Visual Shortcodes Security & Risk Analysis

wordpress.org/plugins/visual-shortcodes

This is a utility plugin that will allow other plugins and themes to swap out shortcodes with custom images, in the same way that WordPress' nati …

100 active installs v0.1 PHP + WP 3.2.1+ Updated Jan 12, 2013
editorshortcodesvisual-editor
85
A · Safe
CVEs total0
Unpatched0
Last CVENever
Safety Verdict

Is Visual Shortcodes Safe to Use in 2026?

Generally Safe

Score 85/100

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

No known CVEs Updated 13yr ago
Risk Assessment

The static analysis of the 'visual-shortcodes' plugin v0.1 indicates an exceptionally clean codebase, with no detected vulnerabilities, dangerous functions, or potential attack vectors from AJAX handlers, REST API routes, shortcodes, or cron events. The complete absence of SQL queries, file operations, external HTTP requests, and the perfect score for output escaping and prepared statements are strong indicators of secure coding practices. Taint analysis also shows no identified risks.

The vulnerability history further reinforces this positive assessment, with zero recorded CVEs of any severity. This lack of historical vulnerabilities, coupled with the clean static analysis, suggests a plugin that is either very new, extremely simple, or has been rigorously maintained and secured. There are no immediate security concerns apparent from the provided data.

However, it's important to note that the plugin's attack surface is reported as zero, which is highly unusual for a plugin that likely offers some functionality. If this is accurate, it implies the plugin might be dormant or purely informational. If it does indeed provide features, the lack of any reported entry points is a potential anomaly that warrants further investigation. In the absence of any identified weaknesses, the current risk assessment is very low.

Key Concerns

  • No nonce checks on entry points
  • No capability checks on entry points
  • Extremely low attack surface may indicate dormant plugin
Vulnerabilities
None known

Visual Shortcodes Security Vulnerabilities

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

Visual Shortcodes 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
Attack Surface

Visual Shortcodes Attack Surface

Entry Points0
Unprotected0
WordPress Hooks 3
filtermce_external_pluginsvisual-shortcodes.php:44
filtermce_external_languagesvisual-shortcodes.php:45
actionadmin_print_stylesvisual-shortcodes.php:46
Maintenance & Trust

Visual Shortcodes Maintenance & Trust

Maintenance Signals

WordPress version tested3.5.2
Last updatedJan 12, 2013
PHP min version
Downloads3K

Community Trust

Rating50/100
Number of ratings2
Active installs100
Developer Profile

Visual Shortcodes Developer Profile

J B

2 plugins · 7K total installs

84
trust score
Avg Security Score
85/100
Avg Patch Time
30 days
View full developer profile
Detection Fingerprints

How We Detect Visual Shortcodes

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

Asset Fingerprints

Asset Paths
/wp-content/plugins/visual-shortcodes/buttons.css/wp-content/plugins/visual-shortcodes/visualshortcodes/editor_plugin.js/wp-content/plugins/visual-shortcodes/visualshortcodes/langs.php
Script Paths
/wp-content/plugins/visual-shortcodes/visualshortcodes/editor_plugin.js

HTML / DOM Fingerprints

CSS Classes
jpb_visualshortcodes
FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about Visual Shortcodes