cipherhorizon

README

CipherHorizon

Post-quantum readiness for the protocols your organisation runs on: TLS, SSH and, next, VPN. A deep scan of each, a readiness level from L0 to L4, and one CycloneDX CBOM, self-hosted. By Offset Security.

Recorded traffic is protected today only if the key exchange was post-quantum: NIST IR 8547 deprecates the quantum-vulnerable algorithms after 2030 and disallows them after 2035, and anything harvested before then can be decrypted later. CipherHorizon tells you which of your TLS endpoints and SSH servers are exposed, which machines carry quantum-vulnerable cryptography, and what to fix first. It runs on your network and sends nothing anywhere.

Quick start

docker compose up -d                                          # or: podman compose up -d
sudo apt install ./cipherhorizon_<version>_amd64.deb          # Debian, Ubuntu (dnf install … .rpm on RHEL, Fedora)
cipherhorizon.exe service install                             # Windows, as administrator: a service that starts at boot
cipherhorizon serve                                           # any OS, from the release archive, in this terminal

Downloads (Linux, macOS, Windows; amd64 and arm64) are on the Releases page. Each OS, where the data lives, backup, upgrade and removal: docs/engineering/INSTALL.md.

Open http://127.0.0.1:8080, type an address, press Enter. Sign-in is off until you want it: turn it on in Settings to give a team accounts and roles, or start with --sign-in on.

Another port: cipherhorizon serve --port 9000, or set CIPHERHORIZON_PORT=9000 (containers and services; the health check follows it). If the port is taken, serve says so and suggests the next one. Every way of running it: Choosing the port.

From the command line, no server needed:

cipherhorizon tls scan example.com                     # the verdict: readiness, TLS hygiene score, what to fix
cipherhorizon tls scan smtp://mail.example.com         # STARTTLS: SMTP, IMAP, POP3, FTP, XMPP, LDAP, PostgreSQL
cipherhorizon tls scan --fail-on 'level<L3' api.example.com   # exit 3 when it fails: a CI gate
cipherhorizon ssh scan bastion.example.com              # readiness, the SSH baseline, the sshd_config lines to meet it
cipherhorizon ssh scan --fail-on baseline git.example.com      # exit 3 when the server does not meet the baseline

Scan only systems you own or are authorised to test.

Three things it does well

Post-quantum readiness, protocol by protocol. One question across everything: is recorded traffic exposed to harvest-now-decrypt-later? Every TLS endpoint and SSH server gets a level from L0 (the protocol in use cannot carry a post-quantum key exchange) to L4 (post-quantum key exchange and authentication), each protocol by its own stated rules. Systems are ranked for migration by exposure and by how long their data must stay secret.

Scanners that show their work. The TLS scanner is its own wire implementation: every protocol from SSLv2 to TLS 1.3, every cipher suite and key-exchange group (including X25519MLKEM768), the signature schemes (ML-DSA included), the certificate chain against the bundled root stores, OCSP stapling, CT and HSTS. It reads the certificate a server really serves even when only legacy suites reach it, names a root whose private key is public, and says unknown for what it cannot know (revocation, without contacting the CA) instead of guessing. Its 58 checks each say what they found or that they passed, why it matters, what to do and their sources; the TLS hygiene score (0 to 100) shows its arithmetic. The SSH auditor reads what a server offers, negotiates as OpenSSH 10.6 would (ML-KEM hybrid included), verifies every host key, and never logs in. It judges the server against a cited baseline and writes the sshd_config lines that would make it meet it. Both are checked against real servers: OpenSSL for trust, OpenSSH 9.2 and 10.0 for SSH.

An inventory you can hand over. Two short, readable scripts (PowerShell and shell) inventory a machine without installing anything; CBOMs from other tools can be imported. TLS endpoints, SSH servers and machines merge into one CycloneDX 1.7 CBOM, with PDF reports for each endpoint and for the whole inventory, and the OMB M-23-02 items per system.

A TLS endpoint: where it stands, then the three things to fix first	STARTTLS services, the same depth
SSH servers: readiness and the baseline, never a score	The sshd_config lines that meet the baseline

What is in it

TLS endpoints	Every protocol from SSLv2 to TLS 1.3, every cipher suite and key-exchange group (hybrids such as X25519MLKEM768 included), the TLS 1.3 signature schemes (ML-DSA included), the certificate chain against the Mozilla and Chrome root stores or your own CA, OCSP stapling, Certificate Transparency and HSTS; DH parameters tested for primality. STARTTLS for SMTP, IMAP, POP3, FTP, XMPP, LDAP and PostgreSQL. 58 cited checks and the TLS hygiene score.
SSH servers	Identification and algorithm lists, negotiation as OpenSSH 10.6 would (the ML-KEM hybrid included), every host key fetched and verified (Ed25519, ECDSA, RSA, ML-DSA and the composite ssh-mldsa44-ed25519), 18 cited checks, and the CipherHorizon SSH baseline 2026 with the sshd_config lines to meet it. It never logs in.
Classical strength	Every algorithm, key and cipher suite in bits, computed with NIST's own methods (the GNFS estimate for RSA and DH, half the order for curves, SP 800-57 for ciphers and hashes). A suite is as strong as its weakest part and names it, on the report, the PDF, the CLI, the Inventory, SSH reports and the CBOM (classicalSecurityLevel). Every algorithm is classed as asymmetric, symmetric or hash; each report shows every suite part by part and every algorithm by class, drawn as bits bars on one scale.
One page to check a setup	Each report has a Summary (readiness, hygiene, the weakest strength and the certificate as figures, then the three things to fix first) and a Configuration that reads in a reviewer's order: every TLS version folded to one line that says whether it should be on and how its suites rate, opening to its suites part by part; the certificate chain; key exchange and signatures; revocation; protocol features; every algorithm by class. SSH reports read the same way, ending with the baseline and its sshd_config lines.
Certificates	Open any certificate in a chain to read the whole X.509 document: its chain, validity, key and signature with their strengths, names and uses, every extension decoded, fingerprints, and the PEM to copy or download.
Post-quantum readiness	L0 to L4 for every TLS endpoint and SSH server, each protocol by its own stated rules, with harvest-now-decrypt-later exposure.
Machines	Two readable inventory scripts (PowerShell, shell) list a machine's cryptographic software and certificates; nothing is installed and no key material is read.
Inventory	TLS endpoints, SSH servers, machines and imported CBOMs merged into one CycloneDX 1.7 (or 1.6) CBOM: every algorithm with its OID where one exists (the exact certificate signature algorithm, ECDH on each named curve, legacy ciphers such as 3DES and RC4), certificates with their serial and SHA-256 fingerprint.
Charts you can act on	Every chart opens what it counts: a readiness level opens the endpoints at that level, a ring segment the quantum-vulnerable algorithms, an expiry bar the certificates expiring in that window, a point on the history the scan it stands for. The filter stays in the address, so a filtered list can be bookmarked and Back returns to the chart.
Findings and systems	Findings across everything, grouped by problem, with triage; systems ranked for migration by exposure and how long their data must stay secret; OMB M-23-02 export per system.
Reports	PDF reports per TLS endpoint, per SSH server and for the whole inventory; CycloneDX, CSV and JSON downloads.
Over time	Schedules, history, and what changed between two scans.
For teams	Sign-in when you want it: administrator, analyst and viewer roles, an exportable activity log.
For pipelines	tls scan and ssh scan from the command line with --fail-on gates (exit 3), JSON and CBOM output, and the REST API (/api/v1/openapi.json).

How it compares

	CipherHorizon	testssl.sh, SSLyze	SSL Labs	ssh-audit	New PQC CLIs
Form	Self-hosted web app and CLI	CLI	Public web service	CLI	CLI
Protocols	TLS (with STARTTLS) and SSH	TLS	Public HTTPS	SSH	Varies
Internal endpoints	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
History, schedules, accounts and roles	Yes	No	No	No	No
A post-quantum readiness level per endpoint	L0 to L4, with HNDL exposure	Lists groups	No	Flags classical key exchange	Varies
SSH judged against a policy	A cited baseline, and the sshd_config lines to meet it	No	No	Built-in and custom policies	Rarely
SSH client audit	No	No	No	Yes	No
STARTTLS	7 protocols	Yes	No	No	Rarely
Machine inventory and one CBOM	Yes	No	No	No	Some
Active probes (Heartbleed, ROBOT; DHEat for SSH)	No, by design: it sends no exploit or stress traffic	Yes	Yes	DHEat	No
Rating	TLS: its own hygiene score, arithmetic shown. SSH: meets the baseline or not	Letter grade	Letter grade	Pass, warn or fail per algorithm	Own scores

Use testssl.sh when you need active vulnerability probes on one host, and ssh-audit to audit SSH clients or stress a server's Diffie-Hellman. Use CipherHorizon when you need to know where your estate stands on post-quantum across protocols, keep track of it, and show the evidence.

Standards

NIST IR 8547 (transition timeline) · FIPS 203 ML-KEM · FIPS 204 ML-DSA · FIPS 205 SLH-DSA · RFC 8446 and RFC 9325 (TLS) · RFC 4253, RFC 9142 and RFC 10042 (SSH) · CycloneDX 1.6 and 1.7 (CBOM) · OMB M-23-02 (export structure). The readiness level, the TLS hygiene score and the SSH baseline are this project's own; how each is worked out is in docs/methodology.md.

Security and trust

• Self-hosted and offline. One static binary with the interface inside; no telemetry, no external requests but the scans you start. A scan contacts only its target.
• It passes its own scan. Served over HTTPS, it speaks TLS 1.2 (forward-secret AEAD only) and TLS 1.3 with the hybrid post-quantum key exchange, sends HSTS, and the test suite scans it with its own scanner.
• Accounts when you want them. Sign-in is off for one person on their own machine and one click away for a team: administrator, analyst and viewer roles, PBKDF2 password hashes, sessions that end, lock-outs, and every sign-in and change in an activity log an administrator can export. A server on the network will not start open unless told to (--open-network).
• Limits you set. --scan-allow restricts what can be scanned; loopback, link-local and cloud-metadata addresses are refused by default.
• Verifiable releases. Signed checksums (Sigstore), an SBOM per archive, build provenance, and the inventory scripts' hashes from cipherhorizon scripts list.

Report vulnerabilities privately: SECURITY.md.

Documentation

docs/deploy.md	Docker, Caddy with automatic HTTPS, systemd, Windows, backups
docs/CI.md	tls scan and ssh scan --fail-on, and a GitHub Actions example
docs/methodology.md	Every check, the readiness levels, the TLS hygiene score, the SSH baseline
docs/tls-scanning.md	How the TLS scanner works and what it sends
docs/ssh-scanning.md	How the SSH auditor works, what it sends, and the SSH baseline
docs/estate-guide.md	Systems, machines, migration order
docs/importing.md, docs/exporting.md	CBOM in and out, OMB M-23-02
docs/architecture.md	How it is built
/api/v1/openapi.json on a running server	The API

Try it without touching anyone else's systems

go run ./cmd/demo-targets                    # servers of known posture on 127.0.0.1:9440 and up
cipherhorizon serve --allow-loopback         # loopback scans are refused unless you say so

demo-targets prints what each server is and what to expect: a hybrid post-quantum server (L3), classical TLS 1.3 (L1), TLS 1.2 only (L0), a deliberately terrible SSLv3 server, a slow one, a private CA chain, one STARTTLS service per protocol, and SSH servers from an SSH-1 banner (L0) to an ML-DSA host key (L4), one of them hardened to meet the baseline.

Building and testing

Go 1.27 or newer; no C compiler, no Node, no database server.

go build -o cipherhorizon ./cmd/cipherhorizon
go test ./...                       # unit and integration tests, including the UI and design rules
golangci-lint run ./...
bash testing/deploy/smoke.sh        # the container, as docker-compose.yml runs it
node testing/e2e/journey.mjs        # the browser journey, see testing/README.md

The interface is plain HTML, CSS and JavaScript modules embedded with go:embed; storage is SQLite through a pure-Go driver; the TLS scanner and the SSH auditor are their own wire implementations (internal/tlsprobe, internal/sshprobe). The design rules are in DESIGN.md.

Contributing

Bug reports, corrections to a finding or a citation, and pull requests are welcome: see CONTRIBUTING.md for the setup, conventions and the evidence rule every finding follows. Everyone participating follows the Code of Conduct.

Status: pre-release (0.x), heading for 1.0 (release checklist).

License and credits

Apache 2.0. Made by Offset Security, whose post-quantum readiness practice helps teams plan the move. Fonts: Geist and Geist Mono (Vercel) and Newsreader, all under the SIL Open Font License.