
Pretty Url Security & Risk Analysis
wordpress.org/plugins/pretty-urlDescription: Pretty URLs is a powerful WordPress plugin that lets you create clean, SEO-optimized custom URLs for any content type — including Posts, …
Is Pretty Url Safe to Use in 2026?
Mostly Safe
Score 77/100Pretty Url is generally safe to use. 3 past CVEs were resolved. Keep it updated.
The 'pretty-url' plugin exhibits a mixed security posture. While it has a commendable zero-attack surface for direct entry points like AJAX handlers and REST API routes, and a reasonable number of SQL queries utilize prepared statements, there are significant concerns. The taint analysis revealing two flows with unsanitized paths, classified as high severity, is a critical finding that indicates potential vulnerabilities in how user input is handled, which could lead to serious security issues if exploited.
The plugin's vulnerability history, with three known CVEs and two currently unpatched, is a major red flag. The fact that these past vulnerabilities include Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) and Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) suggests a recurring pattern of input validation and state management weaknesses. The most recent vulnerability being in 2025 further indicates that these issues may be persistent and not adequately addressed.
In conclusion, despite a strong showing in minimizing direct attack vectors and a good percentage of prepared SQL statements, the presence of high-severity unsanitized taint flows and a history of unpatched CSRF and XSS vulnerabilities present a substantial risk. Users should exercise extreme caution and prioritize patching any known vulnerabilities. The plugin has strengths in code hygiene for certain areas, but the identified taint flows and historical issues require immediate attention.
Key Concerns
- Unpatched CVEs
- High severity unsanitized taint flows
- Medium severity unpatched CVEs
- SQL queries not using prepared statements
- Outputs not properly escaped
- Missing nonce checks
- Missing capability checks
Pretty Url Security Vulnerabilities
CVEs by Year
Severity Breakdown
3 total CVEs
Pretty Url <= 1.5.4 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting
Pretty Url <= 1.5.4 - Cross-Site Request Forgery
Pretty Url < 1.5.5 - Authenticated (Admin+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting
Pretty Url Code Analysis
SQL Query Safety
Output Escaping
Data Flow Analysis
Pretty Url Attack Surface
WordPress Hooks 11
Maintenance & Trust
Pretty Url Maintenance & Trust
Maintenance Signals
Community Trust
Pretty Url Alternatives
Make Paths Relative
make-paths-relative
Convert Absolute URLs to be relative in your fingertip.
Simple SEO Criteria Check
simple-seo-criteria-check
The plugin 'Simple SEO Criteria Checklist" evaluates your post URLs, internal and external post links and image meta data.
WP URL Extension
wp-url-extension
Adds .html, .php, .whatever to pages, post, custom post type with rewrite rule
Nested Blog Posts
nested-blog-posts
Enable parent/child hierarchy for standard Posts and generate nested permalinks like /parent/child/ (unlimited depth).
Pretty Url Developer Profile
6 plugins · 630 total installs
How We Detect Pretty Url
Patterns used to identify this plugin on WordPress sites during automated security audits and web crawling.