How secure is Craft CMS?
Craft CMS: Secure by design
From the start, Craft achieves a high level of security thanks to a stable release cycle that includes regular maintenance updates. While most commercial CMS platforms only release updates and patches a few times a year, Craft typically delivers several releases each month. These frequent updates ensure your software always runs on the most secure version available — a security advantage in itself.
Craft CMS was built with security in mind. According to Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE), WordPress has reported nearly five times as many vulnerabilities as Craft CMS over the past six years.
Craft CMS: Additional user security features
Craft CMS provides powerful yet user-friendly tools for managing users, allowing site administrators to fine-tune access based on company or organizational needs. Granular permissions can be defined for individual users — for example, controlling who can access the control panel or edit content in specific sections. Conversely, users or groups can be restricted from particular content areas or from the control panel entirely.
Two-factor authentication (2FA) can also be enabled for user accounts, adding an extra layer of protection at login. This provides a safety net in case user credentials are ever compromised.
Craft CMS: Built-in security
Craft CMS provides extensive security documentation on its website, covering protection against cyberattacks, file security, and password protection.
Here are some of the key built-in security measures it highlights:
- Craft uses CSRF token validation by default to prevent CSRF attacks.
- Twig automatically escapes HTML entities when rendering dynamic output, helping prevent XSS attack vectors.
- Craft uses the Blowfish algorithm with PHP’s crypt() method — one of the most secure and reliable password encryption methods available.
- Craft employs time-safe comparison methods for sensitive operations, such as verifying password hashes, to prevent timing attacks.
- The default folder structure encourages storing application files above the web root, and the System Report utility in the control panel warns you if this isn’t the case.
Craft CMS addresses the most common security vulnerabilities and attack vectors while providing thoughtful data and cookie protection, user verification, and password security. Beyond that, it offers a wide range of options for administrators to configure additional security measures. In short: Craft CMS is a platform built around cybersecurity and continuous updates — giving businesses and organizations confidence in both their website and their data protection.