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Security report for xapian.org

Xapian Project · Technology · New Zealand

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

59/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Xapian Project is an established open source search engine library primarily written in C++ with bindings for multiple programming languages. It targets developers and organizations seeking to integrate advanced search capabilities into their applications. The project also offers Omega, a packaged search engine application built on Xapian, enhancing its versatility. The website reflects a mature project with a long domain history dating back to 2001, hosted by Gandi SAS, and presents stable version releases indicating ongoing maintenance. Technically, the website is straightforward, using basic HTML and CSS without advanced frameworks or CMS. It is hosted securely over HTTPS but lacks advanced security headers and DNSSEC, which are recommended for improved security posture. The site is moderately optimized for performance and mobile devices, with clear navigation and relevant content for its target audience. There is no evidence of analytics or tracking scripts, indicating minimal user tracking. From a security perspective, the site benefits from HTTPS but misses several best practices such as security headers and formal privacy or cookie policies. No contact or incident response information is provided, which limits transparency and user trust in security matters. The WHOIS data shows a consistent domain registration history with no suspicious patterns, supporting the legitimacy of the project. Overall, the website is safe, professional, and credible for its niche audience but would benefit from enhanced security measures, privacy compliance documentation, and clearer contact information to improve trust and compliance posture.

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. 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';…
  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

  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 Protocols Supported

      Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

      What to do: Disable TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, and all SSL versions

      • CWE-327
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V12.1.1

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

Keep watching xapian.org

This scan found 22 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

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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
72
Security headers
45
Email security
70
DNS health
75
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
50
Average
59

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 xapian.org, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
7
Employees
0
Customers
7
Third parties
0
Weak passwords
43%

2 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 xapian.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

Xapian Project holds a strong position in the open source search engine market, offering a versatile and extensible toolkit for developers. Its business model revolves around open source licensing (GPL v2+) with options for commercial support, targeting software developers and organizations needing customizable search solutions. The project’s longevity since 2001 and active version releases demonstrate stability and ongoing development. The absence of commercial advertising or tracking indicates a community-focused approach. The project’s ecosystem includes bindings for many programming languages and a packaged search application (Omega), enhancing its appeal. Partnerships or subsidiaries are not evident, suggesting a lean organizational structure focused on software development and community support.

Security posture

The security posture of the Xapian website is moderate. HTTPS is enforced, which is essential, but the absence of DNSSEC and security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security reduces the overall security robustness. No privacy or cookie policies are present, which is a compliance gap especially under GDPR. The lack of contact or incident response information limits the ability for users to report security issues or vulnerabilities. No analytics or tracking scripts reduce privacy risks but also limit insight into user behavior. Overall, the site is low risk but could improve significantly by adopting standard security headers, enabling DNSSEC, and publishing privacy and security policies.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement key security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security to protect against common web attacks.
  3. Publish comprehensive privacy and cookie policies to improve GDPR compliance and user trust.
  4. Add clear contact information and a security incident response channel (e.g., security@ or abuse@ email) to facilitate vulnerability reporting.
  5. Consider adding minimal analytics with privacy-respecting configurations to better understand user engagement and improve the site.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Xapian Project
Description
Xapian is an Open Source Search Engine Library written in C++ with bindings for multiple programming languages. It provides advanced indexing and search capabilities for developers to integrate into their applications. The project also offers Omega, a packaged search engine application built on Xapian.
Key services
Search engine library, Language bindings, Omega search application, Commercial support
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
C++, HTML, CSS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
basic
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
55/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled (implied by canonical URL https://xapian.org/)

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
moderate

Key observations

  1. Website is an open source project site with technical documentation and download links.
  2. No privacy, cookie, or terms of service policies found on the homepage.
  3. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly listed on the homepage.
  4. No social media links detected in the HTML content.
  5. No analytics or tracking scripts detected.
  6. Website uses HTTPS and canonical URLs but lacks advanced security headers.
  7. WHOIS data shows domain is registered with Gandi SAS and is not privacy protected fully.
  8. Content is technical and safe for general audiences.
  9. Navigation menu is clear with multiple sections for features, docs, support, and downloads.
  10. No forms collecting personal data except a simple search form with a single search input.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a simple technical stack primarily consisting of static HTML and CSS with no detected CMS or JavaScript frameworks. The hosting provider is Gandi SAS, a reputable registrar and hosting service. The site is served over HTTPS with a canonical URL specified, supporting SEO best practices. Performance is moderate with basic mobile optimization and accessibility features. The lack of advanced frameworks or CMS reduces complexity but also limits dynamic capabilities. There is no evidence of modern JavaScript libraries or analytics tools. The site’s technical simplicity supports stability but modernization opportunities exist to improve security, performance, and user experience.
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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