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Security report for xon.sh

Private by Design, LLC · Technology · United States

Medium risk. 9 critical or high findings in Email security, Security headers and 2 other checks.

Security score

58/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Xonsh is an open source project offering a modern, Python-powered shell environment that combines the power of Python 3.6+ with traditional shell primitives. The project targets developers, DevOps professionals, and system administrators seeking a versatile and cross-platform shell alternative. The website serves as a hub for documentation, downloads, community engagement, and extension discovery (xontribs). The business operates under Private by Design, LLC, based in the US, with a domain registered since 2016, reflecting a mature and stable presence. Technically, the website employs a modern front-end stack including Bootstrap, jQuery, and integrates GitHub APIs to dynamically display community extensions. It supports multiple platforms including Linux, macOS, and Windows. The site is mobile optimized with good SEO practices but lacks advanced accessibility features. Performance is moderate with no critical technical debt observed. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS and has domain-level protections like clientDeleteProhibited status but lacks DNSSEC and security headers. There are no published privacy, cookie, or security policies, which represents a compliance gap. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure information is available. Analytics usage is minimal and privacy impact low. No adult or questionable content is present, making the site safe for general audiences. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and well-positioned within its niche. However, improvements in privacy compliance, security headers, and published policies would enhance its security posture and regulatory adherence.

Scanned

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

9 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Email security

    SPF, DKIM and DMARC stop others sending email that looks like it comes from your domain, a common route to phishing and invoice fraud.

    • Critical

      No email authentication configured

      Domain is vulnerable to email spoofing

      What to do: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC immediately

  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 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 X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

    • 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

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

Keep watching xon.sh

This scan found 27 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
62
Security headers
15
Email security
60
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
35
Average
58

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 xon.sh, from OffSeq Breach.

No leaked records found

Breach holds no records for xon.sh 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

Xonsh occupies a niche in the developer tools market as a Python-powered shell alternative, appealing to users who want to combine Python scripting with shell commands seamlessly. Its open source business model relies on community contributions, sponsorships, and donations. The project demonstrates strong community engagement through GitHub, Zulip chat, Mastodon, and mailing lists. The lack of direct commercial offerings suggests a focus on community-driven growth and adoption. The project’s longevity since 2016 and active development indicate stability and ongoing relevance. Partnerships are primarily with open source contributors and extension developers (xontribs). The business model emphasizes transparency and open collaboration rather than monetization.

Security posture

The security maturity of the website is moderate. HTTPS is enforced, and domain registration includes protections against unauthorized transfers or deletions. However, the absence of DNSSEC and security headers such as Content-Security-Policy or X-Frame-Options reduces defense-in-depth. No privacy or cookie policies are published, which is a compliance risk under GDPR and similar regulations. Incident response and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms are not publicly documented, limiting transparency and preparedness. The minimal use of analytics and absence of tracking scripts reduce privacy risks. Overall, the site is secure enough for informational and community purposes but would benefit from enhanced security controls and published policies to improve trust and compliance.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Publish comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with clear GDPR compliance statements.
  3. Implement security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to mitigate common web attacks.
  4. Establish and publish a security policy including incident response contacts and vulnerability disclosure guidelines.
  5. Regularly audit and update third-party libraries and dependencies to avoid vulnerabilities.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Private by Design, LLC
Description
Xonsh is a modern, full-featured and cross-platform Python-powered shell. It is a superset of Python 3.6+ with additional shell primitives familiar from Bash and IPython. It works on Linux, OSX, and Windows and is designed for both experts and novices.
Key services
Python-powered shell environment, Xontribs third-party extensions, Cross-platform shell tooling, Documentation and community support
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
HTML5, CSS3 (Bootstrap, icofont, animate.css), Python (implied by product), GitHub API integration (for dynamic xontribs list), Docker containers, AppImage for Linux
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Platforms
Linux, macOS, Windows
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
50/100
Good practices seen
  • Use of HTTPS (implied by URL https://xon.sh/)
  • Domain status includes clientDeleteProhibited and clientTransferProhibited

Analytics and tracking

Services
GoatCounter
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Tracking pixels
GoatCounter
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a well-structured open source project site for a Python-powered shell.
  2. No privacy, cookie, or terms of service policies found, which is a compliance gap.
  3. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly listed on the site.
  4. Strong community presence via GitHub, Zulip, Mastodon, and other social platforms.
  5. No security headers detected in HTML content; DNSSEC not enabled.
  6. Uses modern front-end technologies and integrates GitHub API for dynamic content.
  7. No signs of adult or questionable content; content is technical and developer-focused.
  8. No WAF or blocking mechanisms detected; site fully accessible.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern and widely adopted front-end technology stack including Bootstrap for responsive design, jQuery and various plugins for UI interactions, and integrates GitHub APIs for dynamic content. The site is mobile optimized and SEO friendly with proper meta tags and Open Graph data. Performance is moderate with no major issues detected. There is no CMS detected, indicating a likely static or custom-built site. Hosting provider details are not disclosed. The site lacks advanced accessibility features but provides a clean and navigable user experience. Technical risks include missing security headers and lack of DNSSEC, which could be addressed to improve overall robustness.
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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