Head Cleanup Security & Risk Analysis

wordpress.org/plugins/header-cleanup

Remove extraneous header tags from your site's head area. Simple user interface that allows you to select what tags to remove.

50 active installs v0.0.6 PHP + WP 2.7+ Updated Dec 6, 2011
cleanhtmlpuppies
85
A · Safe
CVEs total0
Unpatched0
Last CVENever
Safety Verdict

Is Head Cleanup Safe to Use in 2026?

Generally Safe

Score 85/100

Head Cleanup 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 header-cleanup plugin version 0.0.6 exhibits an excellent security posture based on the provided static analysis. The absence of any detected dangerous functions, raw SQL queries, file operations, external HTTP requests, or unescaped output indicates strong adherence to secure coding practices. Furthermore, the complete lack of AJAX handlers, REST API routes, shortcodes, or cron events signifies a very small attack surface, and critically, none of these entry points are left unprotected. The plugin's vulnerability history is also clean, with no recorded CVEs, suggesting a low likelihood of historically exploitable issues.

Despite the overwhelmingly positive analysis, there are two flows with unsanitized paths identified in the taint analysis. While classified as not critical or high severity, these represent potential weaknesses where data might not be properly handled before use. The absence of nonce and capability checks across all entry points, though these are currently zero, could become a concern if functionality were to be added in the future without proper security measures. Overall, this plugin appears to be very secure, with the minor concern being the unsanitized paths which warrants attention.

Key Concerns

  • Flows with unsanitized paths
  • No capability checks on entry points
  • No nonce checks on entry points
Vulnerabilities
None known

Head Cleanup Security Vulnerabilities

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

Head Cleanup Code Analysis

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

Data Flow Analysis

2 flows2 with unsanitized paths
binaryHeaderAdminPage (headercleanup.php:70)
Source (user input) Sink (dangerous op) Sanitizer Transform Unsanitized Sanitized
Attack Surface

Head Cleanup Attack Surface

Entry Points0
Unprotected0
WordPress Hooks 3
actioninitheadercleanup.php:14
filterpost_comments_feed_linkheadercleanup.php:43
actionadmin_menuheadercleanup.php:64
Maintenance & Trust

Head Cleanup Maintenance & Trust

Maintenance Signals

WordPress version tested3.3.2
Last updatedDec 6, 2011
PHP min version
Downloads4K

Community Trust

Rating0/100
Number of ratings0
Active installs50
Developer Profile

Head Cleanup Developer Profile

Matt McInvale

5 plugins · 1K total installs

81
trust score
Avg Security Score
81/100
Avg Patch Time
30 days
View full developer profile
Detection Fingerprints

How We Detect Head Cleanup

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

Asset Fingerprints

HTML / DOM Fingerprints

HTML Comments
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FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about Head Cleanup