VPS or Dedicated Hosting - cPHulk Brute Force Protection
If you are using assistive technology and are unable to read any part of the HostMonster website, or otherwise have difficulties using the HostMonster website, please call 866-573-HOST and our customer service team will assist you.
Skip to main content

HostMonster Web Hosting Help

VPS or Dedicated Hosting - cPHulk Brute Force Protection

Overview

This article will cover the use of cPHulk. cPhulk is software designed to protect your server from brute force login attempts. It does this through blacklisting IP addresses that have too many failed login attempts within a short period.

ATTENTION: When enabling cPHulk it is critical that you whitelist your own IP address so that you do not block yourself from your server. If you believe you have been blocked from your server please refer to the Whitelisting in cPanel section.

Note: If you need your IP address, it can be found at www.HostMonster.com/ip

Tasks Involved

Click on any of the tasks to jump to that point in the guide.



Enable cPhulk

To enable, cPHulk follow these steps.

  1. Log in to WHM.
    The WHM login.
    The WHM login
  2. Click on Security Center.
    The WHM Security Center
    The WHM Security Center
  3. Click on the cPHulk Brute Force Protection icon.
    The cPhulk link
    The cPhulk link.
  4. Click on Enable under cPHulk is Currently Disabled.
    The Enable Link.
    The Enable Link.

The status should say cPHulk is Currently Enabled.

Whitelisting Your IP Address

These steps will explain how to whitelist an IP address. Whitelisted IP addresses will never be blocked by cPHulk.

  1. Click the White/Black list Management tab.
    White/Black list Management
    White/Black list Management
  2. Enter your IP address in the White list (Trusted IP list) entry field.
    Whitelist Entry
    Whitelist Entry
  3. Click Quick Add.

To modify multiple IPs at once, click Edit Whitelist

Whitelisting in cPanel

If you have been blocked from WHM or any other login on your server, you may still login to your HostMonster cPanel and whitelist your IP address.

Note: If you need your IP address, it can be found at www.HostMonster.com/ip

  1. Login to your HostMonster cPanel
  2. If you are not already on the hosting page, click the hosting link at the top.
  3. Click the performance link underneath the hosting tab.
  4. Click the system console link.
  5. Login with root as your username and your root password.
    Note: If you aren't sure of the root password please see: Setting your Root password
    Note: When typing in the password, the console will not act as if anything is being entered. This is done purposefully for security. Type your password carefully and hit enter as normal.
  6. Once you are logged into the console, run enter this command:
    /scripts/cphulkdwhitelist YOUR-IP
    Note: Please replace YOUR-IP with your actual IP address.
  7. Next run this command:
    mysql cphulkd -e "delete from brutes where ip='YOUR-IP'"
    Note: Please replace YOUR-IP with your actual IP address.
  8. Your IP address should now be whitelisted. Finally, enter this command to close the console. exit

Blacklisting IP Addresses

  1. Click the White/Black list Management tab.
    White/Black list Management
    White/Black list Management
  2. Enter the IP address into the Black list (Rejected IP list) entry field.
    Blacklist Entry
    Blacklist Entry
  3. Click Quick Add.

To modify multiple IPs at once, click Edit Blacklist.

Knowledgebase Article 145,199 views bookmark tags: dedicated security whm


Was this resource helpful?

Did this resolve your issue?


Please add any other comments or suggestions about this content:





Recommended Help Content

If you need to transfer or restore a cPanel account for your VPS or Dedicated server, there is a tool within the WHM panel to perform these tasks. This article is about transferring or restoring from another server or restoring after a re-image.
Knowledgebase Article 89,573 views tags: backup cpanel dedicated hosting restore server transfer vps

CSF is a firewall for VPS and Dedicated servers. CSF is not installed as part of our default images on VPS or Dedicated servers. This article describes how to install it yourself or request support do so.
Knowledgebase Article 90,530 views tags: configserver csf dedicated firewall security vps

This article discusses some measures you can take to secure a Dedicated or VPS server
Knowledgebase Article 102,848 views tags: dedi security vps

Related Help Content

This article will explain how-to enable FTP on a newly provisioned VPS or Dedicated cPanel server. Since FTP is an unsecured connection point to the server, cPanel has it disabled by default in version 11.86 or prior.
Knowledgebase Article 47,178 views tags: dedicated file ftp root server transfer vps

VPS and Dedicated servers come with all applications necessary to run a standard web and email server. The applications that come with the VPS and Dedicated servers are generally supported as-is by our support technicians.

VPS and Dedicated customers with servers running the CentOS 6 operating system will not be able to upgrade cPanel past version 86. The cPanel team will still support CentOS 6 with cPanel 86 until March 31st, 2021.
Knowledgebase Article 116,653 views tags: centos cpanel dedicated hosting private server upgrade virtual vps

How to install ClamAV to help with virus protection.
Knowledgebase Article 171,345 views tags: antivirus clamav cpanel dedicated plugin server whm

How to install Java in a dedicated server.
Knowledgebase Article 177,082 views tags: dedicated install java server yum

This is a tutorial on how to install Git onto the server.
Knowledgebase Article 200,935 views tags: dedicated git install server yum

I need to protect the /images folder to not show images when people type in the correct URL like www.mydomain.com/images/ to protect from prying eyes.
Knowledgebase Article 174,471 views tags: hotlink htaccess protection

To help with installing an SSL certificate for an account on a dedicated server through the WHM
Knowledgebase Article 261,178 views tags: assign dedicated server ssl whm

This site utilizes JavaScript to function correctly. Looks like it's disabled on your browser. Please enable it for your best experience.

For instructions on enabling JavaScript, click here