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Security report for joinmastodon.org

Mastodon gGmbH · Technology · Germany

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

Security score

81/100

Risk levelLow

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

Mastodon gGmbH operates the joinmastodon.org website, promoting Mastodon, a decentralized, free, and open-source social media platform. The organization is a non-profit entity focused on empowering users with control over their social media experience, free from corporate influence and advertising. The platform supports federation across independent servers, enabling a global social network built on open web protocols. The website is professionally designed, mobile-optimized, and provides comprehensive information about the platform, its features, and community testimonials. Technically, the site uses modern web technologies including Next.js and React, hosted on Exoscale infrastructure, and employs HTTPS with good SSL configuration. Security posture is solid but could be improved by enabling DNSSEC and adding security headers. Privacy compliance is strong with a clear privacy policy, though cookie consent mechanisms and terms of service are not explicitly found. Overall, the site reflects a mature, trustworthy, and community-driven project with a high level of professionalism and transparency.

Scanned

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 X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

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

  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 joinmastodon.org

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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
95
Security headers
65
Email security
85
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
81

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 joinmastodon.org, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
53
Employees
0
Customers
53
Third parties
0
Weak passwords
6%

4 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 joinmastodon.org.

Select it in the checkout above.

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

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

Mastodon holds a leading position in the decentralized social media market, leveraging its open-source model and non-profit status to attract a dedicated user base and contributors. Its business model relies on donations and sponsorships, avoiding advertising and data monetization. The platform targets privacy-conscious users, institutions seeking self-hosting solutions, and developers interested in federated social networking. The ecosystem includes partnerships with hosting providers and sponsors, enhancing sustainability. Growth indicators include active community engagement, multilingual support, and continuous development. The company maintains transparency and independence, which strengthens its credibility and appeal in the competitive social media landscape.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a good security maturity level with enforced HTTPS and domain transfer protection. However, the absence of DNSSEC and security headers like Content-Security-Policy and Strict-Transport-Security represents areas for improvement. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the content. The lack of a public security policy or incident response contact limits transparency in security governance. Privacy practices align with GDPR requirements, supported by a comprehensive privacy policy. Incident response readiness and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms are not publicly documented, which could be enhanced to improve trust and compliance.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement and publish security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  3. Add a dedicated security policy and incident response page with clear contact channels.
  4. Introduce a cookie consent mechanism and explicit cookie policy to improve privacy compliance.
  5. Publish terms of service to clarify user rights and platform policies.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Mastodon gGmbH
Description
Mastodon is a free and open-source decentralized social media platform that empowers users to control their own timelines without ads or algorithms. It is developed by a non-profit organization and supports federated communication across independent servers.
Key services
Decentralized social networking, Open-source software, Server hosting and federation, Community moderation tools
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, Next.js, JavaScript, WebP images, SVG graphics
Frameworks
Next.js
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Domain status clientTransferProhibited
  • No ads or tracking scripts detected

Analytics and tracking

Services
Datadog
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

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 no blocking or WAF challenges.
  2. Strong emphasis on decentralization, privacy, and open-source principles.
  3. No explicit privacy or security policy pages beyond privacy policy found.
  4. No cookie consent banner or explicit cookie policy detected.
  5. No phone numbers or direct email addresses publicly listed; contact via contact page.
  6. Multiple language support with hreflang tags for global audience.
  7. No forms detected on the homepage; contact likely via dedicated contact page.
  8. No signs of advertising or tracking beyond minimal analytics.
  9. Strong community and user testimonials present.
  10. Supported by reputable sponsors and partners.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern React and Next.js framework, ensuring fast performance and excellent mobile responsiveness. Hosting is managed via Exoscale, with CDN support from Fastly indicated by sponsor logos. The site uses optimized images (WebP, SVG) and preloads critical assets for performance. Accessibility features such as skip links and ARIA roles are present, enhancing usability. SEO is well addressed with meta tags, Open Graph, and hreflang attributes for multilingual support. No CMS is detected, indicating a custom-built solution. The technical stack is current and well-maintained, with opportunities to improve security headers and DNS configuration.
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. 78/100Low26 findingsView report
  2. 78/100 +1Low26 findingsView report
  3. 77/100Low24 findingsView report
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