Plugins, are they generally safe?

[AndyII]

I have anew plugin, not developed by me of course.
can the installation of a plugin having malicious code be allowed to be installed?
would DA see it or maldet or even the fire wall?
I am not saying this plugin has any bad code but to test it would mean to install it, not knowing the exact reputation of the programmer leaves me an uneasy feeling of whether or not to install and test.
this plugin is a nice addition for DA, IF it works and IF it does not create or introduce any bad code or vulnerability to the DA code structure .
this question would also be the same for DA skins..

the plugin is a Skin Selector for the user level.

 

[smtalk]

Plugin installation/update scripts, if they're malicious, can do a lot of harm to the system.

 

[AndyII]

Thanks Martynas,
I had a bad feeling they could
if I only had a test box....
looking thru the code doesnt reveal any obvious bad stuff but calls to other files that I dont have any idea what they are is what puzzles me

the description of how it works was this
It's written in pure PHP and a C-programm is used to trigger a delayed action.