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Web App Penetration Testing Cheat Sheet

From theLAB Wiki — last edited Jun 25, 2026

Penetration Testing. Vulnerability Assessment. Security Auditing.

Complete reference guide for web application penetration testing. From enumeration and fingerprinting to injection testing and vulnerability discovery. Essential tools and techniques for ethical security assessment.

🎯 Web Application Security Testing

Comprehensive toolkit for identifying vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and security weaknesses in web applications through systematic enumeration and targeted exploitation techniques.

15+

Tools

8

Categories

Expert

Level

  • Authorization Required: Only test applications you own or have explicit written permission to assess
  • Scope Boundaries: Stay within defined testing scope and avoid impacting production systems
  • Data Protection: Never access, modify, or exfiltrate sensitive data during testing
  • Responsible Disclosure: Report findings through proper channels and allow time for remediation
  • Documentation: Maintain detailed logs of all testing activities for compliance and reporting

🔄 Testing Methodology

Follow this systematic approach for comprehensive web application security assessment:

Reconnaissance & Enumeration (whatweb, feroxbuster)

Directory & File Discovery (feroxbuster, dirb)

Vulnerability Scanning (nikto, wapiti, nmap NSE)

Authentication Testing (hydra, cewl)

Injection Testing (sqlmap, XSStrike)

Configuration Analysis (davtest, SSL testing)

Web App Enumeration

Fingerprint technologies, frameworks, and plugins

whatweb

Fingerprint frameworks & plugins

whatweb http://192.168.1.XX/
Identifies web technologies, CMS, frameworks, JavaScript libraries, and server information
💡 Pro Tips:
• Use -v for verbose output
• Try --aggression 3 for more thorough detection
• Use --log-brief for clean output

wapiti

Automated web vulnerability scanner

wapiti -u http://192.168.1.XX/ -f txt -o wapiti_report.txt
Similar to Nikto but broader coverage - scans for XSS, SQL injection, file disclosure, etc.
💡 Advanced Options:
• -m "all,-backup" - exclude backup file detection
• --scope domain - limit to specific domain
• -v 2 - increase verbosity

Authentication / Login Tests

Brute force attacks and credential testing

hydra

Brute-force login forms

hydra -l admin -P /usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt 192.168.1.XX http-post-form "/login.php:username=^USER^&password=^PASS^:Invalid login"
Customize the form parameters and failure message based on the target application
💡 Common Variations:
• http-get for basic auth
• -L userlist.txt for multiple users
• -t 10 to control thread count
• -f to stop after first valid credential

cewl

Custom wordlist from target site

cewl http://192.168.1.XX/ -w webnode_words.txt
Creates targeted wordlists based on content found on the website
💡 Advanced Usage:
• -d 2 - spider depth
• -m 5 - minimum word length
• -e - include email addresses
• --lowercase - convert to lowercase

Injection Testing

SQL injection and XSS vulnerability detection

sqlmap

Automated SQL injection testing

sqlmap -u "http://192.168.1.XX/workflow/search.php?q=test" --batch
Requires real query parameters - look in /workflow, /survey, or other dynamic pages
💡 Advanced Options:
• --dbs - enumerate databases
• --tables -D database_name - enumerate tables
• --dump -T table_name -D database_name - dump data
• --risk 3 --level 5 - aggressive testing

XSStrike

Advanced XSS detection tool

xsstrike -u "http://192.168.1.XX/workflow/search.php?q=test"
Finds XSS payload spots with context-aware testing
💡 Usage Tips:
• --crawl - automatically crawl for parameters
• --blind - test for blind XSS
• --fuzzer - use built-in fuzzer
• Test forms with --data "param=value"

File & Directory Discovery

Enumerate hidden files, directories, and endpoints

feroxbuster

Fast, recursive directory brute-forcer

feroxbuster -u http://192.168.1.XX/ -w /usr/share/wordlists/dirbuster/directory-list-2.3-medium.txt -o ferox.txt
Faster than Gobuster with recursive scanning capabilities
💡 Useful Flags:
• -x php,html,txt - specify extensions
• -t 50 - increase threads
• -d 2 - recursion depth
• --filter-status 404 - filter responses

Config & Server Checks

Server configuration and security analysis

nikto

Web server vulnerability scanner

nikto -h http://192.168.1.XX -Plugins apache,cookies,headers,vuln
Enhanced Nikto scan with specific plugins for detailed analysis
💡 Plugin Options:
• -Plugins auth - authentication bypasses
• -Plugins paths - interesting paths
• -o report.txt - save output
• -Format txt - specify output format

davtest

WebDAV vulnerability testing

davtest -url http://192.168.1.XX/
Checks if WebDAV is enabled and tests file upload vulnerabilities
💡 Advanced Testing:
• -directory /webdav - specify WebDAV path
• -sendbd auto - auto detect file upload
• Look for PUT/MOVE/COPY methods in HTTP responses

Network / Protocol Testing

Network-level analysis and protocol testing

nmap NSE

HTTP-specific Nmap scripts

nmap -p80,443 --script=http-enum,http-vuln*,http-headers 192.168.1.XX
Enumerates paths, headers, and CVEs using Nmap's scripting engine
💡 Useful HTTP Scripts:
• http-methods - enumerate HTTP methods
• http-robots.txt - check robots.txt
• http-title - extract page titles
• http-backup-finder - find backup files

testssl.sh

Comprehensive SSL/TLS testing

testssl.sh https://192.168.1.XX
More detailed SSL analysis than sslscan - checks protocols, ciphers, vulnerabilities
💡 Specific Checks:
• -U - check for vulnerabilities only
• -p - check protocols only
• -S - check server defaults
• --htmlfile report.html - HTML output

Posture Auditing

System hardening and configuration assessment

lynis

System security auditing

sudo lynis audit system
Run on the target system (if owned) for hardening advice and security misconfigurations
💡 Audit Options:
• --check-all - run all available tests
• --report-file /tmp/report.dat - custom report location
• --verbose - detailed output
• Review suggestions in /var/log/lynis-report.dat

Spidering & Advanced Scanning

Comprehensive application crawling and analysis

arachni

Advanced web application scanner

arachni http://192.168.1.XX/ --output-only-positives
More advanced scanner than basic tools - includes smart crawling and vulnerability detection
💡 Advanced Features:
• --scope-include-pattern - limit scope
• --report-save-path=/tmp/report - save report
• --checks=xss,sql_injection - specific checks
• --browser-cluster-pool-size=2 - performance tuning

📋 Example Target Formats

Single Host

192.168.1.XX

With Protocol

http://192.168.1.XX/

With Port

http://192.168.1.XX:8080/

Specific Path

http://192.168.1.XX/app/

© 2025 theLAB Wiki | Web App Penetration Testing Cheat Sheet | For authorized security testing only

Categories: Ethical Hacking