Re: Comparison report on web app security scanners

["Dean H. Saxe" <dean () fullfrontalnerdity com>]

I'm with Mark on this.

In the past I worked on a banking app that by design tracked user  
state through the application.  If you didn't follow the workflow,  
you didn't get access to a particular URL.  Are you saying that your  
scanner, and all others, will fail against this type of application?

I have to believe its more common than you think based on the web app  
pen testing I have done.

-dhs

Dean H. Saxe, CEH
dean () fullfrontalnerdity com
"Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak  
minds."
    --Einstein

Find out about my Hike for Discovery at www.fullfrontalnerdity.com/hfd


On May 16, 2006, at 1:47 PM, Mark Curphey wrote:

> Bullshit....
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bogdan Calin [mailto:bogdan () acunetix com]
> Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 10:10 AM
> 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  
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> 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
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> ----


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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
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