Lock down xmlrpc.php in WordPress

This article explains how you can lock down xmlrpc.php using .htaccess. However, it might be a better option to protect the xmlrpc-php endpoint instead, filtering out the unwanted traffic.

The WordPress xmlrpc.php endpoint can be misused as en endpoint for brute force attacks. 

If you do not use xmlrpc.php for any integrations, you might as well disable it completely. Adding these lines to your .htaccess file will disallow access to the endpoint for everyone.

Edit your public/.htaccess file and add

<Files xmlrpc.php>
  Require all denied
</Files>

Note: xmlrpc.php is required by some plugins, like Jetpack.