Overview
Findings
Actions
Details
Related
AI-Generated Summary
What this means
disqus.com scored 62/100, meeting baseline requirements but with 5 findings that require attention. The vendor can proceed with a remediation timeline agreement.
Critical gaps in: Security Headers. Positive signals: TLS Configuration, CVE Exposure all passed.
6 action items identified, including 0 critical. The issues are configuration gaps, not architectural problems. A focused remediation effort of 2–5 days could address all findings.
How disqus.com compares
Grade distribution across 2378 companies we've scanned. disqus.com scores better than 26% of them.
71
A+
22
A
180
A-
181
B+
69
B
333
B-
111
C+
111
C
295
C-
110
D+
92
D
216
D-
587
F
disqus.com — Grade D- (62/100)
2378 companies scanned
Security checks
Each check inspects a different part of disqus.com's public security setup. Green means healthy, yellow needs attention, red is a problem.
Security Headers
Only 1/5 security headers present. Missing: CSP, X-Frame-Options, Referrer-Policy, Permissions-Policy. This exposes the application to clickjacking, MIME-sniffing, and other client-side attacks.
DNS Configuration
Strengths: 4 nameservers configured (ns-620.awsdns-13.net., ns-1148.awsdns-15.org., ns-179.awsdns-22.com., ns-1870.awsdns-41.co.uk.); 1 MX records present; Zone transfers properly restricted. Issues: DNSSEC not configured — DNS responses can be spoofed.
HSTS Header
HSTS present but max-age is low (300s). Recommended minimum: 15768000 (6 months).
DMARC / Email Security
Strengths: SPF record present with hard-fail (-all); DKIM configured (selectors: selector1, mandrill). Issues: DMARC policy is 'none' (monitoring only, no enforcement).
Known Breaches
1 breach(es) found (1 verified). Total accounts affected: 17,551,044. Breaches: Disqus (2012-07-01, 17,551,044 accounts).
Certificate Hygiene
Strengths: Certificate valid, 57 days remaining; Issued by Sectigo Limited. Issues: Wildcard certificate in use — broader attack surface if compromised.
TLS Configuration
TLSv1.3 negotiated with TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 (128-bit). Strong configuration with no deprecated protocols or weak ciphers detected.
CVE Exposure
Detected technologies: nginx. No version information exposed — CVE matching not possible (this is good practice).
Recommended actions
6 items
Steps to improve disqus.com's security grade, ranked by impact.
1
Add missing security headers (CSP, X-Frame-Options, Referrer-Policy, Permissions-Policy)
4 of 5 recommended security headers are missing on disqus.com: CSP, X-Frame-Options, Referrer-Policy, Permissions-Policy. These headers protect against clickjacking, MIME-sniffing, and unauthorized browser feature access. Adding them is a server configuration change with no application code changes required.
Compliance impact
PCI-DSS 4.0Req 6.4.1
Security headers are required application controls
OWASPSecure Headers
Recommended baseline for web applications
How to fix this
1
Add Content-Security-Policy header (start with report-only to avoid breakage)
2
Add: X-Frame-Options: DENY (or SAMEORIGIN if you use iframes)
3
Add: Referrer-Policy: strict-origin-when-cross-origin
4
Add: Permissions-Policy: camera=(), microphone=(), geolocation=()
5
Verify with: curl -sI https://disqus.com | grep -iE 'content-security|x-frame|x-content|referrer|permissions'
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2
Strengthen email authentication configuration
Email authentication is partially configured for disqus.com but has gaps. Actions needed: upgrade DMARC policy from 'none' to 'quarantine' or 'reject'. Until DMARC enforcement is active, spoofed emails may still reach recipients.
Compliance impact
NIST CSFPR.AC-7
Email authentication is a required access control
How to fix this
1
Upgrade DMARC policy to p=quarantine (then p=reject after monitoring)
2
Verify with: nslookup -type=txt _dmarc.disqus.com
3
Enable DNSSEC on your domain
Without DNSSEC, DNS responses for disqus.com can be spoofed, potentially redirecting users to malicious sites. This requires coordination with your domain registrar to publish DS records.
Compliance impact
NIST 800-53SC-20
Secure name/address resolution service
How to fix this
1
Check if your DNS provider supports DNSSEC (Cloudflare, Route53, etc.)
2
Enable DNSSEC signing in your DNS provider dashboard
3
Add the DS record to your registrar for .com TLD
4
Verify: dig +dnssec disqus.com
4
Increase HSTS max-age duration
HSTS is enabled but the max-age (0s) is below the recommended minimum of 15768000s (6 months). A short max-age means browsers forget the HTTPS-only policy quickly, reducing protection between visits.
Compliance impact
PCI-DSS 4.0Req 6.4.1
Application security header configuration
How to fix this
1
Update header: Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload
2
Verify: curl -sI https://disqus.com | grep -i strict
5
Review unverified breach disclosure
disqus.com appears in an unverified breach report. This may be a false positive or data aggregation error. Investigate to confirm or rule out exposure.
How to fix this
1
Review the breach details on haveibeenpwned.com
2
Cross-reference with internal incident records
3
If confirmed, follow breach response procedures
6
Review certificate configuration
Certificate issues found for disqus.com: wildcard certificate in use. Wildcard certificates have a broader blast radius if compromised. Ensure auto-renewal is configured to prevent expiry. These are operational hygiene items, not immediate security risks.
How to fix this
1
Verify auto-renewal is configured (Let's Encrypt: certbot renew --dry-run)
2
Consider replacing wildcard cert with individual certs for critical subdomains
3
Consolidate certificate issuance to 1–2 trusted CAs
At a glance
Key data points from the scan.
TLS Version
TLSv1.3
TLSv1.3 negotiated with TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 (128-bit). Strong configuration with no deprecated protocols or weak ciphers detected.
DMARC Policy
p=none
Strengths: SPF record present with hard-fail (-all); DKIM configured (selectors: selector1, mandrill). Issues: DMARC policy is 'none' (monitoring only, no enforcement).
SPF Record
Present
v=spf1 include:servers.mcsv.net include:429754.spf04.hubspotemail.net include:spf.protection.outlook
Security Headers
1/5 present
Missing: CSP, X-Frame-Options, Referrer-Policy, Permissions-Policy
HSTS
Not enabled
HSTS present but max-age is low (300s). Recommended minimum: 15768000 (6 months).
SSL Certificate
Issues
Strengths: Certificate valid, 57 days remaining; Issued by Sectigo Limited. Issues: Wildcard certificate in use — broader attack surface if compromised.
DNSSEC
Not enabled
Strengths: 4 nameservers configured (ns-620.awsdns-13.net., ns-1148.awsdns-15.org., ns-179.awsdns-22.com., ns-1870.awsdns-41.co.uk.); 1 MX records present; Zone transfers properly restricted. Issues: DNSSEC not configured — DNS responses can be spoofed.