
CYAN Backup Security & Risk Analysis
wordpress.org/plugins/cyan-backupBackup your entire WordPress site and its database into a zip file on a schedule. Remote storage options include FTP, SFTP and FTPS.
Is CYAN Backup Safe to Use in 2026?
Generally Safe
Score 95/100CYAN Backup has a strong security track record. Known vulnerabilities have been patched promptly.
The "cyan-backup" plugin version 2.5.5 presents a mixed security posture. While the static analysis reveals a seemingly small attack surface with no directly exposed AJAX, REST API, or shortcode entry points without authentication, several concerning code signals warrant attention. The presence of dangerous functions like `create_function` and `unserialize` is a significant red flag, as these can be exploited for code execution or deserialization vulnerabilities if not handled with extreme care and proper input validation. Furthermore, a low percentage (27%) of properly escaped outputs indicates a high risk of Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities, allowing attackers to inject malicious scripts into the website. The large number of file operations (292) combined with a low output escaping rate increases the potential for insecure file handling as well.
The plugin's vulnerability history is also a major concern. With 4 known CVEs, all categorized as medium severity and related to Path Traversal and XSS, this indicates a pattern of past security weaknesses. While there are currently no unpatched CVEs, the recurring nature of these vulnerability types suggests that the development team may struggle with consistently implementing secure coding practices, particularly around input sanitization and output escaping. The last recorded vulnerability date (2025-11-07) is in the future, which might indicate a data anomaly or a placeholder, but it doesn't negate the historical trend.
In conclusion, despite the lack of immediately obvious unauthenticated entry points in the static analysis, the "cyan-backup" plugin has significant potential for vulnerabilities due to the use of dangerous functions, poor output escaping, and a history of XSS and Path Traversal issues. The high volume of file operations and the low rate of proper output escaping are particularly worrying. Users should exercise caution and ensure thorough security audits are performed on this plugin.
Key Concerns
- Presence of dangerous functions (create_function, unserialize)
- Low percentage of properly escaped outputs (27%)
- High number of past medium severity CVEs (4)
- Vulnerability types indicate insecure input/output handling
- No capability checks on entry points
- SQL queries not consistently using prepared statements (60%)
CYAN Backup Security Vulnerabilities
CVEs by Year
Severity Breakdown
4 total CVEs
CYAN Backup <= 2.5.4 - Authenticated (Admin+) Arbitrary File Deletion
CYAN Backup <= 2.5.2 - Authenticated (Admin+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting
CYAN Backup <= 2.5.2 - Authenticated (Admin+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting
CYAN Backup <= 2.5.3 - Authenticated (Admin+) Arbitrary File Download
CYAN Backup Code Analysis
Dangerous Functions Found
SQL Query Safety
Output Escaping
CYAN Backup Attack Surface
WordPress Hooks 8
Scheduled Events 2
Maintenance & Trust
CYAN Backup Maintenance & Trust
Maintenance Signals
Community Trust
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CYAN Backup Developer Profile
34 plugins · 8K total installs
How We Detect CYAN Backup
Patterns used to identify this plugin on WordPress sites during automated security audits and web crawling.
Asset Fingerprints
/wp-content/plugins/cyan-backup/css/cyan-backup.css/wp-content/plugins/cyan-backup/js/cyan-backup.js/wp-content/plugins/cyan-backup/js/cyan-backup-admin.js/wp-content/plugins/cyan-backup/js/cyan-backup.js/wp-content/plugins/cyan-backup/js/cyan-backup-admin.jscyan-backup/css/cyan-backup.css?ver=cyan-backup/js/cyan-backup.js?ver=cyan-backup/js/cyan-backup-admin.js?ver=HTML / DOM Fingerprints
cyan-backup-wrapcyan-backup-page-title<!-- Start CYAN Backup Menu --><!-- End CYAN Backup Menu --><!-- Start Backup Settings --><!-- End Backup Settings -->+6 moreCYAN_BACKUP_AJAX_URLCYAN_BACKUP_NONCE/wp-json/cyan-backup/v1/settings/wp-json/cyan-backup/v1/schedule/wp-json/cyan-backup/v1/backup/wp-json/cyan-backup/v1/restore/wp-json/cyan-backup/v1/log