ShrinkTheWeb (STW) Website Previews Plugin Security & Risk Analysis

wordpress.org/plugins/shrinktheweb-website-preview-plugin

This plugin accesses the ShrinkTheWeb API to automatically replace special tags in posts with website screenshots, where desired.

70 active installs v2.8.5 PHP + WP 2.9+ Updated Aug 4, 2017
previewscreenshotsnapshotthumbnailswebsite-screenshots
63
C · Use Caution
CVEs total1
Unpatched1
Last CVESep 22, 2025
Safety Verdict

Is ShrinkTheWeb (STW) Website Previews Plugin Safe to Use in 2026?

Use With Caution

Score 63/100

ShrinkTheWeb (STW) Website Previews Plugin has 1 unpatched vulnerability. Evaluate alternatives or apply available mitigations.

1 known CVE 1 unpatched Last CVE: Sep 22, 2025Updated 8yr ago
Risk Assessment

The "shrinktheweb-website-preview-plugin" v2.8.5 exhibits a mixed security posture. The static analysis shows a relatively small attack surface with no immediately apparent unprotected entry points. However, the presence of dangerous functions like `create_function` and `unserialize` raises significant concerns, as these can be exploited for code execution if not handled with extreme care and input validation. While the majority of SQL queries use prepared statements and output escaping is generally good, these specific dangerous functions represent a potential backdoor for attackers. The vulnerability history reveals a past medium severity Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability, and importantly, one currently unpatched CVE. This pattern suggests a need for more robust security practices to prevent future exploits, especially given the unpatched vulnerability that could still be leveraged.

Key Concerns

  • Unpatched CVE found
  • Use of dangerous function: unserialize
  • Use of dangerous function: create_function
  • Medium severity vulnerability in history
Vulnerabilities
1

ShrinkTheWeb (STW) Website Previews Plugin Security Vulnerabilities

CVEs by Year

1 CVE in 2025 · unpatched
2025
Patched Has unpatched

Severity Breakdown

Medium
1

1 total CVE

CVE-2025-58677medium · 4.3Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)

ShrinkTheWeb (STW) Website Previews <= 2.8.5 - Cross-Site Request Forgery

Sep 22, 2025Unpatched
Code Analysis
Analyzed Mar 16, 2026

ShrinkTheWeb (STW) Website Previews Plugin Code Analysis

Dangerous Functions
2
Raw SQL Queries
2
3 prepared
Unescaped Output
14
38 escaped
Nonce Checks
2
Capability Checks
3
File Operations
4
External Requests
3
Bundled Libraries
1

Dangerous Functions Found

create_function$filterFunc = create_function('$v', '$filterStr = "'.$this->name.'_"; return (substr($v, 0, strlen($wplib\utils_formbuilder.inc.php:1842
unserializereturn unserialize($rawSettings);wplib\utils_settings.inc.php:121

Bundled Libraries

TinyMCE

SQL Query Safety

60% prepared5 total queries

Output Escaping

73% escaped52 total outputs
Attack Surface

ShrinkTheWeb (STW) Website Previews Plugin Attack Surface

Entry Points4
Unprotected0

AJAX Handlers 2

authwp_ajax_wpthumb_account_info_outputstw-wp-thumbnails.php:1224
authwp_ajax_stwwt_dismiss_notice_ajaxstw-wp-thumbnails.php:1284

Shortcodes 2

[thumb] stw-wp-thumbnails.php:91
[stwthumb] stw-wp-thumbnails.php:93
WordPress Hooks 14
actioninitstw-wp-thumbnails.php:52
actionadmin_menustw-wp-thumbnails.php:67
actionadmin_headstw-wp-thumbnails.php:68
actionadmin_print_stylesstw-wp-thumbnails.php:71
actionadmin_noticesstw-wp-thumbnails.php:77
actionwp_footerstw-wp-thumbnails.php:86
filterplugin_action_linksstw-wp-thumbnails.php:97
actioninitstw-wp-thumbnails.php:99
filtermce_buttonsstw-wp-thumbnails.php:1183
filtermce_external_pluginsstw-wp-thumbnails.php:1184
filtermce_external_languagesstw-wp-thumbnails.php:1185
actioninitstw-wp-thumbnails.php:1188
actionadmin_footerstw-wp-thumbnails.php:1263
actioninitstw-wp-thumbnails.php:1295
Maintenance & Trust

ShrinkTheWeb (STW) Website Previews Plugin Maintenance & Trust

Maintenance Signals

WordPress version tested4.8.28
Last updatedAug 4, 2017
PHP min version
Downloads20K

Community Trust

Rating74/100
Number of ratings6
Active installs70
Developer Profile

ShrinkTheWeb (STW) Website Previews Plugin Developer Profile

puravida1976

2 plugins · 80 total installs

76
trust score
Avg Security Score
74/100
Avg Patch Time
30 days
View full developer profile
Detection Fingerprints

How We Detect ShrinkTheWeb (STW) Website Previews Plugin

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

Asset Fingerprints

Asset Paths
/wp-content/plugins/shrinktheweb-website-preview-plugin/js/stw-script.js/wp-content/plugins/shrinktheweb-website-preview-plugin/css/stw-style.css
Script Paths
/wp-content/plugins/shrinktheweb-website-preview-plugin/js/stw-script.js
Version Parameters
shrinktheweb-website-preview-plugin/js/stw-script.js?ver=shrinktheweb-website-preview-plugin/css/stw-style.css?ver=

HTML / DOM Fingerprints

Data Attributes
data-stw-image-widthdata-stw-image-heightdata-stw-image-urldata-stw-site-urldata-stw-titledata-stw-description
JS Globals
STWWT_plugin_pathSTWWT_THUMBNAIL_WIDTHSTWWT_THUMBNAIL_HEIGHTSTWWT_THUMBNAIL_LINKSTWWT_THUMBNAIL_LINK_TARGETSTWWT_THUMBNAIL_ALT_TEXT+3 more
Shortcode Output
[thumb][stwthumb]
FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about ShrinkTheWeb (STW) Website Previews Plugin