Burp Suite DAST Overview: How Burp Suite Operates

Burp Suite DAST (Dynamic Application Security Testing) finds security vulnerabilities in web applications. It simulates attacks on the application to identify weak spots that actual attackers could exploit.

In this blog, you will learn about the Burp Suite for DAST, is the Burp Suite SAST or DAST?, how the Burp Suite operates, the key features of Burp Suite DAST, its dashboard, functionalities, and alternatives to Burp Suite DAST.

Let’s get started

Overview of Burp Suite DAST

Burp Suite DAST, which forms an integral part of the comprehensive suite of tools provided by Burp Suite, stands as a notable solution in the field of dynamic application security testing (DAST). This tool was specifically designed to identify and address vulnerabilities present in web applications.

This tool effectively evaluates the security posture of applications by dynamically analyzing their behavior during runtime. Its robust features and capabilities make it a preferred choice for security professionals across the globe.

Burp Suite has several parts, each designed for different aspects of web application safety testing:

• Spider: Looks through websites to understand the application's structure.

• Scanner: Uses automatic scans to find security risks based on the application's behavior.

• Repeater: Sends custom requests to test specific functions.

• Sequencer: Checks how easy it is to guess things like session IDs.

• Intruder: Launches brute-force attacks against web applications.

• Decoder: Decodes encoded data found in web applications.

• Comparer: Compares different versions of web pages to find changes.

• Proxy: Changes HTTP(S) traffic between the client and server.

Is Burp Suite SAST or DAST?

Burp Suite primarily serves as a Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) tool, not a Static Application Security Testing (SAST) tool. To understand why, it's important to know the difference between SAST and DAST.

Analysts conduct Static Application Security Testing (SAST) by examining the source code, binaries, or bytecode of an application without executing it. This approach allows SAST to be conducted early in the development process, focusing on identifying vulnerabilities within the application's code. The primary goal of SAST is to detect coding errors, insecure coding practices, and potential security flaws by scanning the codebase.

On the other hand, Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) assesses the security of an application while it is running, simulating attacks to identify vulnerabilities that manifest during execution. Testers usually perform this testing method after deploying the application or running it in a test environment.

DAST focuses on detecting vulnerabilities within the application's runtime environment, such as misconfigurations, insecure communications, and functional flaws that are evident only when the application is operational.

How Does Burp Suite Operate

Burp Suite acts as an intermediary between your browser and the web application server you are testing. It captures and modifies HTTP(S) traffic, providing a sandbox environment for security testers to manipulate and experiment with the application's behavior under various circumstances. This engaging exploration and trial allows an in-depth examination of the application's security protocols.

It helps find possible weak points, like those that could be used in SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks. These weaknesses might not be seen during regular tests, but with tools like Burp Suite, they can be found and fixed quickly, making the app's security stronger.

Key Features of Burp Suite DAST

Burp Suite DAST provides tools to enhance the security of web applications. These tools employ both automatic and manual testing methods. Here are the main features:

Automated DAST

1. Crawling and Mapping: Automatically visits and logs each web application page to create a detailed map. This is essential for understanding the application's structure and identifying potential vulnerabilities.

2. Vulnerability Scanning: Utilizes various techniques, including fuzzing and checking for insecure handling of user credentials, to detect a wide range of security issues. This comprehensive scanning ensures a thorough assessment of application security.

3. Integration with Development Tools: Designed for seamless integration with development environments, supporting continuous scanning throughout the development lifecycle. This allows for the early detection and resolution of vulnerabilities.

4. Scalability: Provides excellent growth capability, ideal for organizations handling many web applications or using DevSecOps methods. This flexibility ensures good security management, no matter the size or complexity of the application.

Manual DAST

1. Intercepting Proxy: A helpful tool in manual security testing. It lets testers see and change HTTP(S) traffic between the browser and the targeted web application. This way, testers can identify potential threats or vulnerabilities in real-time.

2. Exploration of Vulnerabilities: Allows testers to discover security weaknesses by changing responses sent to servers. This can reveal vital information that automated tools might overlook. It's an effective way to simulate potential attacks and evaluate the server's response.

Augmentation with Other Testing Methods

1. Interactive Application Security Testing (IAST): Improves automatic scans by using interactive testing methods. This allows for more effective identification and resolution of security vulnerabilities in real-time.

2. Out-of-Band Application Security Testing (OAST): Overcomes DAST limitations by tackling hidden and non-simultaneous vulnerabilities that DAST might not detect. This enriches the security testing process by catching threats that traditional methods might miss.

Adaptability and Compatibility

1. Language-Agnostic: Unlike Static Application Security Testing (SAST), DAST does not rely on analyzing source code, making it adaptable to applications developed in various programming languages.

2. Extensions and Customization: The Burp Suite DAST tool provides robust customization via extensions. This allows users to tailor the tool to their specific needs, enhancing the functionality and performance of the scanner.

Reporting and Integration

1. Detailed Reports: The system can generate comprehensive, in-depth reports that detail all the identified vulnerabilities within your network or system. This key feature is designed to aid in the prioritization of potential risks and guide the necessary remediation efforts.

2. Integration with CI/CD Pipelines: One of the standout features of this system is its ability to seamlessly integrate into Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines. This enables the tool to perform automated scanning during the development process.

Cloud-Based and Hybrid Options

1. Cloud-Based Scanning: Our service provides a robust cloud-based scanning capability that emulates various forms of attacks from an external perspective. This design helps identify vulnerabilities that potential external threats could exploit.

2. Self-Hosted Scanning Machines: Our self-hosted scanning machines offer high reconfigurability. We understand that different teams and projects may have unique needs and requirements regarding security scanning. Our self-hosted scanning machines are designed to cater to these diverse needs.

Burp Suite Dashboard

The Burp Suite Dashboard serves as a pivotal component of Burp Suite, providing a centralized interface for managing, monitoring, and visualizing security testing activities. The dashboard streamlines the workflow for security professionals by providing real-time insights, control over scanning processes, and access to detailed vulnerability data.

Key Features of the Burp Suite Dashboard

The Burp Suite Dashboard offers a comprehensive set of features designed to streamline the security testing process and provide real-time insights into application vulnerabilities.

1. Real-Time Monitoring and Status Overview

The dashboard presents a real-time overview of ongoing security testing activities, displaying the status of scans, tasks, and identified vulnerabilities. Users can easily monitor progress, view the number of issues detected, and track the scanning stages, such as crawling and auditing. This live status update ensures that security professionals can promptly address any issues or interruptions in the scanning process.

2. Centralized Vulnerability Management

Burp Suite Dashboard consolidates all identified vulnerabilities into a single, accessible view. This centralization allows users to assess the security posture of their web applications quickly, prioritize vulnerabilities based on severity, and navigate through detailed findings.

3. Customizable and Interactive Widgets

The dashboard features customizable widgets that can be tailored to display the most relevant information for the user’s specific needs. These interactive widgets provide insights into various aspects of security testing, such as vulnerability trends, scan performance, and issue resolution status.

4. Detailed Scan Reports and Insights

Users can access comprehensive scan reports directly from the dashboard. These reports summarize vulnerabilities, provide detailed descriptions, identify affected components, and suggest fixes. The dashboard’s reporting capabilities allow for easy export of data in various formats (e.g., HTML, PDF) for sharing with development teams and stakeholders or for compliance documentation.

Burp Suite DAST Functionalities

It provides a range of features to help you find and exploit vulnerabilities in web applications. Here’s an overview of some common Burp Suite DAST functionalities:

1. Spidering (Crawling)

• Purpose: Automatically explores and maps out the structure of your web application.

• Command: Target > Site map > Right-click on target > Spider this host

• How It Works: The spider crawls the website by following links and submitting forms to gather a comprehensive list of URLs and parameters.

2. Active Scanning

• Purpose: Actively probes for vulnerabilities by sending crafted requests to the web application.

• Command: Scanner > Scan queue > Right-click on target > Actively scan this item

• How It Works: The scanner sends various payloads to detect vulnerabilities like SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and more.

3. Passive Scanning

• Purpose: Analyzes traffic passively to find vulnerabilities without interacting directly with the application.

• Command: Proxy > HTTP history

• How It Works: It monitors and analyzes requests and responses passing through the proxy, identifying issues based on known patterns.

4. Intruder

• Purpose: Performs automated customized attacks to exploit vulnerabilities.

• Command: Intruder > Positions > Add payload positions > Intruder > Start attack

• How It Works: The Intruder tool allows you to define positions in requests that will be replaced with payloads, which are then sent to the application to test for vulnerabilities.

5. Repeater

• Purpose: Manually modify and resend individual HTTP requests.

• Command: Repeater > Send

• How It Works: The Repeater lets you change a request and resend it multiple times to observe how the application responds, helping in manual testing and verifying vulnerabilities.

6. Sequencer

• Purpose: Analyze the randomness of tokens (e.g., session cookies) to determine their predictability.

• Command: Sequencer > Start live capture > Load requests

• How It Works: It captures a large number of tokens and analyzes their randomness to ensure they are secure and cannot be easily predicted.

7. Decoder

• Purpose: Encodes or decodes data in various formats.

• Command: Decoder > Paste data > Select encoding/decoding format

• How It Works: You can use the Decoder to transform data between different formats (e.g., URL encoding, Base64) to understand or manipulate it for testing purposes.

8. Comparer

• Purpose: Compares two pieces of data to identify differences.

• Command: Comparer > Paste items to compare

• How It Works: The Comparer highlights differences between two sets of data, useful for analyzing responses and detecting changes that indicate a vulnerability.

Alternatives of Burp Suite DAST

Let's explore some other tools that you can use instead of Burp Suite DAST for Dynamic Application Security Testing:

1. Akto

Akto is a proactive API security platform that excels in comprehensive API security testing. While Burp Suite DAST predominantly targets web applications, Akto focuses specifically on APIs, offering a robust testing library and supporting Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST). This specialization makes Akto a compelling alternative to Burp Suite DAST, particularly for organizations prioritizing the security of their API endpoints.

2. Acunetix

Acunetix is a strong alternative to Burp Suite DAST, offering a user-friendly interface and powerful automated scanning capabilities that streamline the security testing process. Acunetix excels with its ease of use and intuitive setup, making it accessible even to teams with limited security expertise. While Burp Suite requires a higher degree of manual intervention and configuration, Acunetix simplifies the process by providing comprehensive vulnerability assessments with minimal manual effort.

3. Astra Pentest

Astra Pentest differentiates itself from Burp Suite DAST with its focus on continuous vulnerability scanning and hacker emulation through its Pentest Platform. While Burp Suite often requires periodic scans and manual testing to identify security issues, Astra Pentest offers ongoing, automated scanning that mirrors real-world hacker behavior. This approach ensures continuous protection and up-to-date security insights, allowing for immediate identification and remediation of vulnerabilities.

4. Rapid7 DAST

Rapid7 DAST provides an enhanced alternative to Burp Suite DAST by delivering actionable insights and detailed remediation recommendations that simplify the vulnerability resolution process. Unlike Burp Suite, which primarily focuses on vulnerability detection without in-depth guidance on fixing issues, Rapid7 DAST offers contextual advice and step-by-step solutions for addressing identified vulnerabilities. This feature is particularly valuable for development teams that may lack deep security expertise, as it transforms complex security findings into practical remediation steps.

5. Tenable Web App Scanning

Tenable Web App Scanning surpasses Burp Suite DAST in managing risk and ensuring compliance for large, complex application portfolios. While Burp Suite offers powerful dynamic testing tools, Tenable’s solution provides additional capabilities for prioritizing vulnerabilities based on their risk impact and aligning security efforts with compliance requirements. This risk management focus is crucial for enterprises dealing with extensive web environments and stringent regulatory standards.

Final Thoughts

Burp Suite DAST is a versatile tool designed specifically for dynamic application security testing (DAST). It focuses on identifying vulnerabilities in web applications through simulated attacks during runtime. It offers comprehensive scanning capabilities and a range of tools such as spidering, scanning, and manual testing features to uncover security weaknesses such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS).

Alternatives such as Akto provide specialized functionalities that cater to specific security needs, particularly API security testing. Akto distinguishes itself with a strong emphasis on API security, offering a robust testing library and dynamic application security testing capabilities. For organizations prioritizing API-centric security strategies, Akto delivers actionable insights and comprehensive protection for APIs, ensuring resilience against evolving security threats.