The well-known darknet marketplace DrugHub is on the brink of collapse due to numerous technical flaws and misconfigurations, many of which seem to date back to its initial development. One of the lesser concerns is the presence of metadata in uploaded images, revealing that they were created using outdated software—Adobe Illustrator 24.0, which has been obsolete since 2019. This raises questions about the overall security standards of the platform.
A more alarming issue is DrugHub’s use of Base64 encoding for storing and displaying multimedia files. This method inflates file sizes by about 30%, raising doubts about both the efficiency of the platform and the competence of its developers. Another critical vulnerability lies in the Jabber server configuration, which publicly documents port 5222. Cybersecurity researchers warn that this could allow unauthorized actors to intercept user data if they gain access to the server. The risk of data leaks is further amplified by DrugHub’s decision to maintain mirrors not only in the Tor network but also on the clearnet, making it more vulnerable to tracking and takedown efforts.
Infrastructure-wise, DrugHub’s servers are hosted in Dubai, while its domains (.su and .link) rely on different SSL certificates—one issued by Google Trust and the other by Cloudflare. However, both domains are linked to the same IP address, an oversight that significantly compromises the site's security posture. The choice of hosting location adds another layer of risk: the UAE has an extradition treaty with the United States, meaning that if DrugHub comes under investigation, law enforcement agencies could gain access to its servers and user data.
Cybersecurity analysts suggest that the marketplace may already be under the watchful eye of law enforcement. Given the combination of weak security measures, suspicious hosting choices, and known vulnerabilities, it is possible that the entire platform is being monitored—or even actively controlled—by authori
ties.