MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar Security & Risk Analysis

wordpress.org/plugins/mailchimp-top-bar

Adds a Mailchimp opt-in form to the top or bottom of your WordPress site.

7K active installs v1.7.4 PHP 7.4+ WP 4.9+ Updated Feb 23, 2026
call-to-actionformmailchimpsubscribetop-bar
99
A · Safe
CVEs total1
Unpatched0
Last CVEOct 1, 2024
Safety Verdict

Is MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar Safe to Use in 2026?

Generally Safe

Score 99/100

MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar has a strong security track record. Known vulnerabilities have been patched promptly.

1 known CVELast CVE: Oct 1, 2024Updated 1mo ago
Risk Assessment

The mailchimp-top-bar plugin version 1.7.4 exhibits a generally strong security posture based on the provided static analysis. The absence of direct entry points like AJAX handlers, REST API routes, shortcodes, and cron events significantly limits the plugin's attack surface. Furthermore, all detected SQL queries utilize prepared statements, indicating good database interaction practices and mitigating SQL injection risks. The code also demonstrates a reasonable level of output escaping, with 67% of outputs being properly handled, reducing the likelihood of cross-site scripting vulnerabilities.

However, the plugin is not without its concerns. The presence of a past medium-severity vulnerability related to Cross-site Scripting, although patched and with no currently unpatched CVEs, suggests that input sanitization and output escaping might require ongoing scrutiny. The static analysis shows 3 capability checks, which is positive, but the absence of any nonce checks is a notable weakness, particularly if any hidden entry points exist that were not detected by the analysis. While the taint analysis found no issues, this is likely due to the limited number of flows analyzed (0). A more comprehensive taint analysis might reveal previously undetected risks.

In conclusion, mailchimp-top-bar v1.7.4 has several strengths, particularly in its limited attack surface and secure database practices. The main areas for improvement are addressing the historical vulnerability pattern and the lack of nonce checks, which could be critical if new vulnerabilities are introduced. While the current analysis doesn't flag critical issues, past XSS vulnerabilities warrant careful monitoring and robust input/output handling.

Key Concerns

  • Past medium CVE for XSS
  • Missing nonce checks
  • Output escaping not fully comprehensive (67%)
Vulnerabilities
1

MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar Security Vulnerabilities

CVEs by Year

1 CVE in 2024
2024
Patched Has unpatched

Severity Breakdown

Medium
1

1 total CVE

CVE-2024-9210medium · 6.1Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')

MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar <= 1.6.0 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting

Oct 1, 2024 Patched in 1.6.1 (1d)
Code Analysis
Analyzed Mar 16, 2026

MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar Code Analysis

Dangerous Functions
0
Raw SQL Queries
0
0 prepared
Unescaped Output
34
69 escaped
Nonce Checks
0
Capability Checks
3
File Operations
0
External Requests
0
Bundled Libraries
0

Output Escaping

67% escaped103 total outputs
Attack Surface

MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar Attack Surface

Entry Points0
Unprotected0
WordPress Hooks 11
actionplugins_loadedmailchimp-top-bar.php:34
actionwpmailchimp-top-bar.php:64
actionadmin_noticessrc\admin-notice-install-deps.php:4
actionadmin_initsrc\Admin.php:26
filteradmin_footer_textsrc\Admin.php:27
filtermc4wp_admin_menu_itemssrc\Admin.php:28
actionmc4wp_admin_enqueue_assetssrc\Admin.php:29
filterplugin_row_metasrc\Admin.php:51
actionwp_enqueue_scriptssrc\Bar.php:55
actionwp_headsrc\Bar.php:56
actionwp_footersrc\Bar.php:57
Maintenance & Trust

MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar Maintenance & Trust

Maintenance Signals

WordPress version tested6.9.4
Last updatedFeb 23, 2026
PHP min version7.4
Downloads365K

Community Trust

Rating92/100
Number of ratings30
Active installs7K
Developer Profile

MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar Developer Profile

Danny van Kooten

9 plugins · 1.1M total installs

77
trust score
Avg Security Score
97/100
Avg Patch Time
655 days
View full developer profile
Detection Fingerprints

How We Detect MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar

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

Asset Fingerprints

Asset Paths
/wp-content/plugins/mailchimp-top-bar/assets/admin.css/wp-content/plugins/mailchimp-top-bar/assets/top-bar.css/wp-content/plugins/mailchimp-top-bar/assets/admin.js/wp-content/plugins/mailchimp-top-bar/assets/top-bar.js
Script Paths
wp-content/plugins/mailchimp-top-bar/assets/admin.jswp-content/plugins/mailchimp-top-bar/assets/top-bar.js
Version Parameters
mailchimp-top-bar/assets/admin.js?ver=mailchimp-top-bar/assets/top-bar.js?ver=

HTML / DOM Fingerprints

CSS Classes
mc4wp-top-barmc4wp-top-bar-visiblemc4wp-top-bar-hidden
HTML Comments
Mailchimp Top BarCopyright (C) 2015, Danny van Kooten, hi@dannyvankooten.com
Data Attributes
data-mc4wp-placeholderdata-mc4wp-form-id
JS Globals
mc4wp_top_bar
Shortcode Output
[mailchimp_top_bar]
FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar