Umbraco vs WordPress Security: Which CMS Is Right for Your Company?
If you’re auditing your organisation’s digital security setup, you might look at firewalls, encryption, and user authentication. But few consider their choice of Content Management System (CMS). Yet this is the foundation for all sites and is just as critical in supporting your cybersecurity needs.
Data breaches cost companies in the UK £3.58m in 2024 – up 5% from 2023. Having a secure, reliable CMS platform is more important than ever. But it's not just enough for your CMS to be secure in theory; it has to be secure in practice.
Two popular CMSs for businesses are WordPress and Umbraco. We’re going to look at them from a security perspective to help you decide which one is best for your business security needs.
Umbraco and WordPress Might Look Similar – But They’re Not
Umbraco and WordPress are each popular for different reasons, both offering open-source flexibility and strong online communities to help with support and troubleshooting.
But their security risk profiles differ significantly.
Understanding these differences is important for all businesses looking to balance cost with long-term protection.
For companies that need to adhere to IT audits and compliance reviews, the difference matters.
Umbraco vs WordPress Security – Technical Comparison
| Security Category | Umbraco (v11+) | WordPress (6.x+) |
| Authentication & Identity | Uses ASP.NET Identity Supports OAuth, OpenID Connect, Azure AD |
Native login system Supports plugins for OAuth, SAML, 2FA |
| Role-Based Access Control | Fine-grained RBAC via Umbraco Backoffice permissions | Basic user roles (Admin, Editor, Author, etc.) |
| Built-in 2FA Support | Not native (reliant on third-party or custom via Identity middleware) | Not native (plugin-based e.g., Wordfence, Google Authenticator) |
| Default Security Posture | Secure by design (limited attack surface, fewer default endpoints) | Large default footprint; publicly known endpoints |
| Plugin Architecture | .NET Packages Strict control via NuGet Typically dev-installed |
PHP Plugins Thousands in repo Many auto-installed or outdated |
| Code Execution Risk | Low – compiled code, no file write by default in production | High – plugin/theme vulnerabilities often lead to RCE |
| CMS Core Updates | Managed via NuGet and .NET update pipeline | Core auto-updates possible, but often disabled on enterprise sites |
| Plugin/Extension Vetting | Umbraco Marketplace – vetted by Umbraco first, then official add ons, 3rd party tools, and community built extras then become available on marketplace (https://umbraco.com/products/add-ons/) | Community-vetted repo, but quality and maintenance vary widely |
| Common Vulnerabilities | Very low CVE count; mostly related to outdated .NET dependencies | Frequent CVEs; high-profile XSS, SQLi, and privilege escalation |
| Attack Surface (Default Install) | Minimal: clean URLs, no open APIs unless configured | Exposes /wp-login.php, /xmlrpc.php, REST API, etc. |
| Security Headers | Easy implementation via middleware (AddSecurityHeaders) | Requires plugins or .htaccess changes |
| File Permissions | Strict (Windows ACLs or Linux file system via .NET hosting) | Often misconfigured – wp-content writable by default |
| Hosting Influence | Typically hosted in secure IIS/Azure/Linux containers | Shared hosting common; misconfigs more frequent |
| Enterprise Controls | Full control over build pipeline, CI/CD, and container security | Often tightly coupled to plugin ecosystem; CI/CD is possible but uncommon |
WordPress: Popular, but a Bigger Target
WordPress is the most widely used CMS globally, powering over 40% of websites. This popularity brings advantages: a huge ecosystem, active community, and extensive plugin library.
It also makes it a frequent target for cyberattacks, adding a level of risk that organisations can’t afford to overlook.
This is because WordPress is built around third-party plugins and themes. While these bring flexibility and fast development times, they can also create vulnerabilities in the CMS’s cybersecurity set-up.
Recent reports show that over 90% of WordPress vulnerabilities stem from plugins not from the core software. This is because not every plugin developer follows the same strict cybersecurity rules as they should to meet industry security standards.
This way of working places the burden of security on site owners or website managers. Keeping your WordPress site secure requires:
- Regular patching/updating of both core and plugins
- Careful vetting of third-party tools to make sure their security credentials are equal to yours
- Ongoing monitoring for vulnerabilities and compatibility issues
Without this sort of regular maintenance or constant checks, some WordPress sites can become vulnerable – particularly through outdated installations, plugin conflicts, and insecure shared hosting environments.
For smaller sites or teams with limited technical oversight, staying ahead of these risks can be a constant worry. For larger, regulated organisations, the sheer volume of variables involved in securing a WordPress CMS can complicate compliance and governance efforts – often costly to keep the platform secured.
Umbraco: A Secure Foundation Built for Control
Unlike platforms that often prioritise access to plug-ins for quick setup over long-term structure, Umbraco delivers balance between developer-led architecture and the type of flexibility that content teams need.
Built on the Microsoft .NET ecosystem, Umbraco provides a structured, secure foundation for managing access, deployment, and custom functionality, without sacrificing usability for editors and admins.
This can result in a secure-by-default foundation, where best practices are implemented from the start rather than retrofitted through plugins or manual configuration.
Key strengths include:
- A robust .NET framework, trusted across enterprise and public sector environments.
- Granular permission controls that support strong governance models.
- Minimal reliance on third-party packages, reducing the risk of unknown vulnerabilities.
- A clear patching strategy, with optional commercial support for long-term stability.
Open-source Umbraco does not mandate changes and provides no forced updates. This provides a better level of change control and mitigates risks to live sites. When a plug-in changes in WordPress, and a live site is using it, it impacts the site. If not managed correctly, these updates can break components on your site. With Umbraco all changes are managed by you, allowing you to update it when you want.
Umbraco, therefore, is a natural fit for organisations that prioritise keeping their customers secure and particularly those operating in sectors like finance, healthcare, and public services, where platform security isn’t optional and risk management must be built in from day one.
The Bigger Picture: What Secure Organisations Need
Effective security isn’t solved by just the choice of CMS alone – it requires a holistic approach that combines architecture, hosting, governance, and ongoing maintenance.
All organisations are subject to GDPR and for others managing sensitive data or subject to regulations like ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus, key needs include:
- Role-based access control to enforce least privilege and support compliance.
- Secure, automated deployment pipelines (CI/CD) to reduce errors and ensure consistency.
- Regular patching and updates to minimise vulnerabilities.
- Confidence in the platform’s roadmap and support for ongoing security maintenance.
Umbraco addresses these needs out of the box, providing a robust, enterprise-grade foundation.
In contrast, other platforms like WordPress rely on plugins and themes, which can add performance bloat, inefficiencies and increased security risks.
WordPress vs Umbraco: Choosing a CMS That Matches Your Risk Appetite
While WordPress can appear to be a low-cost suitable solution for lower-risk scenarios such as blogs, small business websites, or marketing microsites, you should consider the long-term costs of keeping your site secured from online threats. With the rise in online attacks where customer data is often compromised all organisations should consider their risk exposure carefully.
Building your site on a secured and protected CMS platform can:
- Make it easier to manage complex multi-site architectures securely
- Secure sensitive and regulated information to industry best practices and to meet Cyber Essentials Plus requirements
- Allow the site to be architected and hosted within secure Azure cloud environments
- Provide advanced identity and access management e.g. Multi-Factor Authentication
- Enable the planning for growth to allow for scale, performance and ongoing protection
Umbraco provides a secure and future-ready foundation built for businesses of all sizes to provide comprehensive tools, features, capabilities whilst delivering firmly on security and regulation needs.
Why I-Finity?
At I-Finity, we’ve helped organisations across finance, education, healthcare, public sector and beyond to design, build, and maintain secure, resilient Umbraco platforms that uphold security standards.
Explore real-world case studies here.
We bring a consultancy mindset to help you:
- Assess your existing CMS risk profile
- Plan secure website migrations or upgrades
- Benefit from Azure Cloud Hosting and all the built-in security features it has to offer
- Stay compliant, secure and protected for the long term If you’re questioning whether WordPress is secure enough, you’re already asking the right question. Let’s talk about what a secure CMS looks like.
