Stealth Update Security & Risk Analysis

wordpress.org/plugins/stealth-update

Adds the ability to update a post without having WordPress automatically update the post's post_modified timestamp.

100 active installs v2.5 PHP + WP 3.6+ Updated Apr 13, 2016
latestpostpost_modifiedpublishupdate
85
A · Safe
CVEs total0
Unpatched0
Last CVENever
Safety Verdict

Is Stealth Update Safe to Use in 2026?

Generally Safe

Score 85/100

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

No known CVEs Updated 10yr ago
Risk Assessment

The "stealth-update" v2.5 plugin exhibits a generally strong security posture based on the provided static analysis. The absence of any discovered AJAX handlers, REST API routes, shortcodes, or cron events, particularly those unprotected by authentication, indicates a minimal attack surface. Furthermore, the code analysis reveals no dangerous functions, file operations, or external HTTP requests, and all SQL queries utilize prepared statements, which are excellent security practices. The plugin also shows no history of known vulnerabilities, suggesting a consistently secure development lifecycle.

However, a significant concern arises from the moderate rate of output escaping (57% properly escaped). This implies that a portion of the plugin's output may be susceptible to cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities if user-supplied data is not sufficiently sanitized before being displayed. The complete lack of nonce checks and capability checks, while potentially acceptable given the zero attack surface, represents a missed opportunity for defense-in-depth and could become a risk if the plugin's functionality or entry points were to expand in future versions. The absence of taint analysis data is also noteworthy, as it prevents a complete assessment of data flow security. In conclusion, while "stealth-update" v2.5 is well-protected against common web vulnerabilities due to its limited attack surface and secure SQL handling, the unescaped output presents a specific area of concern that should be addressed.

Key Concerns

  • Moderate unescaped output
  • Missing nonce checks
  • Missing capability checks
Vulnerabilities
None known

Stealth Update Security Vulnerabilities

No known vulnerabilities — this is a good sign.
Version History

Stealth Update Release Timeline

v2.5Current
v2.4.3
v2.4.2
v2.4.1
v2.4
v2.3
v2.2.1
v2.2
v2.1
v2.0.2
v2.0.1
v2.0
Code Analysis
Analyzed Mar 16, 2026

Stealth Update Code Analysis

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

Output Escaping

57% escaped7 total outputs
Attack Surface

Stealth Update Attack Surface

Entry Points0
Unprotected0
WordPress Hooks 6
actioninitstealth-update.php:88
actionpost_submitbox_misc_actionsstealth-update.php:118
actionquick_edit_custom_boxstealth-update.php:120
filterwp_insert_post_datastealth-update.php:121
actionadmin_enqueue_scriptsstealth-update.php:122
filterpost_date_column_timestealth-update.php:123
Maintenance & Trust

Stealth Update Maintenance & Trust

Maintenance Signals

WordPress version tested4.5.33
Last updatedApr 13, 2016
PHP min version
Downloads7K

Community Trust

Rating100/100
Number of ratings5
Active installs100
Developer Profile

Stealth Update Developer Profile

Scott Reilly

63 plugins · 92K total installs

71
trust score
Avg Security Score
88/100
Avg Patch Time
374 days
View full developer profile
Detection Fingerprints

How We Detect Stealth Update

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

Asset Fingerprints

Asset Paths
/wp-content/plugins/stealth-update/assets/admin.js
Script Paths
/wp-content/plugins/stealth-update/assets/admin.js
Version Parameters
stealth-update/assets/admin.js?ver=

HTML / DOM Fingerprints

CSS Classes
c2c-stealth-update
Data Attributes
for="stealth_update"id="stealth_update"name="stealth_update"
FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about Stealth Update