Web App Penetration Testing

The Penetration Testing Execution Standard (PTES) provides a complete methodology that covers the entire penetration testing lifecycle:

• Pre-engagement Interactions: Understanding the scope, objectives, and constraints of the test.
• Intelligence Gathering: Collecting detailed information about the application, its environment, and its underlying architecture.
• Threat Modeling: Identifying potential threats and prioritizing them based on risk.
• Vulnerability Analysis: Systematically identifying vulnerabilities using both automated tools and manual testing techniques.
• Exploitation: Attempting to exploit identified vulnerabilities to understand their potential impact.
• Post-Exploitation: Assessing the damage that could be done by a successful exploit, including potential lateral movement within the system.
• Reporting: Providing detailed documentation of findings, risks, and remediation strategies.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication 800-115 provides guidelines for conducting security testing and assessments:

• Planning: Defining the test plan, including objectives, rules of engagement, and scope.
• Discovery: Performing active and passive reconnaissance to discover vulnerabilities.
• Attack: Exploiting vulnerabilities to assess the security posture of the application.
• Reporting: Delivering a detailed report with findings and recommendations for mitigation.

The SANS Institute offers a well-established methodology focusing on real-world attack vectors:

• Reconnaissance: Collecting publicly available information about the target.
• Scanning: Identifying live systems, open ports, and services running on the target application.
• Enumeration: Gaining detailed information about the system’s resources and potential vulnerabilities.
• Vulnerability Assessment: Using both automated and manual methods to find vulnerabilities.
• Exploitation: Exploiting vulnerabilities to understand the impact on the system.
• Post-Exploitation: Determining the potential for further exploitation or data exfiltration.
• Reporting: Compiling the results into a comprehensive report with actionable insights.

Depending on the level of access and information provided, our testing can be classified into:

• Black Box Testing: Testing the application from an external perspective, without any prior knowledge of the internal workings. This simulates an attack by a real-world hacker.
• White Box Testing: Conducting tests with full access to the internal workings of the application, including source code. This allows for a more thorough examination of potential vulnerabilities.
• Gray Box Testing: Combining elements of both Black Box and White Box testing to simulate an attack with some insider knowledge.