Skip to main content

Security report for centos.org

Red Hat, Inc. · Technology · United States

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in Security headers and GDPR outside view.

Security score

76/100

Risk levelLow

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

The CentOS Project is a well-established, community-driven open source initiative focused on providing a robust Linux platform ecosystem. It operates under the parent company Red Hat, Inc., a major player in the enterprise Linux market. The website serves a diverse audience including developers, enterprises, and open source enthusiasts, offering distributions like CentOS Stream and CentOS Hyperscale, along with extensive community resources such as forums, mailing lists, and special interest groups. The project benefits from strong branding consistency and trust signals derived from its association with Red Hat and active community engagement. Technically, the website employs modern front-end technologies including Bootstrap, Font Awesome, and Highlight.js, ensuring a responsive and accessible user experience. The site is well-optimized for mobile devices and demonstrates good SEO practices. Hosting details are not explicitly disclosed, but performance is assessed as fast with no blocking or WAF interference detected. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and domain registration protections, but lacks some advanced security headers and explicit incident response or vulnerability disclosure information. Privacy compliance is supported by a comprehensive privacy policy, though no cookie consent mechanism was detected. No direct contact emails or phone numbers are publicly listed, which may limit direct communication channels. Overall, the CentOS website presents a professional, trustworthy, and technically sound platform with minor areas for improvement in security headers, incident response transparency, and cookie consent implementation. The domain WHOIS data confirms legitimacy and long-term ownership consistent with the business history.

Scanned

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

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 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

3 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 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

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

Keep watching centos.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.

Daily monitoring

Recommended

€25per month

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

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. See sample alerts.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

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
85
Security headers
65
Email security
70
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
76

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

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

CentOS holds a strong market position as a leading community Linux distribution closely aligned with Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Its business model revolves around open source community collaboration supported by sponsorships and the backing of Red Hat, Inc. The project targets developers, enterprises, and open source communities seeking a stable and robust Linux platform. Key services include CentOS Stream, Hyperscale deployments, and various Special Interest Groups that extend functionality and support. The extensive sponsorship ecosystem and partnerships with cloud and hosting providers indicate a mature and well-supported operation. Growth indicators include active community engagement, frequent news updates, and participation in major events like the Red Hat Summit. Strategic observations highlight the importance of maintaining security transparency and enhancing user communication channels to sustain trust and compliance.

Security posture

The CentOS website demonstrates a mature security posture with mandatory HTTPS enforcement and domain registration protections such as clientDeleteProhibited and clientTransferProhibited statuses. However, the absence of DNSSEC and explicit security headers like Content-Security-Policy and Strict-Transport-Security represents areas for enhancement. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the provided content. The lack of a security.txt file or clear incident response contact points may hinder vulnerability reporting and incident management. Privacy compliance is supported by a comprehensive privacy policy, but the missing cookie consent mechanism could be a compliance gap under GDPR. Overall, the security maturity is good but could be improved by adopting additional security best practices and increasing transparency around incident response.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the centos.org domain to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement and serve security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security to enhance browser security.
  3. Publish a security.txt file at the root of the website to provide clear vulnerability disclosure and incident response contact information.
  4. Add a cookie consent banner or mechanism if cookies are used to comply with privacy regulations and improve user transparency.
  5. Consider publishing explicit security and incident response policies to strengthen trust and compliance posture.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Red Hat, Inc.
Description
Community-driven free software effort focused on delivering a robust open source ecosystem around a Linux platform.
Key services
CentOS Stream distribution, CentOS Hyperscale for large deployments, Special Interest Groups (SIGs) for various Linux ecosystem components, Community forums, mailing lists, chat, events, and documentation
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Bootstrap, Font Awesome, Highlight.js, Google Fonts, Vanilla Back To Top
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced (implied by URL scheme https://)
  • Domain status includes clientDeleteProhibited, clientTransferProhibited, clientUpdateProhibited

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content and no blocking mechanisms.
  2. Strong community focus with extensive resources and engagement channels.
  3. No direct contact emails or phone numbers publicly listed on main pages.
  4. No explicit cookie consent banner detected despite privacy policy presence.
  5. No visible security.txt or vulnerability disclosure page found.
  6. Website uses modern front-end technologies and is mobile optimized.
  7. WHOIS data confirms legitimacy and long-term domain ownership by Red Hat.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern and well-maintained technology stack including Bootstrap for responsive design, Font Awesome for icons, and Highlight.js for code syntax highlighting. Google Fonts are used for typography, and a vanilla JavaScript back-to-top plugin enhances usability. The site is mobile optimized with excellent accessibility and SEO features. No CMS was detected, suggesting a custom or static site architecture. Performance is fast with no blocking or WAF interference. Hosting provider details are not explicitly disclosed but the site is stable and well-structured. Technical risks are minimal, though the absence of some security headers and DNSSEC could be addressed to reduce attack surface and improve resilience.
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. 76/100Low27 findingsView report
Reviews of this site

Share your experience with centos.org. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review centos.org.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.