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Security report for framapad.org

Framasoft · Technology · France

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in Security headers and GDPR outside view.

Security score

57/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Framasoft is a French non-profit organization dedicated to promoting digital autonomy and popular education through free and open-source software projects such as Framapad, a collaborative real-time text editor. The organization operates on a donation-based model, emphasizing ethical hosting and user data protection. The website reflects a mature digital presence with multilingual support, clear navigation, and a strong community focus. Technically, the site uses modern frameworks like Vue.js and hosts Etherpad-lite software, ensuring a responsive and performant user experience. Security posture is solid with HTTPS and domain transfer protections, though improvements could be made by enabling DNSSEC and adding security headers. Privacy compliance is good, with clear terms of use and a privacy policy, but lacks a cookie consent mechanism despite minimal tracking. Overall, the site is trustworthy, professional, and aligned with its mission of digital emancipation.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
35/ 100 · High
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

6 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 X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

    • 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

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

Keep watching framapad.org

This scan found 22 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
85
Security headers
40
Email security
60
DNS health
80
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
35
Average
57

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

Framasoft holds a strong position in the ethical technology and non-profit sector, offering a suite of open-source tools that empower users to regain control over their digital lives. Its business model relies heavily on community donations, with 94% of funding sourced from supporters. The organization targets a broad audience including educators, activists, and general users seeking privacy-respecting collaborative tools. Partnerships with other ethical digital projects and communities like CHATONS enhance its ecosystem. The transparent funding and open governance model contribute to its credibility and sustainability. Growth indicators include a large user base, active contributor community, and ongoing development of related projects such as PeerTube.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a good security baseline with HTTPS enforced and domain transfer protections in place. The use of free/libre software and minimal data collection reduces attack surface and privacy risks. However, the absence of DNSSEC and security headers like CSP or HSTS represents an area for improvement. No explicit security or incident response policies are published, which could hinder rapid response to vulnerabilities or incidents. The site does not expose sensitive data or use vulnerable libraries based on available information. Overall, the security posture is strong for a non-profit but could benefit from formalized policies and enhanced technical controls.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement standard security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), and X-Frame-Options.
  3. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response contact information to improve transparency and readiness.
  4. Add a cookie consent mechanism to comply fully with privacy regulations given the use of tracking pixels.
  5. Regularly audit third-party scripts and dependencies to ensure no vulnerable libraries are included.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Framasoft
Description
Framapad is a free, web-based collaborative real-time text editor hosted by Framasoft, a French not-for-profit association dedicated to popular education on digital challenges and cultural commons. It offers public and private pads for collaborative writing, emphasizing user data autonomy, transparency, and free/libre software principles.
Key services
Collaborative text editing (Framapad), Private pad accounts, Educational resources and guides, Community and popular education on digital autonomy
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Vue.js, Etherpad-lite, Apache 2.0 License, CSS, JavaScript
Frameworks
Vue.js
Platforms
Web
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • ClientTransferProhibited domain status
  • No tracking or ads
  • Minimal data collection
  • Free/libre software with transparent code

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo (inferred from stats.framasoft.org pixel)
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
https://stats.framasoft.org
Transparency
excellent

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 detected
  2. Strong emphasis on free/libre software and digital autonomy
  3. Donation-based non-profit model with transparent funding and reporting
  4. No explicit privacy or security policy pages found but terms of use and moderation charter present
  5. No cookie consent mechanism detected despite tracking pixel usage
  6. No explicit security headers detected in HTML content
  7. Multiple language support with hreflang tags
  8. Social media presence on ethical and alternative platforms (Mastodon, PeerTube, Mobilizon, Bluesky)
  9. No phone numbers explicitly listed
  10. Contact primarily via web forms and email links on Framasoft domain
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using modern web technologies including Vue.js and Etherpad-lite, providing a responsive and user-friendly interface. The hosting and domain registration are managed by reputable providers, ensuring stability and reliability. Performance is optimized with deferred script loading and efficient CSS usage. Multilingual support is well implemented with hreflang tags. Accessibility considerations are present but could be further enhanced with ARIA landmarks and keyboard navigation improvements. SEO is addressed through proper meta tags and Open Graph data. The technical stack aligns well with the organization's mission of openness and transparency, though some security best practices remain to be fully implemented.
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

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