Import whitelist not working

Hello,
I'm having an issue with the Whitelist import function in SecurityCheck Pro, installed on a Joomla 5 site.

ISSUE:
The import function always returns "invalid format", even in cases that should work according to the specifications shown under "Accepted formats".

TESTS PERFORMED (in order):
1. Tried importing a file with individual IPs and CIDR ranges (e.g. 66.249.64.0/19) - REJECTED.
2. Tried a file with multiple IPs separated by commas, on a single line, no spaces, no trailing newline - REJECTED.
3. Exported the existing whitelist using the export button, resulting in this file:
securitycheckpro_whitelist_site_20260827_222037.txt
content: 109.118.37.46,192.178.4.0/22,5.91.17.84,66.249.64.0/19
4. Recreated a byte-for-byte identical file (same content, same lack of trailing newline, same file naming convention) - STILL REJECTED.
5. DECISIVE TEST: exported the file and, without any modification, immediately re-imported it - THIS WORKS CORRECTLY.

CONCLUSION:
Since an externally recreated byte-identical file is rejected, but the same file downloaded moments earlier is accepted, I suspect the import validation isn't based solely on file content/format, but on some internal reference tied to the export session (e.g. a temporary token or ID stored server-side).

Could you confirm whether this is the case, and let me know the correct way to import a list of IPs (in my case, the official Googlebot and Bingbot IP ranges) without having to go through an export/re-import of the same file?

Thanks in advance,
Diego ( www.dibirama.it )

Hi Diego,

Thanks for the very detailed report and the exact reproduction steps — that made it easy to track down.

You were right to be suspicious, although it wasn't a session/token issue: the bulk import was rejecting any line containing a CIDR range (like your 192.178.4.0/22 or 66.249.64.0/19) or an IPv4 wildcard, while the single "Add IP" button already accepted both. That's also why re-importing your own exported file seemed to "work" — it was silently dropping the two CIDR entries and only re-adding the two plain IPs, without any warning.

This is now fixed in version 5.2.1-beta1, already available in the downloads area. Could you update to it and try importing your Googlebot/Bingbot ranges again? It should now accept the file exactly as shown under "Accepted formats".

Please let me know if it works correctly on your side.

Thanks again for reporting this!

Best regards,
Jose

Hi Jose.
Thank you very much for your reply and for confirming this was a known bug. I updated the plugin to the latest version as suggested, and I can confirm the whitelist import now works correctly — I was able to import a full list of IP ranges without any "invalid format" error.

One follow-up question: is there an API or CLI method available to automate the whitelist import, so that the list could be kept up to date automatically without manual upload through the admin panel? If something like this exists, could you point me to the relevant documentation?

Thanks again for your help in resolving this.

Best regards,
Diego (dibirama.it)

Hi Diego,

Thank you for confirming that the whitelist import is now working correctly on your end — glad the update fixed it.

Regarding your follow-up question: no, there isn't currently an API or CLI method to automate bulk IP imports. The import feature you used is a manual upload through the admin panel only (a .txt/.csv file), and there's no scheduled or programmatic way to trigger it automatically.

The only automated IP synchronization mechanism we currently offer is through Control Center + the Connect plugin, but that only covers individual IPs added one at a time (either manually or automatically blocked after an attack is detected) — it doesn't support bulk/mass imports being distributed automatically.

I've noted this as a feature request on our side. If I build an automated import method in the future, I'll let you know.

Thanks again for reporting the original bug and for your patience while we fixed it.

Best regards,
Jose

Thank you so much, Jose!
For now, I will do a monthly update (I think that's enough).
If in the future you manage to automate the operation, I will be very happy to test it.
See you soon.

You're welcome Diego!

Regards,
Jose