Widget Area Builder Security & Risk Analysis

wordpress.org/plugins/widget-area-builder

Make a sidebar and place it anywhere in post or page with shortcode.

10 active installs v1.0 PHP + WP 4.0+ Updated May 20, 2016
shortcodesidebarwidgetwidget-area
85
A · Safe
CVEs total0
Unpatched0
Last CVENever
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Safety Verdict

Is Widget Area Builder Safe to Use in 2026?

Generally Safe

Score 85/100

Widget Area Builder has no known CVEs and is actively maintained. It's a solid choice for most WordPress installations.

No known CVEs Updated 9yr ago
Risk Assessment

The "widget-area-builder" v1.0 plugin exhibits a mixed security posture. On the positive side, the plugin demonstrates good practices by having no known vulnerabilities in its history and utilizing prepared statements for all SQL queries. It also includes nonce and capability checks, indicating an awareness of basic WordPress security measures. However, significant concerns arise from the static code analysis. The presence of six dangerous function calls, specifically 'unserialize,' without any taint analysis results suggests a high potential risk for deserialization vulnerabilities if untrusted data is passed to these functions. Furthermore, the alarming statistic that 0% of output is properly escaped presents a serious risk of Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities, allowing attackers to inject malicious scripts into the user interface.

Key Concerns

  • Dangerous function 'unserialize' detected
  • 0% of output properly escaped
Vulnerabilities
None known

Widget Area Builder Security Vulnerabilities

No known vulnerabilities — this is a good sign.
Code Analysis
Analyzed Mar 17, 2026

Widget Area Builder Code Analysis

Dangerous Functions
6
Raw SQL Queries
0
0 prepared
Unescaped Output
7
0 escaped
Nonce Checks
1
Capability Checks
1
File Operations
0
External Requests
0
Bundled Libraries
0

Dangerous Functions Found

unserialize$stky_option = unserialize(get_option( 'ri_widget_area_builder_id' ));main.php:33
unserializeif(get_option( 'ri_widget_area_builder_'.$val )){ $snmd = unserialize(get_option( 'ri_widget_area_bumain.php:36
unserialize$stky_option = unserialize(get_option( 'ri_widget_area_builder_id' ));sticky-admin.php:9
unserialize$stky_option = unserialize(get_option( 'ri_widget_area_builder_id' ));sticky-admin.php:28
unserialize$stky_option = unserialize(get_option( 'ri_widget_area_builder_id' ));sticky-admin.php:47
unserializeif(get_option( 'ri_widget_area_builder_'.$val )){ $snmd = unserialize(get_option( 'ri_widget_area_busticky-admin.php:62

Output Escaping

0% escaped7 total outputs
Attack Surface

Widget Area Builder Attack Surface

Entry Points1
Unprotected0

Shortcodes 1

[ri_custom_sidebar] main.php:59
WordPress Hooks 1
actionadmin_menumain.php:14
Maintenance & Trust

Widget Area Builder Maintenance & Trust

Maintenance Signals

WordPress version tested4.4.34
Last updatedMay 20, 2016
PHP min version
Downloads2K

Community Trust

Rating100/100
Number of ratings1
Active installs10
Developer Profile

Widget Area Builder Developer Profile

farvehandleren

11 plugins · 240 total installs

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

How We Detect Widget Area Builder

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

Asset Fingerprints

Asset Paths
/wp-content/plugins/widget-area-builder/img/sticky-icon.png

HTML / DOM Fingerprints

CSS Classes
ri-sticky-wdgwidgettitle
Shortcode Output
[ri_custom_sidebar]
FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about Widget Area Builder