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Security report for php.net

The PHP Group · Technology · N/a

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

Security score

72/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The PHP website represents the official online presence of The PHP Group, the steward of the PHP programming language. It serves a global audience of developers and organizations relying on PHP for web development. The site provides comprehensive resources including downloads, documentation, news updates, and community engagement opportunities. The business model is centered on open source software development supported by a foundation and community contributions, positioning PHP as a leading server-side scripting language worldwide. Technically, the website employs modern web standards with a clean, responsive design optimized for performance and accessibility. It uses technologies such as PHP itself, Matomo analytics configured for privacy, and popular web fonts and icon sets. The site demonstrates good SEO practices and a well-structured navigation system, enhancing user experience. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and integrates privacy-conscious analytics. It publicly discloses results of recent security audits and encourages users to upgrade to secure versions. However, explicit security headers like Content-Security-Policy and cookie consent mechanisms are not visibly implemented, representing areas for improvement. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and well-maintained, with minor gaps in privacy compliance and security hardening. The absence of WHOIS data for the queried subdomain is noted but does not detract from the site's legitimacy. Strategic recommendations include enhancing security headers, implementing cookie consent, and publishing incident response information to further strengthen trust and compliance.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of php.net. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
73/ 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
    • 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 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

      Weak SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

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

Keep watching php.net

This scan found 20 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
65
Security headers
40
Email security
75
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
73
Average
72

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

PHP.net is a cornerstone resource in the web development ecosystem, maintained by The PHP Group. Its market position as the primary source for PHP language releases and documentation is undisputed. The site supports a broad developer community and enterprise users, offering timely updates, security advisories, and educational content. Revenue streams are indirect, primarily through sponsorships, donations, and foundation support. The partnership ecosystem includes security audit organizations and open source foundations, reinforcing PHP's sustainability. Growth indicators include active release cycles and community events. Operationally, the site balances open source transparency with professional governance, fostering trust and adoption.

Security posture

The PHP website exhibits a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, privacy-respecting analytics, and public security audit disclosures. Best practices such as disabling tracking cookies and honoring DoNotTrack signals are implemented. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. However, the absence of explicit security headers like Content-Security-Policy and lack of a visible cookie consent mechanism are notable gaps. Incident response and security policy pages are not prominently available, limiting transparency. Overall, the site is secure but could benefit from enhanced header policies and formalized vulnerability disclosure mechanisms to align with industry standards and regulatory requirements.

Recommendations

  1. Implement explicit security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to enhance protection against common web attacks.
  2. Deploy a visible cookie consent banner or mechanism to comply with privacy regulations and improve user transparency.
  3. Publish dedicated incident response and security policy pages to communicate procedures and contacts for vulnerability reporting.
  4. Consider adding a security.txt file to facilitate coordinated vulnerability disclosure and improve security posture.
  5. Maintain regular security audits and update documentation to reflect compliance with GDPR and other relevant frameworks.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
The PHP Group
Description
PHP is a popular general-purpose scripting language that powers everything from blogs to the most popular websites in the world.
Key services
PHP language releases and downloads, Documentation and tutorials, Community involvement and support, Security advisories and updates
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
PHP, Matomo Analytics, Font Awesome, Fira Fonts, CSS3, HTML5
Performance
fast
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Security audit publicly disclosed
  • Use of Matomo with DoNotTrack and cookie disabled

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo
Marketing tools
Matomo Analytics
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 recent news updates
  2. Strong focus on PHP language releases, documentation, and community involvement
  3. Active security audit disclosures and encouragement to upgrade to latest versions
  4. No signs of adult or questionable content
  5. No visible cookie consent mechanism despite privacy policy presence
  6. Use of Matomo analytics with privacy-respecting settings
  7. No exposed sensitive data or obvious vulnerabilities in HTML content
  8. WHOIS data unavailable for www.php.net, likely due to querying subdomain instead of base domain
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern tech stack leveraging PHP, CSS3, HTML5, and web fonts for a responsive and accessible user interface. It integrates Matomo analytics configured to respect user privacy by disabling cookies and honoring DoNotTrack. The site loads efficiently with optimized assets and clear navigation. No CMS or third-party hosting provider was explicitly identified. The technical implementation reflects low technical debt and good modernization practices. Opportunities exist to improve security headers and implement cookie consent for enhanced compliance and user trust.
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. 73/100Medium28 findingsView report
  2. 73/100 +12Medium29 findingsView report
  3. 61/100 −6Medium24 findingsView report
  4. 67/100Medium24 findingsView report
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