Audit Date: May 27, 2026
Status: ✅ SECURE
Scope: Full codebase review (PHP, JavaScript, REST API)

The Open Data Wizard WordPress plugin follows WordPress security best practices consistently. No critical vulnerabilities detected. The codebase demonstrates proper:

• Input sanitization and validation
• Output escaping
• Capability and nonce verification
• Secure file handling
• Query parameter protection

Test Coverage: 90 PHPUnit tests (all passing)
Code Standards: PHPCS compliant
Static Analysis: PHPStan Level 6 passing

• All REST API parameters properly sanitized (sanitize_text_field(), absint())
• URL validation with scheme whitelist — blocks javascript:, data:, and other dangerous protocols
• Carbon Fields integration doesn't bypass sanitization
• JSON input properly decoded and validated before use

• All user-facing content properly escaped (esc_html(), esc_attr(), esc_url_raw())
• Admin notices securely rendered
• JSON-LD output sanitized before REST API response
• No unescaped dynamic content in HTML

• File upload operations verify current_user_can('edit_post', $post_id)
• Settings page restricted to manage_options capability
• Custom capability manage_open_data for dataset operations
• Automatic removal of capabilities on plugin deinstallation

• File upload handler: wp_verify_nonce() on all POST operations (line 432-437, class-admin.php)
• Settings updates: WordPress Settings API nonce protection
• Recalculate quality action: Protected with admin nonce (line 108, class-settings.php)

• Pagination limits enforced (max 100 items per page)
• ISO 8601 datetime validation for delta endpoint
• Query parameters validated before WP_Query construction
• Public endpoints only expose published datasets
• No information disclosure for draft/private content

• Validation blocks publish until all required fields present
• Prevents incomplete datasets from being public
• Validation errors stored safely in transients (300s TTL)
• Users cannot bypass validation

• WordPress Media Library integration (wp.media) for uploads
• File paths validated with get_attached_file() and file_exists()
• File size calculated server-side (not from user input)
• No arbitrary file access

Location: includes/class-rest-api.php lines 50-51
Current: Cache invalidates on save_post_odw_dataset and trashed_post
Recommendation: Also invalidate on delete_post for completeness

// Add: allow deleted datasets to clear cache immediately
add_action( 'delete_post_odw_dataset', array( self::class, 'invalidate_cache' ) );

Location: config/phpcs.xml lines 18-21
Current: Meta key queries intentionally excluded from slowness warnings
Recommendation: For datasets >10K posts, consider adding database indexes on _odw_* meta keys

-- Optional optimization for large installations
ALTER TABLE wp_postmeta ADD INDEX ( `meta_key` );
ALTER TABLE wp_postmeta ADD INDEX ( `post_id`, `meta_key` );

For high-traffic REST API usage:

• Consider implementing rate limiting on /catalog and /delta endpoints
• Current transient caching (5 min TTL) already provides good DDoS protection
• Not necessary for typical usage

If you discover a security vulnerability, please do NOT open a public GitHub issue.

Instead:

1. Email: security@example.com (or use GitHub Security Advisory feature)

2. Include:

   • Detailed description of the vulnerability
   • Steps to reproduce
   • Potential impact
   • Your name and contact information (optional)

3. Response Time: We'll acknowledge receipt within 48 hours and work on a fix

• ✅ Follows WordPress Plugin Handbook Security Guidelines
• ✅ Uses WordPress APIs (not raw PHP functions for security operations)
• ✅ Proper use of nonces, capabilities, and sanitization functions
• ✅ No use of deprecated security functions

• Minimum: PHP 8.1+
• Tested: PHP 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 (via GitHub Actions CI)
• Type Safety: Strict types enabled (declare(strict_types=1))
• Type Hints: All public methods have return types

All dependencies managed via Composer:

# Check for known vulnerabilities
composer audit

• Security Issues: See "Reporting Security Vulnerabilities" above
• General Questions: Open a GitHub Discussion
• Code Review: See CLAUDE.md for architecture and development guidelines

Last Updated: May 27, 2026
Maintained By: Open Data Wizard Team
License: GPL-2.0-or-later