Excessive CPU usage caused by plugin making calls to admin-ajax.php?action=http_worker

[adam-sandor]

After updating the plugin to version 2.0.2 my access log is full of POST requests like this:
181.224.152.147 - - [14/Oct/2017:19:44:29 +0200] "POST /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=http_worker&nonce=c3674d9586 HTTP/1.0" 504 247 "https://www.thestorytellingjeweller.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=http_worker&nonce=c3674d9586" "WordPress/4.8.2; https://www.thestorytellingjeweller.com"

The IP is always the IP of the server where the site is running. This causes my site's CPU usage to skyrocket to 50x the usual values which in turn causes my hosting provider to shut it down. This means until this is fixed I cannot use the plugin at all.

Looking at the source code I see there is a DISABLE_WP_HTTP_WORKER option I could enable. I'm not sure however if this would cause degraded functionality.
Any ideas for workarounds or fixed to this problem?

[adam-sandor]

Here is my Woocommerce system report:
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WordPress Environment

Home URL: https://www.thestorytellingjeweller.com
Site URL: https://www.thestorytellingjeweller.com
WC Version: 3.2.0
Log Directory Writable: ✔
WP Version: 4.8.2
WP Multisite: –
WP Memory Limit: 768 MB
WP Debug Mode: –
WP Cron: –
Language: en_US

Server Environment

Server Info: Apache
PHP Version: ❌ 5.5.38 - We recommend a minimum PHP version of 5.6. See: How to update your PHP version
PHP Post Max Size: 128 MB
PHP Time Limit: 120
PHP Max Input Vars: 3000
cURL Version: 7.53.0
OpenSSL/1.0.2k

SUHOSIN Installed: –
MySQL Version: 5.6.36
Max Upload Size: 128 MB
Default Timezone is UTC: ✔
fsockopen/cURL: ✔
SoapClient: ✔
DOMDocument: ✔
GZip: ✔
Multibyte String: ✔
Remote Post: ✔
Remote Get: ✔

Database

WC Database Version: 3.1.2
WC Database Prefix: woo_
MaxMind GeoIP Database: ✔
Total Database Size: 53.66MB
Database Data Size: 41.60MB
Database Index Size: 12.06MB
woo_woocommerce_sessions: Data: 5.02MB + Index: 0.02MB
woo_woocommerce_api_keys: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.03MB
woo_woocommerce_attribute_taxonomies: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.02MB
woo_woocommerce_downloadable_product_permissions: Data: 0.06MB + Index: 0.06MB
woo_woocommerce_order_items: Data: 0.08MB + Index: 0.02MB
woo_woocommerce_order_itemmeta: Data: 0.34MB + Index: 0.31MB
woo_woocommerce_tax_rates: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.06MB
woo_woocommerce_tax_rate_locations: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.05MB
woo_woocommerce_shipping_zones: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.00MB
woo_woocommerce_shipping_zone_locations: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.05MB
woo_woocommerce_shipping_zone_methods: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.00MB
woo_woocommerce_payment_tokens: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.02MB
woo_woocommerce_payment_tokenmeta: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.03MB
woo_woocommerce_log: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.02MB
woo_aepc_custom_audiences: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.00MB
woo_commentmeta: Data: 0.09MB + Index: 0.03MB
woo_comments: Data: 0.22MB + Index: 0.16MB
woo_ewwwio_images: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.03MB
woo_failed_jobs: Data: 0.06MB + Index: 0.00MB
woo_image_compression_settings: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.00MB
woo_links: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.02MB
woo_loginizer_logs: Data: 0.00MB + Index: 0.00MB
woo_mailchimp_carts: Data: 0.06MB + Index: 0.00MB
woo_optins: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.03MB
woo_optin_meta: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.03MB
woo_options: Data: 4.09MB + Index: 0.14MB
woo_pms_member_subscriptionmeta: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.03MB
woo_pms_member_subscriptions: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.03MB
woo_pms_paymentmeta: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.03MB
woo_pms_payments: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.02MB
woo_popover_ip_cache: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.02MB
woo_postmeta: Data: 9.52MB + Index: 8.89MB
woo_posts: Data: 17.52MB + Index: 0.70MB
woo_queue: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.00MB
woo_revslider_css: Data: 0.14MB + Index: 0.00MB
woo_revslider_layer_animations: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.00MB
woo_revslider_navigations: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.00MB
woo_revslider_sliders: Data: 0.09MB + Index: 0.00MB
woo_revslider_slides: Data: 0.44MB + Index: 0.00MB
woo_revslider_static_slides: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.00MB
woo_termmeta: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.03MB
woo_terms: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.03MB
woo_term_relationships: Data: 0.16MB + Index: 0.08MB
woo_term_taxonomy: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.03MB
woo_usermeta: Data: 1.48MB + Index: 0.69MB
woo_users: Data: 0.05MB + Index: 0.05MB
woo_wpeditor_settings: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.00MB
woo_yith_wcwl: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.02MB
woo_yith_wcwl_lists: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.03MB
woo_yoast_seo_links: Data: 1.44MB + Index: 0.25MB
woo_yoast_seo_meta: Data: 0.08MB + Index: 0.00MB
woo_ywrr_email_blocklist: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.00MB
woo_ywrr_email_schedule: Data: 0.02MB + Index: 0.00MB

Post Type Counts

attachment: 1848
countdown: 1
custom_css: 1
customize_changeset: 1
inc_popup: 1
mc4wp-form: 2
nav_menu_item: 63
page: 72
pms-subscription: 3
portfolio: 26
post: 147
product: 308
revision: 2204
shop_coupon: 27
shop_order: 384
shop_order_refund: 1
woocarousel: 1
wpcf7_contact_form: 6

Security

Secure connection (HTTPS): ✔
Hide errors from visitors: ✔

Active Plugins (26)

Above The Fold Optimization: by PageSpeed.pro – 2.9.2
Akismet Anti-Spam: by Automattic – 4.0
Autoptimize: by Frank Goossens (futtta) – 2.2.2
Contact Form 7: by Takayuki Miyoshi – 4.9
Envato WordPress Toolkit: by Envato – 1.7.3
EWWW Image Optimizer: by Shane Bishop – 3.6.1
Handmade Framework: by g5plus – 1.3
Head and Footer Scripts Inserter: by Arthur Gareginyan – 4.12
Image Widget: by Modern Tribe
Inc. – 4.4.6

Jetpack by WordPress.com: by Automattic – 5.4
WPBakery Visual Composer: by Michael M - WPBakery.com – 5.2
Loginizer: by Raj Kothari – 1.3.8
MailChimp for WordPress: by ibericode – 4.1.9
WC Password Strength Settings: by Daniel Santoro – 2.0.1
WooCommerce Stripe Gateway: by WooCommerce – 3.2.3 – Not tested with the active version of WooCommerce
WooCommerce: by Automattic – 3.2.0 – 3.2.1 is available
Yoast SEO: by Team Yoast – 5.6
WP Editor: by Benjamin Rojas – 1.2.6.3
WP Fastest Cache: by Emre Vona – 0.8.7.3
JPG, PNG Compression and Optimization: by pigeonhut
optimisation.io – 1.6.21

WP-Mail-SMTP: by Callum Macdonald – 0.10.1
WP Rollback: by WordImpress – 1.5
WP User Avatar: by flippercode – 2.0.8
YITH WooCommerce Compare: by YITHEMES – 2.2.1 – Not tested with the active version of WooCommerce
YITH WooCommerce Waiting List: by YITHEMES – 1.1.1 – Not tested with the active version of WooCommerce
YITH WooCommerce Wishlist: by YITHEMES – 2.1.2 – Not tested with the active version of WooCommerce

Settings

API Enabled: ✔
Force SSL: –
Currency: EUR (€)
Currency Position: left
Thousand Separator: ,
Decimal Separator: .
Number of Decimals: 2
Taxonomies: Product Types: external (external)
grouped (grouped)
simple (simple)
variable (variable)

Taxonomies: Product Visibility: exclude-from-catalog (exclude-from-catalog)
exclude-from-search (exclude-from-search)
featured (featured)
outofstock (outofstock)
rated-1 (rated-1)
rated-2 (rated-2)
rated-3 (rated-3)
rated-4 (rated-4)
rated-5 (rated-5)

WC Pages

Shop base: #3895 - /finished-jewelry/
Cart: #1572 - /cart/
Checkout: #1573 - /checkout/
My account: #1574 - /my-account/
Terms and conditions: #4602 - /terms-and-conditions/

Theme

Name: HandMade
Version: 3.3
Author URL: http://g5plus.net/
Child Theme: ❌ – If you are modifying WooCommerce on a parent theme that you did not build personally we recommend using a child theme. See: How to create a child theme
WooCommerce Support: ✔

Templates

Overrides: handmade-3.3/woocommerce/archive-product.php
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/cart/cart-shipping.php version 3.1.0 is out of date. The core version is 3.2.0
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/cart/cart-totals.php
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/cart/cart.php
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/cart/cross-sells.php
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/cart/mini-cart.php version 3.1.0 is out of date. The core version is 3.2.0
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/cart/shipping-calculator.php version 2.0.8 is out of date. The core version is 3.2.0
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/checkout/form-coupon.php
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/checkout/form-login.php
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/checkout/payment-method.php
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/content-product.php
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/content-product_cat.php
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/content-single-product.php
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/global/quantity-input.php version 2.5.0 is out of date. The core version is 3.2.0
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/loop/add-to-cart.php
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/loop/loop-end.php
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/loop/loop-start.php
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/loop/pagination.php
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/loop/sale-flash.php
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/product-searchform.php
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/single-product/meta.php
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/single-product/product-image.php
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/single-product/related.php
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/single-product/sale-flash.php
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/single-product/short-description.php
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/single-product/title.php
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/single-product/up-sells.php
handmade-3.3/woocommerce/single-product.php

Outdated Templates: ❌Learn how to update
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[khungate-zz]

Hi @adam-sandor, thank you for providing the system report. It looks like you may be using the MailChimp for WordPress: by ibericode – 4.1.9 plugin and not MailChimp for WooCommerce 2.0.2.

Can you confirm?

[adam-sandor]

I was using both. Now that I disabled the MailChimp plugin only the ibericode one is running.

[khungate-zz]

@adam-sandor please reference issue #158