Developer Options Security & Risk Analysis

wordpress.org/plugins/developer-options-plugin

Plugin for WordPress Developers to view WordPress options.

10 active installs v1.1 PHP + WP 2.9+ Updated Feb 26, 2012
admindeveloperoptions
85
A · Safe
CVEs total0
Unpatched0
Last CVENever
Safety Verdict

Is Developer Options Safe to Use in 2026?

Generally Safe

Score 85/100

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

No known CVEs Updated 14yr ago
Risk Assessment

The "developer-options-plugin" v1.1 exhibits a mixed security posture. On one hand, it demonstrates good practices by avoiding external HTTP requests, file operations, and SQL queries that aren't prepared. The complete absence of known CVEs and a clean vulnerability history is also a positive indicator, suggesting the developers may be security-conscious or that the plugin has not been extensively targeted. However, significant concerns arise from the static analysis. The presence of the `unserialize` function, especially without explicit input sanitization or validation indicated, poses a substantial risk. Furthermore, a complete lack of output escaping on all identified outputs is a critical flaw, leaving the plugin highly susceptible to Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities. The absence of nonce and capability checks on any potential entry points, although currently zero, is a weakness that could become a problem if new features are added without proper security considerations.

Key Concerns

  • Dangerous function 'unserialize' used
  • All outputs are unescaped
  • No nonce checks found
  • No capability checks found
Vulnerabilities
None known

Developer Options Security Vulnerabilities

No known vulnerabilities — this is a good sign.
Code Analysis
Analyzed Mar 16, 2026

Developer Options Code Analysis

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

Dangerous Functions Found

unserialize$value = "<pre class='dev_option'>" . print_r(unserialize($value), true) . "</pre>";plugin-admin.php:149
unserializereturn (@unserialize($string) !== false);plugin-admin.php:168

Output Escaping

0% escaped3 total outputs
Attack Surface

Developer Options Attack Surface

Entry Points0
Unprotected0
WordPress Hooks 2
filterplugin_row_metaplugin-admin.php:49
actionadmin_menuplugin-admin.php:52
Maintenance & Trust

Developer Options Maintenance & Trust

Maintenance Signals

WordPress version tested3.3.2
Last updatedFeb 26, 2012
PHP min version
Downloads3K

Community Trust

Rating0/100
Number of ratings0
Active installs10
Developer Profile

Developer Options Developer Profile

ChrisHurst

19 plugins · 2K total installs

69
trust score
Avg Security Score
85/100
Avg Patch Time
2044 days
View full developer profile
Detection Fingerprints

How We Detect Developer Options

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

Asset Fingerprints

Asset Paths
/wp-content/plugins/developer-options-plugin/js/developer-options.js
Script Paths
http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jqueryui/1.8.2/themes/smoothness/jquery-ui.css
Version Parameters
developer-options-plugin/js/developer-options.js?ver=

HTML / DOM Fingerprints

CSS Classes
dev_option
JS Globals
wpurl
FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about Developer Options