Re: Comparison report on web app security scanners

[Eoin <eoinkeary () gmail com>]

Hi,
I just did an assessment, prior to the kickoff I was handed a report
from a well known web application scannerthe client performed prior to
my manual testing.
Looking th the report it has "0% vulnerabilities"....hmm I thought to
myslef, this is going to be a hard gig.
By the act of the gods or some other divine intervention I found SQL
and XSS and Arithmitic overflow issues within the hour.

Now, either I'm also a divine being (I dont think so, last I looked)
or the "well known" and
expensive tools my client used are *crap*.

My 2 Euro worth,
Eoin




On 16/05/06, Ory Segal <osegal () watchfire com> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I would like to add several important comments to this thread, in behalf
> of Watchfire:
>
> According to tests done in Watchfire's labs, when using AppScan 6.0 SP2
> + update 553 on the WebGoat application - AppScan will find 85 links,
> will create 9557 tests and will eventually find 31 issues (211 different
> test variants).
>
> People who perform such benchmarks against WebGoat should pay attention
> to the fact that AppScan needs some configuration in order to run
> successfully on this application -
>
> - Explore method should be set to DFS (Depth First)
> - Scan should be done in Single threaded mode
> - Path limit should be disabled (no path limit)
> - Depth limit should be enabled (otherwise one of the lessons gets into
> an infinite loop)
> - HTTP Authentication - use guest/guest
> - Add the "Screen" parameter to the black-list (untested parameters)
> - Auto-form filler should be enabled
>
> (!!!) IMPORTANT: all of the above configuration items existed in AppScan
> for a long time, these were not added in order to "cook the product" to
> work properly on WebGoat.
>
> In addition I support what Acunetix mentioned, WebGoat and the
> FoundStone (Hackme) banking applications are poor examples to be testing
> on.
>
> I am also quoting Mark Curphey (OWASP), regarding OWASP's WebGoat
> project:
> "That said its (i.e. Foundstone's HackMe bank) not a good benchmarking
> tool for testing these tools, nor is WebGoat"  - taken from:
> http://seclists.org/lists/webappsec/2005/Oct-Dec/0025.html
>
> Thank you very much,
> -Ory Segal
> Watchfire
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bogdan Calin [mailto:bogdan () acunetix com]
> Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 17:10
> To: webappsec () securityfocus com
> Cc: Holger.Peine () iese fraunhofer de
> Subject: Re: Comparison report on web app security scanners
>
> Hello,
>
> A few days ago Dr. Holger Peine published a "Comparison report on web
> app security scanners".
>
> For this report he used two web applications: one of them is WebGoat and
> the other one is a proprietary application which is not public.
>
> I don't know anything about this proprietary application but I would
> like to say that WebGoat is not a good test case for evaluating web
> scanners.
>
> WebGoat is using server side state variables to track user actions. For
> example, if you want to test the String SQL injection flaw you first
> need to navigate to the "String SQL injection" section in order to set
> the proper state of the application.
>
> If the application is not in the proper state, the SQL injection test
> will not work. The application will just ignore your inputs.
>
> An automated scanner cannot guess this application behavior, and unless
> you optimize your scanner for this particular application it will not be
> able to scan it properly.
>
> When the scanner has finished discovering the site structure, WebGoat
> will be in some unknown state. All tests will be performed while WebGoat
> is in this state.
>
> This is not a common implementation.
>
> Because we are offering free audits, we have audited more than 1,000
> websites and didn't encountered this kind of implementation.
>
> WebGoat is great for learning about web security flaws but I don't think
> it should be used as a test case for web security scanners.
>
> Bogdan Calin
> Acunetix Ltd. - www.acunetix.com
> Acunetix Web Vulnerability Scanner
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -
> Sponsored by: Watchfire
>
> Watchfire named worldwide market share leader in web application
> security assessment by leading market research firm. Watchfire's AppScan
> is the industry's first and leading web application security testing
> suite, and the only solution to provide comprehensive remediation tasks
> at every level of the application. See for yourself.
> Download a Free Trial of AppScan 6.0 today!
>
> https://www.watchfire.com/securearea/appscansix.aspx?id=701300000007t9c
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> --
>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Sponsored by: Watchfire
>
> Watchfire named worldwide market share leader in web application security
> assessment by leading market research firm. Watchfire's AppScan is the
> industry's first and leading web application security testing suite, and
> the only solution to provide comprehensive remediation tasks at every
> level of the application. See for yourself.
> Download a Free Trial of AppScan 6.0 today!
>
> https://www.watchfire.com/securearea/appscansix.aspx?id=701300000007t9c
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


--
Eoin Keary OWASP - Ireland
http://www.owasp.org/local/ireland.html

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Watchfire named worldwide market share leader in web application security
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industry's first and leading web application security testing suite, and
the only solution to provide comprehensive remediation tasks at every
level of the application. See for yourself.
Download a Free Trial of AppScan 6.0 today!

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