Persistent High CPU Usage on Sites Running WoodMart

Hello WoodMart Support Team,

We are experiencing persistent high CPU usage on three websites running the WoodMart theme.

Details:
All sites run the latest WordPress 6.9.

All sites have updated to the latest version of WoodMart, yet high CPU usage continues.

Multiple PHP-FPM workers show sustained high CPU (12–25% each), maxing out cores.

Rolling back WordPress temporarily reduces CPU, but the problem remains even with the current WoodMart version.

This is not related to traffic, and status endpoints are unresponsive under load.

This appears to be a theme-related performance issue. A similar discussion can be found here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Wordpress/comments/1pd35y4/wordpress_69_is_causing_permanent_100_cpu_usage/

Could you please investigate and advise if there is a fix, patch, or recommended configuration to resolve this issue?

Attachments:

You must be logged in to view attached files.

Hello,

We have identified the cause of the high CPU usage on our server.

The issue is caused by long-running PHP-FPM workers, tied to specific website pools. Individual PHP requests are running for tens of minutes, continuously consuming CPU.

Example from the server:
php-fpm: pool skrinshop.cz etime: 44:52 CPU: ~7%
php-fpm: pool abglassbohemia.com etime: 13:42 CPU: ~17%

This behavior:
• occurs with normal traffic levels,
• is isolated to specific sites,
• strongly correlates with sites running the WoodMart theme,
• is not related to server resources or configuration.

Just sharing this finding in case it helps with further investigation.
Let us know if you need more details or logs.

Hello,

Thanks for the detailed reports. To investigate the long‑running PHP‑FPM workers and confirm whether the load is caused by the theme or a conflict, we need to reproduce and monitor it in real time.

Please provide access in the forum’s private content field:
– SFTP/FTP access
– SSH access to the site’s user so we can watch PHP‑FPM processes and logs during tests

Preparation and isolation steps:
1) Disable all third‑party plugins and keep only theme‑related essentials active: WooCommerce, WoodMart Core, and your page builder (WPBakery or Elementor if used). Clear and temporarily disable all caching layers (plugin cache and CDN) before testing.
2) Switch to a default WordPress theme (e.g., Twenty Twenty‑Four) so we can check if the long‑running PHP‑FPM requests still occur. Then we will switch back to WoodMart and repeat. We will compare behavior under both themes.
3) If production is sensitive, please create a staging copy and let us test there.

Kind Regards

Hello,

Thank you for your response and detailed instructions.

In the meantime, we have migrated the servers to a new Debian version. After the migration, the issue with long-running PHP-FPM processes and the related behavior no longer occurs.

Everything is now working correctly, and we are unable to reproduce the problem anymore.

You may close this ticket.

Great, we are glad that you sorted it out. Feel free to contact us if you have any further questions.

[Author]

Posts