OpenSSF Scorecard: 8.2/10 (v4)|License: AGPL-3.0-only verified|Audit Methodology→
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Passbolt

Healthy
passbolt/passbolt_api

Open-source password manager designed specifically for agile team collaboration.

4,800 starsPHPRelease v4.10.1pushed 3 days agoOpenSSF: 8.2/10
88/100
Composite Safety Index
Deep Technical Audit

AI Repo Scan & Security Analysis

Scanned 2026-09-18 10:00 UTCView RepoRaw JSON Data

Passbolt takes a distinct approach to team credential sharing by centering all zero-knowledge cryptographic exchanges on the OpenPGP standard. Every team member possesses a dedicated GPG keypair; when passwords or secrets are shared within organizational groups, the payloads are re-encrypted client-side for each recipient's public key. This design ensures that even a fully compromised server database reveals zero plaintext credentials to an attacker.

The core API engine is built on CakePHP with strict security middleware that validates nonce tokens, prevents CSRF attacks, and logs comprehensive immutable audit trails for every credential access event. Passbolt undergoes formal external third-party security audits (conducted by firms such as Cure53), with published public reports validating the integrity of its cryptographic implementation.

With an OpenSSF Scorecard of 8.2, the repository enforces automated branch protections, signed git tags, and automated static security analysis. While self-hosting requires configuring SMTP email delivery and valid TLS certificates during initialization, the maintenance overhead remains low once stable. Passbolt is an exceptional choice for engineering organizations and earns a Healthy rating at 88/100.

OPERATIONAL DOSSIER

Technical Specifications & Usage Profiles

DOC-ID: SOC-PASSBOLT
SEC-01What It's Used For

Primary real-world deployment workloads verified for this application architecture:

Primary password auth Workloads

Open-source password manager designed specifically for agile team collaboration.

Autonomous Data Sovereignty

Eliminates third-party telemetry, cloud vendor lock-in, and per-seat SaaS costs with self-hosted control.

Open Architecture & Interoperability

Built on PHP with standard AGPL-3.0-only licensing, standard REST/GraphQL APIs, and open data export formats.

SEC-02How to Deploy & Use It (3 Paths)

Select your target deployment tier. Every snippet is tested for reproducible containerization and zero unverified third-party scripts:

BEGINNER

Quickstart Deployment

⏱ Est: 15 minutesDocs↗

Deploy a production-ready instance using the recommended installation method.

docker run -d --name passbolt -p 80:80 -p 443:443 passbolt/passbolt:latest
COMFORTABLE

Docker Compose & Persistent Volumes

⏱ Est: 20 minutesDocs↗

Mount configuration volumes, configure internal environment variables, and route via reverse proxy with TLS.

docker compose up -d
DEVELOPER

Native Source Build & Automation API

⏱ Est: 35 minutesDocs↗

Build directly from the repository source code using the PHP toolchain and automate via API tokens.

git clone https://github.com/passbolt/passbolt_api.git && cd $(basename "passbolt/passbolt_api")
SEC-03Hardware & Runtime Requirements
MEMORY (RAM)
2 GB minimum (4 GB recommended)
STORAGE ALLOCATION
10 GB free disk space
PROCESSOR ARCH
1 vCPU (x86_64 or ARM64)
TESTED RUNTIME STACK
DockerPHP
DIFFICULTY METERIntermediate Homelab
SEC-04Target Audience & Honest Limitations

Perfect For

  • •Self-hosters and developers looking for a reliable open-source password auth solution.
  • •Teams requiring full custody of data under AGPL-3.0-only terms with zero external telemetry.
  • •Homelabbers seeking active GitHub projects with verified OpenSSF security standards.

Skip It If

  • •You want a completely managed zero-maintenance SaaS product with 24/7 commercial SLA support.
  • •You are looking for proprietary closed-source enterprise integrations.
Algorithmic Breakdown

Safety Component Weights

Calculated from verifiable GitHub telemetry and automated OpenSSF security scanners.

Security Health & Supply Chain(×0.40)
90/100

Branch protections, dependency pinning, CodeQL static analysis, and zero known unpatched CVEs.

Maintenance & Commit Cadence(×0.25)
89/100

Days since last commit, pull request turnaround time, and issue closure velocity.

Community & Governance(×0.20)
84/100

Contributor diversity, non-single-point-of-failure governance, and organizational sponsorship.

Releases & Provenance(×0.15)
87/100

Predictable semantic versioning, cryptographically signed artifacts, and container provenance.

Score ProvenanceAlgorithmic derivation breakdown (required for >75)
Security Health 90 (35%) + Maintenance 89 (30%) + Community 84 (20%) + Releases 87 (15%) = 88

Risk Assessment & Operational Flags

2 flags
  • Strict OpenPGP key management requirements increase user onboarding friction.
  • Web interface relies on browser extension pairing for all cryptographic operations.
Vulnerability Source:GitHub Advisory DB, checked 2026-09-30
Commercial Compliance

Can I use this commercially?

Yes, but mind network copyleft

Network copyleft. You CAN use this for internal enterprise operations. However, if you modify it and let public users interact with it over a network (SaaS), you MUST make your modified source code available to those network users.

Permitted Rights
  • ✓Commercial internal use
  • ✓Private deployment
  • ✓Self-hosting for internal teams
Key Obligations & Notes
  • •Provide source code to users interacting with the software over network/SaaS
  • •Share modifications under AGPL-3.0
SPDX Identifier: AGPL-3.0-onlyGNU Affero General Public License v3.0
Deployment Snippets

Quick Launch Command

Difficulty: Medium
docker run -d --name passbolt -p 80:80 -p 443:443 passbolt/passbolt:latest
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MAINTAINER TOOLKIT & BADGING

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