Web Application Penetration Testing

Flow chart of the Web Application engagement, 6 phases in order, each one selectable. Phase 1, Scoping and Rules of Engagement. We agree the targets, test accounts, roles and any off-limits actions, then set testing windows and contacts so nothing takes your team by surprise. Activities: Confirm target URLs and environments; Provision test accounts for each role; Agree off-limits actions and data; Set testing windows and escalation contacts. Hands over Signed Rules of Engagement. Phase 2, Reconnaissance and Mapping. We map every page, endpoint, parameter and role, and fingerprint the stack so we know the surface before we start pushing on it. Activities: Spider the app across every role; Enumerate endpoints and parameters; Fingerprint the stack and third-party components; Map roles to the features they reach. Hands over Attack Surface Map. Phase 3, Vulnerability Discovery. We combine manual review with tooling to surface injection, access-control, session and configuration issues across the app. Activities: Test input handling for injection flaws; Probe authentication and session management; Check access control across roles and objects; Review configuration and security headers. Hands over Candidate Finding List. Phase 4, Manual Exploitation. We prove each finding by exploiting it in a controlled way, confirming impact and ruling out false positives. Activities: Build a working exploit per finding; Confirm impact in a controlled way; Discard false positives; Capture proof-of-concept evidence. Hands over Proven Findings with Evidence. Phase 5, Post-Exploitation and Impact. We show how far a flaw reaches: what data it exposes, which accounts it touches and how issues chain into a bigger compromise. Activities: Chain findings into a larger compromise; Map exposed data and reachable accounts; Assess business impact of each chain; Rank issues by real-world risk. Hands over Impact and Risk Assessment. Phase 6, Reporting and Verified Retest. You get a clear report with proof of concept and fixes, and once you remediate we retest to confirm each issue is closed. Activities: Write findings, impact and remediation; Produce an executive summary; Walk your team through the results; Retest fixes and confirm closure. Hands over Final Report and Verified Retest. Each phase begins from the artefact the phase before it produced.