Web Application Penetration Testing

3.

The Penetration Testing Methodology

3.1.

Pre-Engagement Activities

3.1.1.

Scoping and Objective Setting

3.1.1.1.

Defining Test Objectives

3.1.1.2.

Identifying Stakeholders

3.1.1.3.

Success Criteria Definition

3.1.2.

Legal Agreements

3.1.2.1.

Contractual Obligations

3.1.2.2.

Liability and Insurance

3.1.2.3.

Indemnification Clauses

3.1.3.

Resource Planning

3.1.3.1.

Team Roles and Responsibilities

3.1.3.2.

Timeline and Scheduling

3.1.3.3.

Budget Considerations

3.1.4.

Risk Assessment

3.1.4.1.

Potential Impact Analysis

3.1.4.2.

Risk Mitigation Strategies

3.2.

Information Gathering and Reconnaissance

3.2.1.

Passive Reconnaissance

3.2.1.1.

Open Source Intelligence

3.2.1.2.

Gathering Publicly Available Information

3.2.1.3.

Social Engineering Preparation

3.2.2.

Active Reconnaissance

3.2.2.1.

Direct Interaction with Target

3.2.2.2.

Network Scanning

3.2.2.3.

Service Enumeration

3.2.3.

Target Profiling

3.2.3.1.

Technology Stack Identification

3.2.3.2.

Business Process Understanding

3.3.

Threat Modeling and Vulnerability Analysis

3.3.1.

Attack Surface Mapping

3.3.1.1.

Identifying Entry Points

3.3.1.2.

Enumerating Application Components

3.3.1.3.

Data Flow Analysis

3.3.2.

Vulnerability Identification

3.3.2.1.

Automated Scanning

3.3.2.2.

3.3.2.3.

3.3.3.

Threat Prioritization

3.3.3.1.

Risk Rating Systems

3.3.3.2.

Business Impact Assessment

3.4.

Exploitation Phase

3.4.1.

Vulnerability Exploitation

3.4.1.1.

Proof of Concept Development

3.4.1.2.

Exploit Chaining

3.4.1.3.

Bypassing Security Controls

3.4.2.

Impact Demonstration

3.4.2.1.

Data Access Verification

3.4.2.2.

System Compromise Evidence

3.4.2.3.

Business Process Disruption

3.5.

Post-Exploitation Activities

3.5.1.

Privilege Escalation

3.5.1.1.

Horizontal Privilege Escalation

3.5.1.2.

Vertical Privilege Escalation

3.5.1.3.

Exploiting Misconfigurations

3.5.2.

Lateral Movement

3.5.2.1.

Network Pivoting

3.5.2.2.

Credential Harvesting

3.5.2.3.

Additional System Access

3.5.3.

Persistence Mechanisms

3.5.3.1.

Backdoor Installation

3.5.3.2.

Scheduled Tasks

3.5.3.3.

Registry Modifications

3.5.4.

Data Exfiltration

3.5.4.1.

Sensitive Data Identification

3.5.4.2.

Exfiltration Techniques

3.5.4.3.

Covert Channels

3.6.

Reporting and Communication

3.6.1.

Evidence Documentation

3.6.1.1.

Screenshot Collection

3.6.1.2.

Log File Analysis

3.6.1.3.

Reproducibility Steps

3.6.2.

Report Structure

3.6.2.1.

Executive Summary

3.6.2.2.

Technical Findings

3.6.2.3.

Remediation Recommendations

3.6.3.

Stakeholder Communication

3.6.3.1.

Technical Team Briefings

3.6.3.2.

Management Presentations

3.6.3.3.

Remediation Planning

3.7.

Post-Assessment Activities

3.7.1.

Remediation Verification

3.7.1.1.

3.7.1.2.

Regression Testing

3.7.1.3.

Security Control Effectiveness

3.7.2.

Knowledge Transfer

3.7.2.1.

Security Awareness Training

3.7.2.2.

Best Practices Documentation

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4. Setting Up a Testing Environment