tab — evaluate representative request shapes without executing them.

Access tab for managing dedicated WP Sudo governance capabilities. — Access tab — manage dedicated Sudo governance capabilities and revoke sessions.

Dashboard widget with active sudo sessions, policy summary, and recent privilege-action events. — Dashboard widget — active sessions, policy summary, and recent privilege-action events.

Break-glass recovery mode notice on the Sudo settings screen. — Break-glass recovery notice — visible warning while WP_SUDO_RECOVERY_MODE is active.

Documentation

Documentation links and descriptions for Sudo.
Document	Description
WordPress Core Authentication	How WordPress authentication works — request flow, session handling, cookies, and the nonce system.
Two-Factor Authentication Flow	The full 2FA request lifecycle with a flowchart — and where Sudo intercepts.
Security Model	Threat model and design decisions behind Sudo’s reauthentication architecture.
Developer Reference	Hooks, filters, API surface, and integration patterns for building on Sudo.
Two-Factor Integration	Bridging Sudo with WP 2FA, Wordfence, AIOS, and other plugins for delegated code verification.
Architecture Comparison Matrix	How Sudo compares to other re-auth and session-gating approaches.
README	Installation, configuration, and usage overview.
FAQ	Answers to common questions about configuration, behavior, and edge cases.