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Security report for lemmy.ml

Lemmy · Technology · N/a

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

65/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Lemmy.ml is a community-driven federated social platform focused on privacy and free/open source software enthusiasts. Founded in 2019, it serves a niche audience interested in privacy, FOSS, and decentralized social networking. The platform offers community discussions, content sharing, and federation capabilities with public key cryptography. Technically, it uses modern web technologies including TypeScript, Vue.js, and Electron for desktop clients, providing a responsive and accessible user experience. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforcement, user registration screening, and moderation policies, though explicit privacy and cookie policies are missing. Overall, Lemmy.ml presents a trustworthy and professional platform with room for improvement in privacy compliance and security disclosures.

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

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 Strict-Transport-Security header

      Forces HTTPS connections

      What to do: Add "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload"

      • CWE-319
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V3.4.1

  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

  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

      SSL Certificate Expires Soon

      SSL certificate expires in 29 days

      What to do: Renew SSL certificate before expiration

      • NIS2 21(2)(h)
      • IR 2024/2690 9.2(c): Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 9.2(c): Cryptography
      • NIST SC-17: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SC-17: Public Key Infrastructure Certificates

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

Keep watching lemmy.ml

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.

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Full report

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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
65
Email security
70
DNS health
75
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
53
Average
65

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

Lemmy.ml occupies a niche market in federated social networking with a focus on privacy and open source communities. Its business model revolves around community engagement rather than monetization, with no ads or tracking. The platform benefits from a dedicated user base and active moderation, enhancing trust and content quality. External partnerships are minimal, and the platform maintains independence. Growth indicators include a sizable user base (~55k users) and active communities (~4.6k). Strategic observations suggest focusing on formalizing privacy and security policies to enhance credibility and compliance.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enabled and user registration controls to mitigate spam and abuse. The presence of a public key for federation indicates secure communication practices. However, the absence of security headers and incident response contact information limits the overall security maturity. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. Compliance with GDPR and other privacy regulations is unclear due to missing policies. The platform would benefit from publishing a security policy, vulnerability disclosure program, and incident response contacts to improve transparency and readiness.

Recommendations

  1. Publish comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with GDPR compliance details.
  2. Implement and configure security headers such as Content Security Policy, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options.
  3. Provide clear contact information for security incidents and establish a vulnerability disclosure process.
  4. Enhance accessibility features to improve usability for all users.
  5. Regularly audit external links and user-generated content to mitigate risks from suspicious domains.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Lemmy
Description
A community of privacy and FOSS enthusiasts, run by Lemmy’s developers
Key services
Federated social networking, Community discussions, Content sharing
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
TypeScript, Vue.js, Electron (desktop app), Inferno (JS library), REST API
Frameworks
Vue.js, Inferno
Platforms
Web, Desktop (Electron)
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Public key for federation
  • User registration application screening
  • Slur filter regex for moderation
  • No ads/spam policy

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Transparency
excellent

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a federated social platform focused on privacy and free/open source software.
  2. Content is community-driven with active moderation and clear rules.
  3. No explicit privacy, cookie, or terms of service policies found on the main page.
  4. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found.
  5. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure information present.
  6. Website uses modern frontend technologies and supports federation with public keys.
  7. No advertising or tracking services detected, consistent with privacy focus.
  8. Content is safe for general audiences with no adult or NSFW content.
  9. Some external links point to suspicious or low-reputation domains, but these are user-generated content links, not site-owned.
  10. Site enforces user registration application to reduce spam and trolling.
Technical notes

Notes

Lemmy.ml uses a modern technology stack including TypeScript, Vue.js, and Electron for desktop applications, indicating a contemporary and maintainable codebase. The platform supports federation with public key cryptography, enhancing decentralization and security. Performance is moderate with good mobile optimization. SEO and accessibility are basic but functional. The site lacks some technical security headers and formalized privacy mechanisms, representing opportunities for technical improvements. Hosting details are not explicit, but the site uses HTTPS and serves content efficiently. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports the platform's community-focused mission effectively.
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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