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Security report for archlinux.org

Software in the Public Interest Inc. - Arch Linux Project · Technology · United States

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

61/100

Risk levelMedium

0–100, higher is better. How it is calculated

Arch Linux is a well-established open source Linux distribution project founded in 2002, operated under the organization Software in the Public Interest Inc. It offers a lightweight, flexible operating system with official packages optimized for x86-64 architecture and a large community-driven package repository (AUR). The website serves as a hub for downloads, documentation, community forums, and project development resources, targeting Linux users and developers seeking simplicity and customization. Technically, the website is built with standard web technologies (HTML5, CSS, JavaScript) and hosted by Hetzner Online GmbH, a reputable provider. The site is fast, well-structured, and provides good navigation and content relevance. Mobile optimization and accessibility are basic but functional. The site uses HTTPS but lacks advanced security headers and DNSSEC, indicating room for improvement in security hardening. From a security perspective, the site demonstrates good practices such as HTTPS usage and secure forms but lacks published security policies, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms. No tracking or advertising scripts are present, reflecting a privacy-respecting stance. WHOIS data confirms domain legitimacy with consistent registration details matching the project's identity. Overall, Arch Linux's website is professional, trustworthy, and content-rich but could enhance compliance and security posture by adding privacy and cookie policies, security disclosures, and improved security headers. These improvements would strengthen user trust and regulatory compliance.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of archlinux.org. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
50/ 100 · Medium
Checks completed
7of 7

NIS2 Art. 21(2)

  1. (a) Risk analysis and security policies: Not visible from outside
  2. (b) Incident handling: One indicator
  3. (c) Business continuity, backups and crisis management: Not visible from outside
  4. (d) Supply chain security: Not visible from outside
  5. (e) Secure acquisition, development and maintenance, including vulnerability handling: Partly checked
  6. (f) Assessing the effectiveness of security measures: Not visible from outside
  7. (g) Cyber hygiene and security training: Not visible from outside
  8. (h) Cryptography and encryption: Partly checked
  9. (i) HR security, access control and asset management: One indicator
  10. (j) Multi-factor authentication and secured communications: Not visible from outside

This scan rated NIS2 with an earlier keyword method that is no longer shown; rescan for the per-article view. Risk management, continuity, supply chain, training, MFA, management oversight (Art. 20) and incident reporting (Art. 23) need internal evidence, and Guard cannot tell whether NIS2 applies to this organisation.

GDPR is indicative only, based on publicly visible signals: Articles 7, 12, 13 and 32 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive. Not a certification or legal assessment.

Priority findings

5 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Security headers

    Security headers are instructions your web server sends to every visitor’s browser. Missing ones leave visitors more exposed to attacks such as clickjacking and injected scripts.

    • High

      Missing Content-Security-Policy header

      Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

      What to do: Implement a Content-Security-Policy appropriate for your application

      • ASVS V3.4.3
      • OWASP Secure Headers: OWASP Secure Headers Project recommends Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; form-action 'self'; base-uri 'self'; object-src 'none';…

  2. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • High

      No Privacy Policy found

      GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

      What to do: Add a comprehensive privacy policy page and link to it prominently

    • High

      No Cookie Policy found

      GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage

      What to do: Add a dedicated cookie policy explaining cookie usage and purposes

    • High

      No Cookie Consent Banner found

      GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

      What to do: Implement a cookie consent banner that appears on first visit

  3. SSL/TLS

    TLS encrypts the connection and proves the site is really yours. Weak or expiring certificates trigger browser warnings and put traffic at risk.

    • High

      Weak SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

Need hands-on remediation? Email guard@offseq.com

Keep watching archlinux.org

This scan found 18 issues across 6 checks. Monitoring re-runs those checks daily, emails you when something material changes and records each fix, so you can show progress.

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  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
  • SPF, DKIM and DMARC
  • Security headers
  • GDPR and NIS2 posture
  • Exposed services
  • Third-party trackers
  • Security score drift

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Results by check

Each check with its score, findings and the evidence it collected.

How this score is calculated

The security score runs 0–100, higher is better. It is the plain average of the security checks that completed in this scan, each counted equally. A check that could not run is left out: it counts neither as a pass nor as a fail.

Counted in this score

SSL/TLS
75
Security headers
60
Email security
73
DNS health
70
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
50
Average
61

Not counted

  • NIS2 outside view: Re-weights evidence from the TLS, email, DNS, network and hygiene checks, so counting it would count that evidence twice. Shown on its own.
  • OffSeq Observations: An AI reading of the site, useful context but not reproducible evidence. Shown on its own.

Findings that cap the score at 49

Each of these is serious on its own, so while any is present the site cannot rate better than high risk, however good the other checks are.

  • The certificate is not trusted by browsers
  • The website is not served over HTTPS
  • A database, remote desktop, file-sharing or Telnet service is reachable from the internet
  • The page loads a script from a compromised source
  • The domain registration has expired
  • SPF authorises every server to send mail as the domain

Partial scans

When the site blocks Guard or most checks cannot run, the score covers only the checks that ran (usually DNS and email), is capped at 75 and is shown as partial, without a risk level.

Risk levels

  • Critical0–25
  • High26–49
  • Medium50–75
  • Low76–100

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention archlinux.org, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
2,399
Employees
0
Customers
2,371
Third parties
28
Weak passwords
14%

21 subdomains affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

A one-off add-on to this report that lists the most recent identifier and password pairs OffSeq Breach holds for archlinux.org.

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Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

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Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

Arch Linux holds a strong position in the Linux distribution market as a respected, community-driven project emphasizing simplicity and flexibility. Its business model relies on open source contributions and donations, with revenue streams including merchandise sales and donation processing via partners. The target audience includes technically skilled Linux users and developers. The project benefits from a robust ecosystem of community forums, mailing lists, and documentation, fostering user engagement and support. Partnerships with hosting providers and merchandise vendors support operational and fundraising activities. Growth indicators include active package updates and community repository expansion. Strategic observations highlight the importance of maintaining transparency, security, and compliance to sustain community trust and project longevity.

Security posture

The website's security maturity is moderate. HTTPS is enforced, and no sensitive data is exposed in the HTML content. However, the absence of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security reduces defense-in-depth. No published security or incident response policies limit transparency and user confidence in handling vulnerabilities or breaches. The lack of a security.txt file or vulnerability disclosure program is a gap in responsible security practices. No tracking or analytics scripts reduce privacy risks. Overall, the security posture is adequate but would benefit from formalized policies, enhanced headers, and DNSSEC implementation to improve resilience and compliance.

Recommendations

  1. Implement DNSSEC to protect against DNS spoofing and improve domain security.
  2. Add standard security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  3. Publish a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie policy with user consent mechanisms to improve GDPR compliance.
  4. Establish and publish a security policy and incident response contact information to enhance transparency and trust.
  5. Create and maintain a vulnerability disclosure program and security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting and improve security culture.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Software in the Public Interest Inc. - Arch Linux Project
Description
Arch Linux is a lightweight and flexible Linux distribution focused on simplicity, providing official packages optimized for x86-64 architecture and a community-operated package repository (AUR).
Key services
Linux distribution packages, Community package repository (AUR), Documentation and wiki, Forums and mailing lists
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
HTML5, CSS, JavaScript
Performance
fast
Mobile
basic
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of secure forms

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

Design
good
User experience
good
Content relevance
good
Navigation
good
Professionalism
good
Trustworthiness
high

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content and navigation.
  2. No privacy or cookie policies found, which is a compliance gap.
  3. No explicit security or incident response policies published.
  4. Strong community presence with forums, mailing lists, and wiki.
  5. Use of HTTPS and reputable hosting provider (Hetzner).
  6. No tracking or analytics scripts detected, indicating privacy respect.
  7. No advertising or affiliate marketing detected.
  8. WHOIS data supports legitimacy and transparency.
  9. No signs of WAF or content blocking.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a clean, standards-compliant HTML5 structure with CSS and JavaScript for interactivity. Hosting by Hetzner ensures reliable infrastructure. The site loads quickly and is well-organized with clear navigation menus and search functionality. Mobile optimization is basic but functional, with room for improvement in responsive design and accessibility features. No CMS or complex frameworks detected, indicating low technical debt and ease of maintenance. The absence of analytics or tracking scripts reflects a privacy-first approach but limits insights into user behavior. Overall, the technical implementation is solid, with opportunities to enhance mobile responsiveness and accessibility.
Standards and sources

Reference chips under each finding point to the standard, regulation or specification the finding relates to. They are taken from the official datasets below and mapped conservatively: a finding with no defensible link shows none. NIS2 and GDPR references mark where a finding is relevant evidence, not a compliance verdict. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690 binds digital infrastructure and digital service providers; for other entities it is the most detailed public reading of the Article 21 measures. WCAG, EN 301 549, European Accessibility Act and Web Accessibility Directive references name the requirement an automated accessibility rule relates to; they are not a conformance verdict.

Retrieved 2026-10-25

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 61/100Medium26 findingsView report
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