Author Grid Security & Risk Analysis

wordpress.org/plugins/authorgrid

Sidebar widget that displays the avatar of all of the authors on your blog in grid form.

10 active installs v1 PHP + WP 3.1+ Updated May 9, 2011
authorsavatarsgrid
85
A · Safe
CVEs total0
Unpatched0
Last CVENever
Safety Verdict

Is Author Grid Safe to Use in 2026?

Generally Safe

Score 85/100

Author Grid has no known CVEs and is actively maintained. It's a solid choice for most WordPress installations.

No known CVEs Updated 15yr ago
Risk Assessment

The "authorgrid" v1 plugin exhibits a strong security posture based on the provided static analysis. The absence of any identified attack surface points, dangerous functions, file operations, external HTTP requests, or nonce/capability checks is highly commendable. This indicates that the plugin has been developed with security best practices in mind, minimizing potential entry points for attackers. The taint analysis also shows no critical or high severity vulnerabilities, further reinforcing its secure design.

However, there are areas that warrant attention. A significant concern is the low percentage of properly escaped output (11%), with 18 total outputs. This suggests that a substantial number of data outputs are not being sanitized, potentially leading to cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities if user-supplied data is displayed without proper escaping. While the SQL queries are partially using prepared statements, the fact that 50% are not prepared introduces a risk of SQL injection. The lack of any recorded CVEs is a positive sign, but it's crucial to remember that a clean history does not guarantee future security, especially when combined with the identified output escaping and SQL preparation weaknesses.

In conclusion, "authorgrid" v1 has a fundamentally secure architecture by limiting its attack surface. The primary risks lie in the potential for XSS and SQL injection due to insufficient output escaping and raw SQL queries, respectively. Continuous monitoring and updates are essential, particularly addressing the output escaping and SQL preparation issues to maintain its strong security standing.

Key Concerns

  • Low output escaping percentage (11%)
  • 50% of SQL queries not using prepared statements
Vulnerabilities
None known

Author Grid Security Vulnerabilities

No known vulnerabilities — this is a good sign.
Version History

Author Grid Release Timeline

v1.0
Code Analysis
Analyzed Mar 16, 2026

Author Grid Code Analysis

Dangerous Functions
0
Raw SQL Queries
1
1 prepared
Unescaped Output
16
2 escaped
Nonce Checks
0
Capability Checks
0
File Operations
0
External Requests
0
Bundled Libraries
0

SQL Query Safety

50% prepared2 total queries

Output Escaping

11% escaped18 total outputs
Attack Surface

Author Grid Attack Surface

Entry Points0
Unprotected0
WordPress Hooks 1
actionplugins_loadedauthorGrid.php:211
Maintenance & Trust

Author Grid Maintenance & Trust

Maintenance Signals

WordPress version tested3.1.4
Last updatedMay 9, 2011
PHP min version
Downloads4K

Community Trust

Rating0/100
Number of ratings0
Active installs10
Developer Profile

Author Grid Developer Profile

mdiamondstone

1 plugin · 10 total installs

84
trust score
Avg Security Score
85/100
Avg Patch Time
30 days
View full developer profile
Detection Fingerprints

How We Detect Author Grid

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

Asset Fingerprints

Asset Paths
/wp-content/plugins/authorgrid/authorGrid.php

HTML / DOM Fingerprints

Shortcode Output
<div style="padding: 0px; width: px; margin-left: 5px; margin-top: 3px;"><a href="" style="margin-right: 1px;">
FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about Author Grid