WP Approve User Security & Risk Analysis

wordpress.org/plugins/wp-approve-user

Adds action links to user table to approve or unapprove user registrations.

3K active installs v11 PHP + WP 4.3+ Updated Jan 3, 2024
adminapproveloginuseruser-management
85
A · Safe
CVEs total0
Unpatched0
Last CVENever
Safety Verdict

Is WP Approve User Safe to Use in 2026?

Generally Safe

Score 85/100

WP Approve User has no known CVEs and is actively maintained. It's a solid choice for most WordPress installations.

No known CVEs Updated 2yr ago
Risk Assessment

The static analysis of the wp-approve-user plugin v11 reveals a strong security posture with no identified critical or high-severity vulnerabilities. The absence of dangerous functions, properly escaped output, and the exclusive use of prepared statements for SQL queries are excellent security practices. The plugin also demonstrates good awareness of WordPress security by including nonce and capability checks on its entry points, albeit the number of these checks is relatively low. The attack surface is zero, meaning there are no exposed AJAX handlers, REST API routes, shortcodes, or cron events that could be directly exploited. Furthermore, the plugin's history is clean, with no known CVEs recorded, which suggests a history of secure development and maintenance.

However, the complete lack of any taint analysis results (zero flows analyzed) is a notable concern. While this may indicate that the developers have successfully prevented exploitable data flows, it also means that this crucial aspect of security testing might not have been thoroughly performed or reported. The limited number of nonce and capability checks, while present, could be a point of weakness if any new entry points are introduced in future versions without adequate protection. Overall, the plugin appears to be secure based on the provided data, but the absence of comprehensive taint analysis and a very limited attack surface that implies minimal functionality might be areas for further investigation or more detailed testing in a real-world scenario. The plugin exhibits strong adherence to fundamental security principles but lacks evidence of advanced security testing like comprehensive taint analysis.

Vulnerabilities
None known

WP Approve User Security Vulnerabilities

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

WP Approve User Code Analysis

Dangerous Functions
0
Raw SQL Queries
0
0 prepared
Unescaped Output
0
38 escaped
Nonce Checks
4
Capability Checks
7
File Operations
0
External Requests
0
Bundled Libraries
0

Output Escaping

100% escaped38 total outputs
Attack Surface

WP Approve User Attack Surface

Entry Points0
Unprotected0
WordPress Hooks 5
actionregister_new_userclass-obenland-wp-approve-user.php:356
filterpre_update_option_users_can_registernoop.php:34
actionadmin_headnoop.php:60
actionall_admin_noticesnoop.php:71
actionplugins_loadedwp-approve-user.php:34
Maintenance & Trust

WP Approve User Maintenance & Trust

Maintenance Signals

WordPress version tested6.4.8
Last updatedJan 3, 2024
PHP min version
Downloads104K

Community Trust

Rating84/100
Number of ratings41
Active installs3K
Developer Profile

WP Approve User Developer Profile

Konstantin Obenland

13 plugins · 23K total installs

89
trust score
Avg Security Score
93/100
Avg Patch Time
30 days
View full developer profile
Detection Fingerprints

How We Detect WP Approve User

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

Asset Fingerprints

Asset Paths
/wp-content/plugins/wp-approve-user/css/settings-page.min.css/wp-content/plugins/wp-approve-user/css/settings-page.css/wp-content/plugins/wp-approve-user/js/wp-approve-user.min.js/wp-content/plugins/wp-approve-user/js/wp-approve-user.js
Script Paths
/wp-content/plugins/wp-approve-user/js/wp-approve-user.min.js/wp-content/plugins/wp-approve-user/js/wp-approve-user.js
Version Parameters
wp-approve-user/css/settings-page.min.css?ver=wp-approve-user/css/settings-page.css?ver=wp-approve-user/js/wp-approve-user.min.js?ver=wp-approve-user/js/wp-approve-user.js?ver=

HTML / DOM Fingerprints

CSS Classes
wpau_unapproved
Data Attributes
data-approvedata-unapprove
JS Globals
wp_approve_user
FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about WP Approve User