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Security report for parabolagnulinux.org

Parabola Project · Technology · N/a

High risk. 5 critical or high findings in Network security, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

49/100

Risk levelHigh

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

Parabola GNU/Linux-libre is a community-driven free software project focused on providing a fully libre and lightweight Linux distribution based on Arch Linux. The project emphasizes software freedom, user control, and adherence to the GNU Free System Distribution Guidelines. It targets free software enthusiasts and power users seeking a clean and hackable operating system. The website provides access to package databases, news, community forums, and development resources, supporting a collaborative ecosystem. Technically, the website is built with standard web technologies including HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript with jQuery 1.8.3. The site is accessible over HTTPS and includes structured data for search engine optimization. However, it lacks modern security headers and advanced privacy or cookie policies, indicating room for improvement in compliance and security best practices. The site is moderately optimized for performance and mobile devices. From a security perspective, the site shows a basic security posture with HTTPS enabled and no exposed sensitive data. The absence of security headers and privacy policies, as well as the use of an outdated JavaScript library, present moderate risks. The WHOIS data for the exact domain queried is missing, which slightly reduces trustworthiness but is likely due to the domain being a subdomain or alias. Overall, the project appears legitimate and trustworthy within the free software community. Strategically, the project should focus on enhancing privacy compliance, implementing security headers, updating technical dependencies, and providing clear contact and incident response information to strengthen its security posture 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

5 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Network security

    Services reachable from the internet are the first thing attackers probe. Anything open that does not need to be should be closed.

    • Critical

      Critical Service Exposed: MySQL

      Port 3306 (MySQL) is publicly accessible - MySQL - Database server

      What to do: Immediately restrict access to MySQL using firewall or VPN

      • NIS2 21(2)(e)
      • IR 2024/2690 6.7.2(f): Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 6.7.2(f): Network security
      • NIST CM-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CM-7: Least Functionality
      • NIST SC-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SC-7: Boundary Protection

  2. 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';…

  3. 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 parabolagnulinux.org

This scan found 23 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
70
DNS health
60
Network security
0
GDPR outside view
50
Average
51
After the cap
49

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 · found on this site
  • 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

Parabola GNU/Linux-libre occupies a niche market within the free and open source software ecosystem, targeting users who prioritize software freedom and control. Its community-driven model relies on volunteer contributions and open collaboration. The project’s competitive advantage lies in its strict adherence to the GNU Free System Distribution Guidelines and its Arch Linux base, appealing to technically proficient users. Revenue streams are likely limited to donations and sponsorships, as indicated by the 'Friends of Freedom' sponsors section. The project maintains a robust partnership ecosystem with libre-friendly hardware and hosting providers. Growth indicators include active package updates, news, and community engagement channels. The project’s operations are transparent and focused on sustainability within the free software domain.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a foundational security maturity level with HTTPS usage and no visible sensitive data exposure. However, the lack of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options reduces its defense-in-depth capabilities. The use of an outdated jQuery version (1.8.3) could expose the site to known vulnerabilities if exploited. There are no visible compliance indicators for GDPR or other privacy regulations, and no explicit incident response or security contact information is provided. The absence of privacy and cookie policies further highlights compliance gaps. Overall, the security culture appears basic but could be significantly improved by adopting modern web security best practices and transparency measures.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish comprehensive privacy and cookie policies to improve compliance and user trust.
  2. Add essential security headers (Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options) to enhance protection against common web attacks.
  3. Update JavaScript libraries, especially jQuery, to the latest secure versions to mitigate known vulnerabilities.
  4. Provide clear contact information for security incident reporting and establish an incident response process.
  5. Enhance mobile optimization and accessibility to improve user experience across devices.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Parabola Project
Description
Parabola GNU/Linux-libre is a community-driven, fully free, simple, and lightweight operating system distribution based on Arch Linux. It adheres to the GNU Free System Distribution Guidelines (FSDG) and provides a 100% free software environment. The project offers LiveISOs, installers, and packages for armv7h, i686, and x86_64 CPU architectures.
Key services
Operating system distribution, Package database and updates, Community support via wiki, forums, IRC, and mailing lists, Bug tracking and development projects
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery 1.8.3
Performance
moderate
Mobile
basic
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
70/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced (implied by https URL in JSON-LD)
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • No vulnerable libraries detected in scripts

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF detected.
  2. Content is focused on a free software Linux distribution project.
  3. No privacy, cookie, or terms of service policies found on the main page.
  4. No explicit contact emails or phone numbers found in the HTML content.
  5. Use of older jQuery version (1.8.3) may pose minor security risks.
  6. No analytics or tracking scripts detected.
  7. External links mostly point to project-related resources and community platforms.
  8. No advertising or marketing tools detected.
  9. Website uses HTTPS as indicated by JSON-LD and links.
  10. No security headers detected in provided data; recommend adding.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a traditional web stack with HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript, including jQuery 1.8.3 loaded from a local source. The site structure is clear with semantic HTML and includes JSON-LD structured data for SEO. Performance is moderate with no heavy external dependencies or analytics scripts detected. Mobile optimization is basic, with multiple apple-touch-icons provided but no explicit responsive meta viewport tag detected in the provided HTML snippet. Accessibility features are minimal but present through semantic markup. The site does not appear to use a CMS or modern JavaScript frameworks. Hosting provider details are not disclosed. The technical debt includes outdated JavaScript libraries and missing security headers, which should be addressed to reduce risk and improve maintainability.
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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