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Security report for h-node.org

h-node · Technology · N/a

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Security headers and GDPR outside view.

Security score

61/100

Risk levelMedium

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

h-node.org is a niche, community-driven project focused on building a hardware compatibility database for devices that work with fully free operating systems. Developed in collaboration with the Free Software Foundation, it serves a specialized audience of free software advocates and GNU/Linux users. The platform operates as a wiki, encouraging user contributions and collaborative content management. The project is relatively small and has been active since 2012, reflecting a stable presence in the free software ecosystem. Technically, the website is built on a custom PHP-based platform named h-source, utilizing older JavaScript libraries such as jQuery 1.7.1 and jQuery UI 1.8.21, along with the markItUp! editor for content editing. The site shows moderate performance and basic mobile optimization. Hosting details are not explicitly stated, but the domain uses GNU name servers and is registered with Gandi SAS, consistent with the free software community standards. From a security perspective, the site lacks modern security headers and DNSSEC is not enabled, which are areas for improvement. The use of outdated JavaScript libraries may expose the site to vulnerabilities. However, the presence of CSRF tokens in forms and domain transfer protection status are positive indicators. No privacy or cookie policies are present, indicating compliance gaps with GDPR and related regulations. No contact information for incident response or security policies is provided. Overall, h-node.org is a trustworthy and legitimate project with a clear mission and community focus but would benefit from enhanced security measures, privacy compliance, and modernization of its technical stack to improve resilience and user trust.

Scanned

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

4 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

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

Keep watching h-node.org

This scan found 21 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

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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
55
Email security
60
DNS health
75
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

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

h-node.org occupies a specialized niche within the free software and open hardware community, providing a unique hardware compatibility database that supports users seeking fully free operating systems. Its collaboration with the Free Software Foundation enhances its credibility and positions it as a trusted resource within this ecosystem. The business model is community-driven, relying on user contributions and open collaboration rather than commercial revenue streams. The target audience includes free software advocates, GNU/Linux users, and hardware enthusiasts interested in free drivers and firmware. The project demonstrates stable growth since its founding in 2012 but remains small in scale. Its partnership ecosystem includes the FSF and GNU projects, with external links to related free software initiatives. The lack of commercial elements and advertising aligns with its non-profit, community-oriented mission. Strategic opportunities include expanding user engagement, improving technical infrastructure, and enhancing compliance to broaden appeal and trust.

Security posture

The security posture of h-node.org is moderate but shows several areas requiring attention. The absence of DNSSEC and modern security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), and X-Frame-Options reduces the site's defense against common web attacks. The use of outdated JavaScript libraries like jQuery 1.7.1 introduces potential vulnerabilities. While HTTPS usage is implied by the URL, explicit SSL configuration details are not provided. No privacy or cookie policies are published, indicating non-compliance with GDPR and related privacy regulations. Incident response mechanisms and security contact channels are not disclosed, limiting transparency and readiness. The site does implement CSRF tokens in forms, which is a positive security practice. Overall, the site would benefit from a comprehensive security review, modernization of its tech stack, and formalization of privacy and incident response policies.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement modern security headers including CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options, and Referrer-Policy.
  3. Upgrade all JavaScript libraries to current, secure versions to mitigate vulnerabilities.
  4. Publish clear privacy and cookie policies to improve GDPR compliance and user trust.
  5. Establish and publicize a security policy and incident response contact information.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
h-node
Description
The h-node project is a free software initiative aimed at building a hardware database to identify devices compatible with fully free operating systems. It operates as a wiki allowing user contributions and is developed in collaboration with the Free Software Foundation (FSF).
Key services
Hardware compatibility database, User-generated content wiki, Issue tracking for hardware compatibility, Downloadable database, Community collaboration platform
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
PHP, jQuery 1.7.1, jQuery UI 1.8.21, markItUp! editor, GNU General Public License v3
Performance
moderate
Mobile
basic
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
55/100
Good practices seen
  • CSRF token usage in forms
  • ClientTransferProhibited domain status

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

Design
basic
User experience
basic
Content relevance
good
Navigation
good
Professionalism
basic
Trustworthiness
moderate

Key observations

  1. Website is a community-driven free software hardware compatibility database.
  2. No privacy or cookie policies found, indicating potential compliance gaps.
  3. No explicit contact emails or phone numbers provided on the homepage.
  4. Site uses older JavaScript libraries which may pose security risks.
  5. No security headers detected in the HTML content.
  6. Domain registration and DNS setup consistent with free software community standards.
  7. No advertising or tracking technologies detected.
  8. Content is safe and suitable for general audiences.
  9. Site is in beta with some features not fully implemented.
  10. No social media links or explicit business contact information found.
Technical notes

Notes

The website runs on a custom PHP-based platform named h-source, with client-side technologies including jQuery 1.7.1, jQuery UI 1.8.21, and the markItUp! editor. The HTML structure is basic but functional, with CSS stylesheets for layout and UI. The site lacks modern frontend frameworks and shows only basic mobile optimization. Performance is moderate, with no explicit indicators of advanced caching or CDN usage. SEO is basic, with meta description and keywords present but no Open Graph or JSON-LD structured data detected. The hosting environment is not explicitly identified, but domain DNS points to GNU name servers, suggesting hosting within the free software community infrastructure. Technical debt is evident in outdated libraries and missing security headers, representing modernization opportunities and risks.
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. 61/100Medium30 findingsView report
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