GD Security Headers

How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.

Directory rank vs rivals

wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you

How often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.

Share of active installs on each version of this plugin · 62% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.

Refined from the date this plugin crossed into its current band.

No paid tier is visible, so we don't put a figure on revenue or sale value: that would be guessing. The install base is a real asset to an acquirer, just not one public data lets us price. A small install base leaves thin data to model from.

1. ★★★★★ nichu42

   2.2y ago

   It’s the best plug-in for setting security headers that I found so far. Easy set-up, good explanations.But what really stands out is the local reporting feature! Thank you very much!

   Read on wp.org ↗
2. ★★★★★ tszesty

   3.5y ago

   Easy to install and relatively easy to configure.I only want to set CSP rules and it lets me do that easily, having the shortcuts for common rules such as Google Analytics etc is useful.The report-only features is clear and easy to use when starting to add rules and you need to gather a list of them.If had had one feature request it would be for the plugin to show an estimated header size.. I sometimes trip header size limits on a server when I need to add a lot of rules. If it coudl detect the server limit and warn if getting close – that’d be nice.All in all good plugin. Really dont know why some people only gave it 1 star, I can only assume they made mistakes configuring it.

   Read on wp.org ↗
3. ★★★★★ nadeistos

   4.3y ago

   A+ on headers scan, thank you for your work 🙂

   Read on wp.org ↗
4. ★★★★★ Anonymous User

   4.6y ago

   Thank you!

   Read on wp.org ↗
5. ★★★★★ mesmer7

   5.0y ago

   There are a lot mistakes in the generated Content-Security-Policy statement. It fails to insert the blob and data directives. It adds a semicolon and double quote at the end of the line that shouldn’t be there. The only thing this plugin is really good for is the report page.

   Read on wp.org ↗
6. ★★★★★ advertino

   5.2y ago

   The Content-Security-Policy directive ‘script-src’ contains ‘script-src’ as a source expression. Did you want to add it as a directive and forget a semicolon? The Content-Security-Policy directive name ‘widget.gleamjs.io’ contains one or more invalid characters. Only ASCII alphanumeric characters or dashes ‘-‘ are allowed in directive names. The Content-Security-Policy directive name ‘www.googletagservices.com’ contains one or more invalid characters. Only ASCII alphanumeric characters or dashes ‘-‘ are allowed in directive names. etc etc etc

   Read on wp.org ↗
7. ★★★★★ ozwest

   5.5y ago

   Thank you for creating this plugin, I have been looking for something like that. It comes with so many options that you can configure, so you really can address each need a website has.

   Read on wp.org ↗
8. ★★★★★ ranggie4

   6.9y ago

   For someone who is not a developer, GD Security Headers (GPSH) plugin is truly a gift to WP users. It turns “Rocket Science” into just “Science 101”; still needs a bit of knowledge of what you’re doing but this makes it so much easier to tweak security headers. Particularly, that option to only generate reports first for “Content-Security-Policy” before going live is how great plugins should be designed. Also love the fact that if enabled, the GPSH can write directly to the .htaccess file, and if a user prefers otherwise, they can also choose to disable that option to manually add by way of the ‘Generated Headers’ button. Now, I do have some feedbacks though but please bear in mind again I’m no developer. As such, the things I write might make some of the senior WP users chuckle but I’m just sharing what I think I understand. 1. GPSH writes to the .htaccess file that resides in the same folder where all WP files are kept, meaning if the WP installation is kept inside another folder i.e. /public_html/WP/, the /public_html/WP/.htaccess file will be written to instead of /public_html/.htaccess. Don’t know if it changes anything but just thought I should share that some folks do move their WP installation to another folder. 2. Even though ‘Add: X-XSS-Protection’ has been enabled, a check on Mozilla Observatory came back with the error: “X-XSS-Protection header cannot be recognized”. However, just want to add that it did come out ok when checked on Security Headers. 3. According to Security Headers, there also seems to be a new header called “Feature-Policy”. Is this something that’s already in GPSH? I can’t find it. Also, First! 🙂 This topic was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by ranggie4. This topic was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by Jan Dembowski. Reason: Deleted all links to other sites This topic was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by ranggie4. Reason: Removed links and replaced with text

   Read on wp.org ↗

3 disclosed vulnerabilities on record for this plugin, all fixed in the current version. Sites on older versions stay exposed until they update.

1. High · 7.2 GD Security Headers <= 1.8 - Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting ↗
   2026-07-08 CVE-2026-57403 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') Affects <= 1.8 Patched in 1.9
2. High · 7.2 GD Security Headers <= 1.7 - Authenticated (Admin+) SQL Injection ↗
   2023-10-29 CVE-2023-46821 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') Affects <= 1.7 Patched in 1.7.1
3. Medium · 6.1 GD Security Headers <= 1.6.1 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting ↗
   2023-08-17 CVE-2023-40330 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') Affects <= 1.6.1 Patched in 1.7

Automated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0.1

Translated into 21 languages, 0 at 90% or more · development strings

Growth timeline

Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow

1. 2026-01-23 2K+ → 1K+ down after 1000 days in tier
2. 2023-04-29 1K+ → 2K+ up

Competes with

The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).

• C Content Security Policy Manager 2K+ installs · 4.0★ · 3 shared tags D
• Security Header Generator 500+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags A
• Auto SRI 500+ installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags B
• Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A
• Hostinger Tools 3M+ installs · 3.6★ · 1 shared tag B
• Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ installs · 4.9★ · 1 shared tag A

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Drop a live Pulse card for GD Security Headers into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.

GD Security Headers: 1K+ active installs, 4.0★ (8 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-08-29. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/gd-security-headers