Vulnerability Scan Result
| Title: | Readers' Choice | 2026 | thefacts.com |
| Description: |
| ip_address | 192.104.182.109 |
| country | US  |
| network_name | Lee Enterprises, Incorporated |
| asn | AS10668 |
443/tcp | tcpwrapped | - - |
| Software / Version | Category |
|---|---|
| Amazon Advertising | Advertising |
| Funding Choices | Cookie compliance |
| Google Publisher Tag | Advertising |
| Font Awesome | Font scripts |
| Google Font API | Font scripts |
| Adtriba | Marketing automation |
| Bootstrap 3.4.1 | UI frameworks |
| LazySizes | JavaScript libraries, Performance |
| jQuery Migrate 3.3.0 | JavaScript libraries |
| core-js 3.33.0 | JavaScript libraries |
| Google Analytics GA4 | Analytics |
| ID5 1.0.97 | Advertising |
| jQuery 3.6.0 | JavaScript libraries |
| MySQL | Databases |
| Open Graph | Miscellaneous |
| PHP | Programming languages |
| Prebid | Advertising |
| Segment 4.15.3 | Customer data platform |
| DoubleClick Floodlight | Advertising |
| TownNews | CMS |
| WordPress | CMS, Blogs |
| AddThis | Widgets |
| reCAPTCHA | Security |
| Google Tag Manager | Tag managers |
| Kochava | Marketing automation |
| Marfeel | Analytics, Advertising |
| HSTS | Security |
| RSS | Miscellaneous |
| theTradeDesk | Advertising |
Web Application Vulnerabilities
Evidence
| CVE | CVSS | EPSS Score | EPSS Percentile | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2024-6484 | 6.4 | 0.00049 | 0.15167 | A vulnerability has been identified in Bootstrap that exposes users to Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attacks. The issue is present in the carousel component, where the data-slide and data-slide-to attributes can be exploited through the href attribute of an <a> tag due to inadequate sanitization. This vulnerability could potentially enable attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript within the victim's browser. |
Vulnerability description
Outdated or vulnerable software components include versions of server-side software that are no longer supported or have known, publicly disclosed vulnerabilities. Using outdated software significantly increases the attack surface of a system and may allow unauthorized access, data leaks, or service disruptions. Vulnerabilities in these components are often well-documented and actively exploited by attackers. Without security patches or vendor support, any weaknesses remain unmitigated, exposing the application to risks. In some cases, even after patching, the reported version may remain unchanged, requiring manual verification.
Risk description
The risk is that an attacker could search for an appropriate exploit (or create one himself) for any of these vulnerabilities and use it to attack the system. Since the vulnerabilities were discovered using only version-based testing, the risk level for this finding will not exceed 'high' severity. Critical risks will be assigned to vulnerabilities identified through accurate active testing methods.
Recommendation
In order to eliminate the risk of these vulnerabilities, we recommend you check the installed software version and upgrade to the latest version.
Classification
| CWE | CWE-1035 |
| OWASP Top 10 - 2017 | |
| OWASP Top 10 - 2021 |
Evidence
| URL | Method | Parameters | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| https://thefacts.com/readerschoice2026/ | GET | Headers: User-Agent=Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/108.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 |
|
Vulnerability description
We noticed that the target application is serving mixed content. This occurs when initial HTML is loaded over a secure HTTPS connection, but other resources (such as images, videos, stylesheets, scripts) are loaded over an insecure HTTP connection. This is called mixed content because both HTTP and HTTPS content are being loaded to display the same page, and the initial request was secure over HTTPS.
Risk description
The risk is that the insecurely loaded resources (HTTP) on an otherwise secure page (HTTPS) can be intercepted or manipulated by attackers, potentially leading to eavesdropping or content tampering.
Recommendation
Ensure that all external resources the page references are loaded using HTTPS.
Classification
| CWE | CWE-319 |
| OWASP Top 10 - 2017 | |
| OWASP Top 10 - 2021 |
Evidence
| Software / Version | Category |
|---|---|
| Amazon Advertising | Advertising |
| Funding Choices | Cookie compliance |
| Google Publisher Tag | Advertising |
| Font Awesome | Font scripts |
| Google Font API | Font scripts |
| Adtriba | Marketing automation |
| Bootstrap 3.4.1 | UI frameworks |
| LazySizes | JavaScript libraries, Performance |
| jQuery Migrate 3.3.0 | JavaScript libraries |
| core-js 3.33.0 | JavaScript libraries |
| Google Analytics GA4 | Analytics |
| ID5 1.0.97 | Advertising |
| jQuery 3.6.0 | JavaScript libraries |
| MySQL | Databases |
| Open Graph | Miscellaneous |
| PHP | Programming languages |
| Prebid | Advertising |
| Segment 4.15.3 | Customer data platform |
| DoubleClick Floodlight | Advertising |
| TownNews | CMS |
| WordPress | CMS, Blogs |
| AddThis | Widgets |
| reCAPTCHA | Security |
| Google Tag Manager | Tag managers |
| Kochava | Marketing automation |
| Marfeel | Analytics, Advertising |
| HSTS | Security |
| RSS | Miscellaneous |
| theTradeDesk | Advertising |
Vulnerability description
We noticed that server software and technology details are exposed, potentially aiding attackers in tailoring specific exploits against identified systems and versions.
Risk description
The risk is that an attacker could use this information to mount specific attacks against the identified software type and version.
Recommendation
We recommend you to eliminate the information which permits the identification of software platform, technology, server and operating system: HTTP server headers, HTML meta information, etc.
Classification
| CWE | CWE-200 |
| OWASP Top 10 - 2017 | |
| OWASP Top 10 - 2021 |
Evidence
Vulnerability description
We found the robots.txt on the target server. This file instructs web crawlers what URLs and endpoints of the web application they can visit and crawl. Website administrators often misuse this file while attempting to hide some web pages from the users.
Risk description
There is no particular security risk in having a robots.txt file. However, it's important to note that adding endpoints in it should not be considered a security measure, as this file can be directly accessed and read by anyone.
Recommendation
We recommend you to manually review the entries from robots.txt and remove the ones which lead to sensitive locations in the website (ex. administration panels, configuration files, etc).
Evidence
| URL | Evidence |
|---|---|
| https://thefacts.com/readerschoice2026/ | Response headers include the HTTP Content-Security-Policy security header with the following security issues: |
Vulnerability description
We noticed that the Content-Security-Policy (CSP) header configured for the web application includes unsafe directives. The CSP header activates a protection mechanism implemented in web browsers which prevents exploitation of Cross-Site Scripting vulnerabilities (XSS) by restricting the sources from which content can be loaded or executed.
Risk description
For example, if the unsafe-inline directive is present in the CSP header, the execution of inline scripts and event handlers is allowed. This can be exploited by an attacker to execute arbitrary JavaScript code in the context of the vulnerable application.
Recommendation
Remove the unsafe values from the directives, adopt nonces or hashes for safer inclusion of inline scripts if they are needed, and explicitly define the sources from which scripts, styles, images or other resources can be loaded.
Classification
| CWE | CWE-1021 |
| OWASP Top 10 - 2017 | |
| OWASP Top 10 - 2021 |
Vulnerability description
We have noticed that the server is missing the security.txt file, which is considered a good practice for web security. It provides a standardized way for security researchers and the public to report security vulnerabilities or concerns by outlining the preferred method of contact and reporting procedures.
Risk description
There is no particular risk in not having a security.txt file for your server. However, this file is important because it offers a designated channel for reporting vulnerabilities and security issues.
Recommendation
We recommend you to implement the security.txt file according to the standard, in order to allow researchers or users report any security issues they find, improving the defensive mechanisms of your server.
Classification
| CWE | CWE-1188 |
| OWASP Top 10 - 2017 | |
| OWASP Top 10 - 2021 |
Evidence
| URL | Method | Parameters | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| https://thefacts.com/readerschoice2026/ | GET | Headers: User-Agent=Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/108.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 | Email Address: support@thefacts.com |
Vulnerability description
We noticed that this web application exposes email addresses, which might be unintended. While not inherently a vulnerability, this information could be leveraged in social engineering or spam related activities.
Risk description
The risk is that exposed email addresses within the application could be accessed by unauthorized parties. This could lead to privacy violations, spam, phishing attacks, or other forms of misuse.
Recommendation
Compartmentalize the application to have 'safe' areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow email addresses to go outside of the trust boundary, and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area.
Classification
| CWE | CWE-200 |
| OWASP Top 10 - 2017 | |
| OWASP Top 10 - 2021 |
Evidence
| URL | Method | Parameters | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| https://thefacts.com/readerschoice2026/ | GET | Headers: User-Agent=Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/108.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 | Operating system paths found in the HTTP response: |
Vulnerability description
We found operating system paths returned in a HTTP response.
Risk description
The risk is that path disclosure may help an attacker learn more about the remote server's file system, thus increasing the effectiveness and precision of any future attacks.
Recommendation
Configure the web server to avoid leaking path information by using generic error messages that do not reveal any internal file paths. Make sure no server file is referred with its absolute path in the website code.
Classification
| CWE | CWE-200 |
| OWASP Top 10 - 2017 | |
| OWASP Top 10 - 2021 |
Infrastructure Vulnerabilities
Evidence
We found insecure DNS cookie usage on the following nameservers: ns2.hover.com, ns1.hover.com
Vulnerability description
We found that the server does not implement DNS Cookies or uses them insecurely. DNS Cookies help prevent DNS-based attacks, such as spoofing and amplification attacks.
Risk description
The risk exists because without DNS Cookies, the server is vulnerable to DNS spoofing and amplification attacks. Attackers can manipulate responses or use the server in distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, compromising network availability and security.
Recommendation
We recommend enabling DNS Cookies to prevent spoofed DNS responses. Ensure proper cookie validation is implemented to mitigate DNS amplification attacks. Regularly update DNS servers to support the latest DNS security features.
Evidence
| Operating System | Accuracy |
|---|---|
| Fortinet FortiGate 100D firewall | 87% |
Vulnerability description
OS Detection
Evidence
| Domain Queried | DNS Record Type | Description | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| thefacts.com | A | IPv4 address | 192.104.182.109 |
| thefacts.com | NS | Name server | ns2.hover.com |
| thefacts.com | NS | Name server | ns1.hover.com |
| thefacts.com | MX | Mail server | 1 aspmx.l.google.com |
| thefacts.com | MX | Mail server | 10 alt4.aspmx.l.google.com |
| thefacts.com | MX | Mail server | 5 alt1.aspmx.l.google.com |
| thefacts.com | MX | Mail server | 10 alt3.aspmx.l.google.com |
| thefacts.com | MX | Mail server | 5 alt2.aspmx.l.google.com |
| thefacts.com | SOA | Start of Authority | ns1.hover.com. dnsmaster.hover.com. 1775418963 1800 900 604800 300 |
| thefacts.com | TXT | Text record | "google-site-verification=bGExuoeFd-vrd_Z5IJPeYvkWML7wlTTIffaiDpPkliM" |
| thefacts.com | SPF | Sender Policy Framework | "v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:email-od.com ~all" |
| _dmarc.thefacts.com | TXT | Text record | "v=DMARC1;p=quarantine;pct=100;rua=mailto:postmaster@thefacts.com;ruf=mailto:postmaster@thefacts.com;ri=86400;fo=1;" |
Risk description
An initial step for an attacker aiming to learn about an organization involves conducting searches on its domain names to uncover DNS records associated with the organization. This strategy aims to amass comprehensive insights into the target domain, enabling the attacker to outline the organization's external digital landscape. This gathered intelligence may subsequently serve as a foundation for launching attacks, including those based on social engineering techniques. DNS records pointing to services or servers that are no longer in use can provide an attacker with an easy entry point into the network.
Recommendation
We recommend reviewing all DNS records associated with the domain and identifying and removing unused or obsolete records.