URL: /rules/integrity/orphan-page

---
title: "Hidden Orphan Page"
description: "Detects crawled pages absent from every sitemap AND linked from nowhere"
---

Detects crawled pages that are absent from every sitemap **and** have no inbound internal links — a hidden page is a common injected-page signal.

| | |
|---|---|
| **Rule ID** | `integrity/orphan-page` |
| **Category** | [Site Integrity](/rules/integrity) |
| **Scope** | Site-wide |
| **Severity** | warning |
| **Weight** | 6/10 |

## How it differs from `links/orphan-pages`

The SEO rule [`links/orphan-pages`](/rules/links) flags pages with *fewer than N* inbound internal links — a discoverability concern. This integrity rule is about *hidden* pages: zero inbound links **and** absent from the sitemap, which is exactly how injected phishing or spam pages stay invisible to the site owner while remaining live to anyone with the URL.

A lone hidden page is reported as **info**. It escalates to a **failure** only when the hidden page also carries page-level compromise signals — the correlation gating that keeps false positives down.

## Solution

A reachable page that is in no sitemap and linked from nowhere on your site is invisible to you but live to anyone with the URL — exactly how injected phishing/spam pages hide. Confirm you created the page; if not, treat the site as compromised: remove it, audit recently modified files, and review server logs. Legitimate hidden pages (e.g. unlisted landing pages) should at least be in your sitemap if you want them found.

## Options

| Option | Default | Description |
|--------|---------|-------------|
| `minPages` | `3` | Minimum crawled pages before hidden-page analysis runs |

```toml squirrel.toml
[rules."integrity/orphan-page"]
minPages = 3
```

## Enable / Disable

### Disable this rule

```toml squirrel.toml
[rules]
disable = ["integrity/orphan-page"]
```

### Disable all Site Integrity rules

```toml squirrel.toml
[rules]
disable = ["integrity/*"]
```

### Enable only this rule

```toml squirrel.toml
[rules]
enable = ["integrity/orphan-page"]
disable = ["*"]
```