Acknowledgify Security & Risk Analysis

wordpress.org/plugins/acknowledgify

Acknowledgify lets agencies, freelancers, and developers add credits to WordPress sites via humans.txt, meta tags, and footer links.

100 active installs v1.1.4 PHP 8.0+ WP 6.4+ Updated Sep 30, 2025
acknowledgmentscreditsfooter-linkshumans-txtmeta-tags
99
A · Safe
CVEs total1
Unpatched0
Last CVEOct 16, 2025
Safety Verdict

Is Acknowledgify Safe to Use in 2026?

Generally Safe

Score 99/100

Acknowledgify has a strong security track record. Known vulnerabilities have been patched promptly.

1 known CVELast CVE: Oct 16, 2025Updated 6mo ago
Risk Assessment

The Acknowledgifyn plugin v1.1.4 exhibits a generally good security posture based on static analysis. The absence of dangerous functions, file operations, and external HTTP requests is commendable. The code demonstrates strong practices regarding SQL queries, exclusively using prepared statements, and a high percentage of properly escaped output, minimizing risks of SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS).

However, a notable concern arises from the plugin's vulnerability history, specifically a past medium-severity vulnerability related to missing authorization. While currently patched, this indicates a potential for authorization bypasses, which could be a recurring issue if not addressed thoroughly in development processes. The static analysis shows that while there are some capability checks and nonce checks, the presence of a shortcode as a potential entry point without explicit authentication checks, combined with a past authorization issue, warrants careful consideration.

Overall, Acknowledgifyn v1.1.4 appears to be a secure plugin with strong coding practices. The primary area of concern stems from its historical vulnerability type, suggesting a need for continued vigilance in authorization checks and rigorous testing to ensure such issues do not re-emerge.

Key Concerns

  • Past medium severity vulnerability (Missing Auth)
  • Shortcode present, potential entry point
Vulnerabilities
1

Acknowledgify Security Vulnerabilities

CVEs by Year

1 CVE in 2025
2025
Patched Has unpatched

Severity Breakdown

Medium
1

1 total CVE

CVE-2025-62021medium · 4.3Missing Authorization

Acknowledgify <= 1.1.3 - Missing Authorization

Oct 16, 2025 Patched in 1.1.4 (8d)
Code Analysis
Analyzed Mar 16, 2026

Acknowledgify Code Analysis

Dangerous Functions
0
Raw SQL Queries
0
0 prepared
Unescaped Output
1
156 escaped
Nonce Checks
3
Capability Checks
2
File Operations
0
External Requests
0
Bundled Libraries
0

Output Escaping

99% escaped157 total outputs
Data Flows
All sanitized

Data Flow Analysis

2 flows
acknowledgify_import_settings (admin\admin-settings.php:702)
Source (user input) Sink (dangerous op) Sanitizer Transform Unsanitized Sanitized
Attack Surface

Acknowledgify Attack Surface

Entry Points1
Unprotected0

Shortcodes 1

[acknowledgify_madeby_footer] includes\hooks.php:35
WordPress Hooks 12
actionadmin_menuadmin\admin-menu.php:25
actionadmin_initincludes\hooks.php:20
actionadmin_enqueue_scriptsincludes\hooks.php:21
actioninitincludes\hooks.php:22
filterquery_varsincludes\hooks.php:23
actiontemplate_redirectincludes\hooks.php:24
actionwp_headincludes\hooks.php:25
actionwp_headincludes\hooks.php:26
actionwp_footerincludes\hooks.php:27
actionadmin_post_acknowledgify_exportincludes\hooks.php:28
actionadmin_post_acknowledgify_importincludes\hooks.php:29
actiontemplate_redirectincludes\humans-txt.php:31
Maintenance & Trust

Acknowledgify Maintenance & Trust

Maintenance Signals

WordPress version tested6.8.5
Last updatedSep 30, 2025
PHP min version8.0
Downloads1K

Community Trust

Rating0/100
Number of ratings0
Active installs100
Developer Profile

Acknowledgify Developer Profile

Made Neat

2 plugins · 300 total installs

94
trust score
Avg Security Score
100/100
Avg Patch Time
8 days
View full developer profile
Detection Fingerprints

How We Detect Acknowledgify

Patterns used to identify this plugin on WordPress sites during automated security audits and web crawling.

Asset Fingerprints

Asset Paths
/wp-content/plugins/acknowledgify/admin/css/admin-settings.css/wp-content/plugins/acknowledgify/admin/js/admin-settings.js/wp-content/plugins/acknowledgify/public/css/acknowledgify.css/wp-content/plugins/acknowledgify/public/js/acknowledgify.js
Script Paths
/wp-content/plugins/acknowledgify/admin/js/admin-settings.js/wp-content/plugins/acknowledgify/public/js/acknowledgify.js
Version Parameters
acknowledgify/admin/css/admin-settings.css?ver=acknowledgify/admin/js/admin-settings.js?ver=acknowledgify/public/css/acknowledgify.css?ver=acknowledgify/public/js/acknowledgify.js?ver=

HTML / DOM Fingerprints

CSS Classes
ack-tab-contentack-button
HTML Comments
<!-- Admin Settings for Acknowledgify Plugin. --><!-- This file outputs the settings page under Settings > Acknowledgify. --><!-- It includes a tabbed interface for General, humans.txt, Meta Tags, and Footer Link settings. --><!-- Tab Navigation -->+3 more
Data Attributes
data-toggledata-target
JS Globals
acknowledgify_settings_nonce
FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about Acknowledgify