[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #63771: Access denied issue with wp-includes/css/dist folder in WordPress 6.8.1

WordPress Trac noreply at wordpress.org
Thu Jul 31 12:04:28 UTC 2025


#63771: Access denied issue with wp-includes/css/dist folder in WordPress 6.8.1
-------------------------+-------------------------------------------------
 Reporter:  369work      |      Owner:  (none)
     Type:  defect       |     Status:  new
  (bug)                  |
 Priority:  normal       |  Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:               |    Version:  6.8.1
  Administration         |   Keywords:  css dist file-permissions windows
 Severity:  normal       |  access-denied
  Focuses:               |
-------------------------+-------------------------------------------------
 ## Problem Description
 WordPress 6.8.1 deployment creates wp-includes/css/dist folder with
 abnormal file attributes on Windows, making deletion/editing impossible
 and causing CSS loading failures in site-editor.php.

 ## Environment
 - **OS**: Windows 11
 - **WordPress Version**: 6.8.1
 - **Web Server**: MAMP
 - **PHP Version**: 8.2
 - **Package**: wordpress-6.8.1.zip (deployed July 13, 2025)

 ## Steps to Reproduce
 1. Download wordpress-6.8.1.zip package
 2. Extract ZIP file to target directory
 3. Install/deploy WordPress 6.8.1 on Windows environment
 4. Access wp-admin and open Theme Editor
 5. Begin editing block theme in Site Editor
 6. Notice CSS styling suddenly breaks during editing session
 7. Open browser developer tools to debug
 8. Observe CSS files from wp-includes/css/dist fail to load
 9. Navigate to wp-includes/css/dist in Windows Explorer
 10. Attempt to access folder - "Access denied" error occurs
 11. Try to delete or modify folder/files - all operations fail with
 permission errors

 ## Expected Result
 Folder should be deletable with normal permissions

 ## Actual Behavior
 - All 130+ files in dist folder are completely undeletable
 - PowerShell Remove-Item fails with "Access denied"
 - icacls permission reset fails with "Access denied"
 - takeown ownership commands fail
 - Results in CSS loading failures in site-editor.php

 ## Impact
 - Site editor displays with broken CSS
 - Block editor styling corrupted
 - Admin panel styles not applied
 - Affects multiple WordPress installations

 ## Workaround Applied
 Modified `wp-includes/script-loader.php` to reference `dist_final` folder
 instead of `dist` (6 locations changed)

 ## Additional Technical Details
 - **File Creation Date**: 2025-07-13 14:31:25-26
 - **Permissions**: Appear normal but all operations denied
 - **Access Pattern**: VSCode can read, Windows Explorer cannot access
 - **Affected Instances**: Multiple WordPress 6.8.1 installations
 - **Unaffected**: Older WordPress versions with different creation dates

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/63771>
WordPress Trac <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/>
WordPress publishing platform


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