Better Font Awesome Security & Risk Analysis

wordpress.org/plugins/better-font-awesome

The Better Font Awesome plugin for WordPress. Shortcodes, HTML, TinyMCE, various Font Awesome versions, backwards compatibility, CDN speeds, and more.

70K active installs v2.0.4 PHP + WP 3.0+ Updated Feb 12, 2025
awesomebetterfonticonicons
90
A · Safe
CVEs total3
Unpatched0
Last CVEJan 18, 2023
Safety Verdict

Is Better Font Awesome Safe to Use in 2026?

Generally Safe

Score 90/100

Better Font Awesome has a strong security track record. Known vulnerabilities have been patched promptly.

3 known CVEsLast CVE: Jan 18, 2023Updated 1yr ago
Risk Assessment

The "better-font-awesome" plugin v2.0.4 exhibits a generally positive security posture based on the static analysis, with no critical or high severity taint flows, all SQL queries utilizing prepared statements, and all output properly escaped. The attack surface is also minimal, consisting of a single AJAX handler that, importantly, has a nonce check. This demonstrates good development practices in preventing common web vulnerabilities.

However, the plugin's vulnerability history is a significant concern. It has accumulated 3 known CVEs, with 1 high and 2 medium severity vulnerabilities in the past. While none are currently unpatched, the recurring nature of Cross-Site Scripting, Missing Authorization, and Cross-Site Request Forgery issues suggests a pattern of past weaknesses that may indicate underlying coding issues or a lack of comprehensive security review. The absence of capability checks, while not directly flagged as an issue in the static analysis due to the limited attack surface, could become a risk if new entry points are introduced in future versions.

In conclusion, while v2.0.4 appears to be free of immediate exploitable flaws based on the static analysis, the historical vulnerability data warrants caution. The plugin has a history of serious security issues, and although current protections are in place, it's crucial to monitor for future updates and potential re-emergence of similar vulnerabilities.

Key Concerns

  • History of high and medium severity CVEs
  • History of common vulnerability types (XSS, Auth, CSRF)
  • No capability checks on entry points
Vulnerabilities
3

Better Font Awesome Security Vulnerabilities

CVEs by Year

2 CVEs in 2022
2022
1 CVE in 2023
2023
Patched Has unpatched

Severity Breakdown

High
1
Medium
2

3 total CVEs

CVE-2022-4512medium · 6.4Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')

Better Font Awesome <= 2.0.3 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Shortcodes

Jan 18, 2023 Patched in 2.0.4 (370d)

Better Font Awesome <= 2.0.1 - Missing Authorization to Plugin Options Update

Aug 26, 2022 Patched in 2.0.2 (515d)
CVE-2022-37405high · 8.8Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)

Better Font Awesome <= 2.0.1 - Cross-Site Request Forgery to Plugin Settings Update

Aug 25, 2022 Patched in 2.0.2 (516d)
Code Analysis
Analyzed Mar 16, 2026

Better Font Awesome Code Analysis

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

Output Escaping

100% escaped19 total outputs
Data Flows
All sanitized

Data Flow Analysis

2 flows
save_options (better-font-awesome.php:489)
Source (user input) Sink (dangerous op) Sanitizer Transform Unsanitized Sanitized
Attack Surface

Better Font Awesome Attack Surface

Entry Points1
Unprotected0

AJAX Handlers 1

authwp_ajax_bfa_save_optionsbetter-font-awesome.php:184
WordPress Hooks 6
actioninitbetter-font-awesome.php:24
actionadmin_initbetter-font-awesome.php:165
actionadmin_menubetter-font-awesome.php:179
actionadmin_initbetter-font-awesome.php:180
actionadmin_enqueue_scriptsbetter-font-awesome.php:181
filterbfa_show_errorsbetter-font-awesome.php:314
Maintenance & Trust

Better Font Awesome Maintenance & Trust

Maintenance Signals

WordPress version tested6.7.5
Last updatedFeb 12, 2025
PHP min version
Downloads1.2M

Community Trust

Rating92/100
Number of ratings84
Active installs70K
Developer Profile

Better Font Awesome Developer Profile

Mickey Kay

5 plugins · 71K total installs

71
trust score
Avg Security Score
89/100
Avg Patch Time
467 days
View full developer profile
Detection Fingerprints

How We Detect Better Font Awesome

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

Asset Fingerprints

Asset Paths
/wp-content/plugins/better-font-awesome/css/better-font-awesome.css/wp-content/plugins/better-font-awesome/js/better-font-awesome.js
Script Paths
/wp-content/plugins/better-font-awesome/js/better-font-awesome.js
Version Parameters
better-font-awesome/css/better-font-awesome.css?ver=better-font-awesome/js/better-font-awesome.js?ver=

HTML / DOM Fingerprints

CSS Classes
bfa-icon
JS Globals
bfa_options
Shortcode Output
[icon ][icon name=[icon title=[icon id=
FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about Better Font Awesome