We take security vulnerabilities seriously. If you discover a security issue, please report it responsibly.

DO NOT open a public GitHub issue for security vulnerabilities.

Instead, please report via one of these methods:

1. GitHub Security Advisories (Preferred)

   • Go to Security Advisories
   • Click "New draft security advisory"
   • Fill in the details

2. Email

   • Send details to: unclecode@crawl4ai.com (CC: nasrin@crawl4ai.com and aravind@crawl4ai.com)
   • Use subject: [SECURITY] Brief description
   • Include:
     • Description of the vulnerability
     • Steps to reproduce
     • Potential impact
     • Any suggested fixes

• Acknowledgment: Within 48 hours
• Initial Assessment: Within 7 days
• Resolution Timeline: Depends on severity
  • Critical: 24-72 hours
  • High: 7 days
  • Medium: 30 days
  • Low: 90 days

• We follow responsible disclosure practices
• We will coordinate with you on disclosure timing
• Credit will be given to reporters (unless anonymity is requested)
• We may request CVE assignment for significant vulnerabilities

If you're running the Crawl4AI Docker API in production:

1. Enable Authentication

   # config.yml
   security:
     enabled: true
     jwt_enabled: true

   # Set a strong secret key
   export SECRET_KEY="your-secure-random-key-here"

2. Hooks are Disabled by Default (v0.8.0+)

   • Only enable if you trust all API users
   • Set CRAWL4AI_HOOKS_ENABLED=true only when necessary

3. Network Security

   • Run behind a reverse proxy (nginx, traefik)
   • Use HTTPS in production
   • Restrict access to trusted IPs if possible

4. Container Security

   • Run as non-root user (default in our container)
   • Use read-only filesystem where possible
   • Limit container resources

When using Crawl4AI as a Python library:

1. Validate URLs before crawling untrusted input
2. Sanitize extracted content before using in other systems
3. Be cautious with hooks - they execute arbitrary code

See Security Advisory for details.

• Deserialization Allowlist: Only known-safe types can be instantiated via API config
• Safe Expression Evaluation: Computed fields use AST validation (no __import__, no dunder access)

• URL Scheme Validation: Blocks file://, javascript:, data: URLs on API
• Hooks Disabled by Default: Opt-in via CRAWL4AI_HOOKS_ENABLED=true
• Restricted Hook Builtins: No __import__, eval, exec, open
• JWT Authentication: Optional but recommended for production
• Rate Limiting: Configurable request limits
• Security Headers: X-Frame-Options, CSP, HSTS when enabled

We thank the following security researchers for responsibly disclosing vulnerabilities:

• Alec M — RCE via deserialization in /crawl endpoint (January 2026)
• Neo by ProjectDiscovery — RCE and LFI vulnerabilities (December 2025)

Last updated: February 2026