
Easy External Links Security & Risk Analysis
wordpress.org/plugins/wp-linksTake control of external links in WordPress posts, pages & comments. Insert rel=external nofollow and target=_blank to all your external links.
Is Easy External Links Safe to Use in 2026?
Generally Safe
Score 85/100Easy External Links has no known CVEs and is actively maintained. It's a solid choice for most WordPress installations.
The 'wp-links' plugin v2.2.3 exhibits a generally positive security posture based on the provided static analysis. The absence of identified dangerous functions, raw SQL queries, file operations, external HTTP requests, and a zero-count for known CVEs are all strong indicators of a well-developed and secure plugin. The zero attack surface also suggests that the plugin does not expose any direct entry points for potential attackers, which is a significant security advantage.
However, there are notable areas of concern. The extremely low percentage of properly escaped output (1%) is a critical weakness. This means that nearly all dynamic data outputted by the plugin is susceptible to cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks. The complete lack of nonce checks and capability checks, coupled with zero identified entry points, suggests that while the plugin may not have direct attack vectors, any functionality that *does* exist is not protected against unauthorized execution or manipulation, making it reliant on the overall WordPress security context.
In conclusion, while the plugin's lack of known vulnerabilities and attack surface are commendable, the severe lack of output escaping represents a significant and easily exploitable security risk. The absence of nonce and capability checks further exacerbates this, as it allows for potentially malicious actions to be performed without proper authorization. The plugin's strengths lie in its minimal exposure and reliance on prepared statements, but the output escaping issue is a critical flaw that needs immediate attention.
Key Concerns
- Extremely low output escaping percentage
- No nonce checks
- No capability checks
Easy External Links Security Vulnerabilities
Easy External Links Release Timeline
Easy External Links Code Analysis
Output Escaping
Easy External Links Attack Surface
WordPress Hooks 7
Maintenance & Trust
Easy External Links Maintenance & Trust
Maintenance Signals
Community Trust
Easy External Links Alternatives
External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window
wp-external-links
Internal links & external links manager: open in new window or tab, control nofollow, ugc, sponsored & noopener. SEO friendly.
External Links in New Window / New Tab
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Open external links in a new window or new tab. SEO optimized and XHTML Strict compliant.
Open Links In New Tab
open-links-in-new-tab
Opens external links and internal links in a new window depending on user settings. Manage all external & internal links on your site.
External Links Manager – Open new window in a new tab + nofollow, noreferrer
smart-external-links-manager
Manage external links: new tabs, add rel attribute nofollow, noopener, noreferrer, sponsored, show icon on/off. SEO, secure, XHTML Strict compliant.
External Links New Tab
external-links-new-tab
Automatically opens external links in a new browser tab, improving user engagement and site security.
Easy External Links Developer Profile
1 plugin · 300 total installs
How We Detect Easy External Links
Patterns used to identify this plugin on WordPress sites during automated security audits and web crawling.
Asset Fingerprints
/wp-content/plugins/wp-links/icons/HTML / DOM Fingerprints
wp-links-icon<!-- WP Links CSS-->wp-links-icon