WYSIWYG Editing Security & Risk Analysis

wordpress.org/plugins/wysiwyg

This plugin activates WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editing for different fields in WordPress. It is based on the <a href="http://www.themaninblue.com/experiment/widgEditor/">widgEditor</a>.

80 active installs v1.0 PHP + WP + Updated Mar 24, 2005
85
A · Safe
CVEs total0
Unpatched0
Last CVENever
Safety Verdict

Is WYSIWYG Editing Safe to Use in 2026?

Generally Safe

Score 85/100

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

No known CVEs Updated 21yr ago
Risk Assessment

The static analysis of the "wysiwyg" v1.0 plugin reveals an extremely limited attack surface. There are no identified AJAX handlers, REST API routes, shortcodes, or cron events, meaning there are no apparent direct entry points for external interaction. Furthermore, the code signals indicate a strong adherence to secure coding practices, with no dangerous functions, no SQL queries (and therefore no unescaped SQL), and all output is properly escaped. The absence of file operations and external HTTP requests further reduces potential risks.

The taint analysis also shows no flows, which, in conjunction with the lack of entry points and the absence of vulnerabilities in its history, suggests that this plugin, in its current state, has not exposed any exploitable code paths. The vulnerability history is completely clean, with no recorded CVEs of any severity. This suggests either a lack of historical scrutiny or a genuinely well-developed and secure plugin.

However, the lack of any security checks like nonce or capability checks, while not directly exploitable due to the absence of entry points, does represent a potential weakness. If future versions introduce any entry points without implementing these checks, it could lead to vulnerabilities. The overall security posture is excellent in terms of current code and history, but the complete absence of standard security controls for potential future expansion is a minor concern.

Key Concerns

  • Missing nonce checks
  • Missing capability checks
Vulnerabilities
None known

WYSIWYG Editing Security Vulnerabilities

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

WYSIWYG Editing 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

WYSIWYG Editing Attack Surface

Entry Points0
Unprotected0
WordPress Hooks 2
filtercontent_save_prewysiwyg.php:1952
actionadmin_headwysiwyg.php:1954
Maintenance & Trust

WYSIWYG Editing Maintenance & Trust

Maintenance Signals

WordPress version tested
Last updatedMar 24, 2005
PHP min version
Downloads23K

Community Trust

Rating20/100
Number of ratings1
Active installs80
Alternatives

WYSIWYG Editing Alternatives

No alternatives data available yet.

Developer Profile

WYSIWYG Editing Developer Profile

Automattic

393 plugins · 20.8M total installs

73
trust score
Avg Security Score
91/100
Avg Patch Time
1192 days
View full developer profile
Detection Fingerprints

How We Detect WYSIWYG Editing

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

Asset Fingerprints

Asset Paths
/wp-content/plugins/wysiwyg/wysiwyg-images/widgeditor_button_shadow.gif/wp-content/plugins/wysiwyg/wysiwyg-images/widgeditor_button_bold.gif/wp-content/plugins/wysiwyg/wysiwyg-images/widgeditor_button_html.gif/wp-content/plugins/wysiwyg/wysiwyg-images/widgeditor_button_image.gif/wp-content/plugins/wysiwyg/wysiwyg-images/widgeditor_button_italic.gif/wp-content/plugins/wysiwyg/wysiwyg-images/widgeditor_button_link.gif/wp-content/plugins/wysiwyg/wysiwyg-images/widgeditor_button_ordered.gif/wp-content/plugins/wysiwyg/wysiwyg-images/widgeditor_button_unordered.gif+2 more
Script Paths
/wp-content/plugins/wysiwyg/wysiwyg.php?file=widgEditor.js
Version Parameters
wysiwyg/wysiwyg.php?file=widgContent.css?ver=wysiwyg/wysiwyg.php?file=widgEditor.css?ver=wysiwyg/wysiwyg.php?file=widgEditor.js?ver=

HTML / DOM Fingerprints

CSS Classes
widgContainerwidgToolbarwidgEditButtonwidgEditSelectwidgIframewidgEditorwidgToolbar awidgToolbar a:hover+19 more
HTML Comments
/* HTML TAGS *//* OBJECTS *//* CLASSES *//****************************************************************************** ** STRUCTURE OF DYNAMICALLY CREATED ELEMENTS ******************************************************************************* ** ** <div id="ORIGINAL_IDWidgContainer" class="widgContainer"> ** <ul id="ORIGINAL_IDWidgToolbar" class="widgToolbar"> ** <li id="BUTTON_ID" class="widgEditButton"> ** <a></a> ** </li> ** <li class="widgEditSelect"> ** <select> ** </select> ** </li> ** </ul> ** <iframe id="ORIGINAL_IDWidgIframe" class="widgIframe"> ** </iframe> ** <textarea id="ORIGINAL_IDWidgTextarea" class="widgEditor"> ** </textarea> ** </div> */+94 more
Data Attributes
id="ORIGINAL_IDWidgContainer"class="widgContainer"id="ORIGINAL_IDWidgToolbar"class="widgToolbar"id="BUTTON_ID"class="widgEditButton"+5 more
JS Globals
widgStylesheetwidgToolbarItemswidgSelectBlockOptions
FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about WYSIWYG Editing