Is No External Links safe to use?

Laskyr does not give safety verdicts. No known unpatched vulnerabilities in the latest version (5.3.0). As of 2026-11-04. 2 issues are on record for older versions; version 5.3.0 or newer fixes all of them that state a fix. Keep No External Links on the latest version (5.3.0) and remove it if you do not use it.

Which versions of No External Links are vulnerable?

Known issues on record (newest first): Stored cross-site scripting (XSS) (5.2.0 and older, fixed in 5.3.0); Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) (5.1.6.2 and older, fixed in 5.1.7). The full list with sources is on this page.

What is the latest version of No External Links?

5.3.0, according to wordpress.org (last updated 2026-09-29). It has 4,000+ active installs.

What should I do if my No External Links is out of date?

Take a backup, then update it from Dashboard > Updates (or run wp plugin update mihdan-no-external-links). If you cannot update right away, deactivate it until you can. If you think the site was already attacked, run a free scan at https://laskyr.com/scan.

Plugins · mihdan-no-external-links · data as of 2026-11-04

Is No External Links safe? Known vulnerabilities and latest version

Latest version: 5.3.0
Last updated: 2026-09-29
Active installs: 4,000+
Known issues on record: 2
Unpatched in latest: 0
Tested up to WP: 7.1.4 · PHP 7.4+

Convert external links into internal links, site wide or post/page specific. Add NoFollow, Click logging, and more... — by mihdan

What to do

Update to the latest version (5.3.0). Anything older than 5.3.0 has at least one known issue listed below. Dashboard → Updates, or Plugins → “update now”.
If you cannot update right away, deactivate it until you can.
Turn on auto-updates for it: Plugins → “Enable auto-updates” on its row.
If you ran a vulnerable version and something looks off (spam pages, strange admins, redirects), run the free scan.

With WP-CLI: wp plugin get mihdan-no-external-links --field=version shows what you run; wp plugin update mihdan-no-external-links updates it.

Check your version

Known vulnerabilities

2 on record, newest first. “Affected” is the version range the source gives; “fixed in” is the version the source names, or (marked *) the first wordpress.org release after the last affected version.

high 7.2 CVE-2026-95670 · published 2026-10-02

Stored cross-site scripting (XSS) in No External Links (5.2.0 and older)

Affected: 5.2.0 and older
Fixed in: 5.3.0 *
Access needed (per CVSS): No login needed
Range from: CVE record (the advisory publisher) · score by Wordfence

Details from the advisory

The No External Links plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Log URL via /goto/{base64} Redirect in all versions up to, and including, 5.2.0 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page. This is only exploitable when the administrator has enabled the 'Link Encoding: Base64' option in the plugin settings.

NVD CVE-2026-95670 Wordfence advisory Code change (fix)Plugin source

medium 5.4 CVE-2025-53451 · published 2025-09-22

Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) in No External Links (5.1.6.2 and older)

Affected: 5.1.6.2 and older
Fixed in: 5.1.7
Access needed (per CVSS): No login needed; someone on the site has to click a link or open a page
Range from: CVE record (the advisory publisher) · score by Patchstack

Details from the advisory

Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in mihdan Mihdan: No External Links mihdan-no-external-links allows Cross Site Request Forgery.This issue affects Mihdan: No External Links: from n/a through <= 5.1.6.2.

NVD CVE-2025-53451 Patchstack advisory

Recent activity

2026-09-29 — latest release on wordpress.org (5.3.0).
2026-10-02 — Stored cross-site scripting (XSS) disclosed (CVE-2026-95670), fixed in 5.3.0.
2025-09-22 — Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) disclosed (CVE-2025-53451), fixed in 5.1.7.

Free. We check the CVE feeds every day and email you only when a new issue for No External Links (mihdan-no-external-links) is published or a fix ships. Unsubscribe in one click.

Browse vulnerabilities

Types found in this plugin: Cross-site scripting (XSS) (1) · Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) (1)

Where this data comes from

Version, last update, installs: wordpress.org/plugins/mihdan-no-external-links (Plugins API), fetched 2026-11-04.
Vulnerabilities: NIST National Vulnerability Database (NVD), checked 2026-11-04. This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
Each record links to its CVE page and to the original advisory (Wordfence, Patchstack or WPScan) where there is one. We only list a CVE here when its references or its advisory name this exact plugin, so a few real issues may be missing; none should be about a different plugin. Spot an error? Email Daniel.

Badge for your site or docs (states facts with a date, not a verdict):

<a href="https://laskyr.com/plugins/mihdan-no-external-links"><img src="https://laskyr.com/plugins/mihdan-no-external-links/badge.svg" alt="No External Links vulnerability status"></a>

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