Skip to main content

Security report for pkgsrc.org

The NetBSD Foundation, Inc. · Technology · United States

High risk. 6 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

46/100

Risk levelHigh

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

pkgsrc.org is the official website for pkgsrc, a mature and widely used package management framework primarily for UNIX-like operating systems such as NetBSD, SmartOS, and others. The site is owned and operated by The NetBSD Foundation, Inc., reflecting a long-standing open source project with a strong community and regular quarterly releases. The website provides comprehensive technical documentation, release notes, and community support channels, targeting system administrators, developers, and users of UNIX-like systems seeking to manage third-party software packages efficiently. Technically, the website is straightforward, using standard HTML and CSS without complex CMS or heavy scripting. It links to various external resources including official NetBSD infrastructure and community platforms. The site is moderately optimized for performance and mobile use but lacks advanced SEO and accessibility features. No tracking or advertising technologies are detected, indicating a privacy-respecting approach. From a security perspective, the site demonstrates good practices such as signed vulnerability databases and regular updates. However, it lacks DNSSEC and explicit security headers, and does not publish privacy or cookie policies, which are areas for improvement. The WHOIS data confirms the domain's legitimacy, consistent ownership, and long operational history, supporting trustworthiness. Overall, pkgsrc.org is a reliable and authoritative resource for its niche audience, with a solid security posture but room for enhancement in privacy compliance and technical modernization.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of pkgsrc.org. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
35/ 100 · High
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

6 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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.

    • Critical

      Unable to retrieve SSL certificate

      Could not establish secure connection to retrieve certificate information

      What to do: Check if the server is accessible and SSL/TLS is properly configured

  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

    • High

      Third-party services without privacy policy

      Detected services: Twitter

      What to do: Document all third-party data sharing in your privacy policy

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

Keep watching pkgsrc.org

This scan found 19 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.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. See sample alerts.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

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
0
Security headers
70
Email security
70
DNS health
60
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
35
Average
46

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 pkgsrc.org, from OffSeq Breach.

No leaked records found

Breach holds no records for pkgsrc.org right now. New leaks arrive continuously, so monitoring on Breach alerts you if that changes.

Monitor on Breach (opens in a new tab)

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

pkgsrc.org operates as a key infrastructure project within the open source ecosystem, specifically serving the UNIX-like operating system community. Its market position is strong due to its longevity, extensive package repository, and integration with NetBSD and other platforms. The business model is community-driven and non-commercial, focusing on providing free software tools and frameworks. Revenue streams are not applicable, but the project benefits from foundation support and community contributions. The target customers are system administrators, developers, and organizations using UNIX-like systems. Growth indicators include regular quarterly releases and active package updates. The partnership ecosystem includes NetBSD Foundation and related open source projects. Strategic observations highlight the importance of maintaining security and compliance to sustain trust and adoption.

Security posture

The security maturity of pkgsrc.org is moderate to good. The site employs signed vulnerability databases and encourages users to audit installed packages, reflecting a proactive security culture. However, the absence of DNSSEC, security headers, and published privacy or incident response policies indicates gaps in comprehensive security and compliance. There is no evidence of exposed sensitive data or vulnerabilities in the website itself. Incident response readiness is not explicitly documented. Compliance with GDPR and other privacy regulations is minimal due to lack of policies. Overall, the security posture supports the project's goals but would benefit from formalizing policies and enhancing technical controls.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and trust.
  2. Publish clear privacy and cookie policies to enhance GDPR compliance and user trust.
  3. Implement standard security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options.
  4. Provide explicit incident response contact information to facilitate vulnerability reporting and response.
  5. Improve mobile optimization and accessibility to broaden usability and compliance.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
The NetBSD Foundation, Inc.
Description
pkgsrc is a framework for managing third-party software on UNIX-like systems, containing over 26,000 packages. It is the default package manager for NetBSD and SmartOS and supports many other UNIX-like platforms. It enables easy building and installation of software packages either from source or binary.
Key services
Package management framework, Binary package distribution, Source package building, Community support and documentation
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
HTML5, CSS, CVS (for source control), Bootstrap scripts (pkgsrc bootstrap tools)
Platforms
NetBSD, SmartOS, illumos, Linux, macOS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
basic
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
70/100
Good practices seen
  • Signed vulnerabilities database
  • Use of clientTransferProhibited domain status
  • Regular security updates and vulnerability audits

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
good
Trustworthiness
high

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF detected.
  2. No privacy, cookie, or terms of service policies are published on the site.
  3. No contact emails or phone numbers are explicitly provided on the main page.
  4. Security practices include signed vulnerability databases and regular updates.
  5. The site is primarily informational and technical, targeting UNIX-like OS users and developers.
  6. No advertising or tracking technologies detected.
  7. Content is safe and suitable for general audiences.
  8. WHOIS data confirms legitimacy and long-term operation.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a simple, static HTML and CSS infrastructure without modern CMS or JavaScript frameworks. It relies on CVS for source control and provides links to various package management tools and resources. Performance is moderate with basic mobile responsiveness. SEO and accessibility features are minimal but navigation is clear and content is well-structured. Hosting details are not explicit but appear stable and reliable. There is an opportunity to modernize the tech stack, improve performance, and enhance user experience while maintaining the site's lightweight and focused nature.
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. 58/100Medium30 findingsView report
Reviews of this site

Share your experience with pkgsrc.org. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review pkgsrc.org.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.