Running Magento 1 in 2026: The Honest Security Position

By Glenn Lyvers · Updated September 21, 2026 · 4 min read

Magento 1 reached end of life in June 2020 and stopped receiving official security updates. Plenty of stores are still running it, usually because migration is expensive and the store still works. I am not going to lecture you about that. But you should understand precisely what position you are in, because it is not the same as being on an old-but-supported version.

What end of life actually means

No more official security patches. When a vulnerability is found in Magento 1 today, there is no vendor fix coming, ever. That is categorically different from being a few versions behind on supported software, where the fix exists and you simply have not applied it yet.

It also means the known vulnerabilities accumulate permanently. Every flaw discovered since 2020 is still exploitable on an unmodified Magento 1 store, and the list only grows. Automated scanning finds these stores continuously, because an unsupported platform with a known exploit list and a checkout page is close to an ideal target.

Why these stores get hit so consistently

Magento 1 stores are the single most reliably profitable target in e-commerce for card skimming. They process payments, they run software with a fixed and public list of unpatched flaws, and they are frequently maintained by nobody. Mass campaigns have worked through this population systematically for years.

If you are running Magento 1 and have not been compromised, that is a matter of timing rather than a sign that your setup is fine. It is also worth knowing that many of these compromises are discovered months later, by a payment processor noticing a fraud pattern, rather than by the merchant.

The third-party patch situation

Community and commercial efforts exist to backport security fixes to Magento 1, and some are maintained seriously. If you are staying on the platform for now, applying those is substantially better than doing nothing, and it closes the specific flaws that mass campaigns exploit.

Be clear-eyed about the limits, though. Third-party patches are reactive, coverage varies, and nobody is auditing Magento 1 for new vulnerabilities the way a vendor would. It is a way of reducing exposure while you plan a migration, not a substitute for being on supported software.

What else actually helps

Reduce your PCI scope by moving card entry off pages you control, using a hosted payment page or properly isolated fields so a compromise of your store cannot read card details. That single change removes the most valuable prize from the target, and after a skimmer incident it looks very different than it did before.

Then: a web application firewall in front of the store, two-factor authentication and IP restrictions on the admin, a non-default admin path, removal of every extension you do not use, and file integrity monitoring so an injected change is noticed in days rather than months. None of these fix the platform; all of them raise the cost of attacking it.

Checking whether you are already compromised

Do this before planning anything else, because a fair number of Magento 1 stores are already carrying a skimmer. Load your checkout as a customer with developer tools open, account for every script, and watch the network panel while typing test card data.

Then check the database content system for injected script blocks, review admin accounts and API tokens, and look at recently modified files. My guides on Magento card skimmers and a compromised Magento admin cover both checks in detail.

The realistic options

Migrating to Adobe Commerce or Magento Open Source is the intended path and the most expensive. Moving to a different platform entirely is worth considering honestly, since the cost of migration is already sunk into whichever destination you pick and a hosted platform removes this whole class of problem permanently.

Staying put with third-party patches, reduced payment scope and hardening is a legitimate interim position provided you treat it as interim. What I would not do is stay put and do nothing, because the outcome of that is not uncertain — it is just not scheduled yet. If you want the store checked properly before you decide, that is work I take on: see the platforms I clean.

Common questions

Is Magento 1 still safe to use?

It receives no official security patches, so known vulnerabilities stay exploitable permanently and the list grows over time. It can be run with reduced risk using third-party patches, reduced payment scope and hardening, but it is not in the same category as supported software and should be treated as an interim position.

Do third-party security patches work?

The maintained ones close specific known flaws and are substantially better than nothing, particularly against the mass campaigns that exploit well-known vulnerabilities. They are reactive by nature and nobody is auditing the platform for new issues, so they reduce exposure rather than eliminating it.

How do I know if my Magento 1 store has already been compromised?

Check the checkout as a customer with developer tools open, watching the network panel as you type test card data. Then search the CMS content and configuration for script tags, review admin accounts and API tokens, and look at recently modified files. Many of these compromises run undetected for months.

What is the single most useful thing I can do without migrating?

Move card entry off pages you control, using a hosted payment page or isolated payment fields. That removes the most valuable target from your store, so even a successful compromise cannot read card details, and it reduces your PCI compliance scope at the same time.

Should I migrate to Magento 2 or something else entirely?

Worth considering both honestly. The migration cost is largely sunk whichever destination you choose, so the question is which platform you want to be maintaining for the next decade. A hosted platform removes this class of problem permanently, at the cost of less control.