Creating a web application scan (full configuration)

Provide the starting URL and user credentials for the scan, select the type of site, and (if not previously done) verify your permission to scan the site.

Before you begin

Procedure

  1. On the specific Application page, click Create scan, then click Create scan under DAST Dynamic Analysis to open the wizard.
  2. Click New scan.
    Click through the panels to indicate values or change settings as needed. In many cases, the default values are sufficient. When finished, click Scan.
  3. Targets: Starting URL and domains

    You must enter the starting URL for the scan.

    Setting

    Options

    Starting URL

    URL field
    For web applications, enter the URL where the scan should start. If you enter the URL in IPv6 format, enclose it with square brackets []. For example, [2001:0000:130F:0000:0000:09C0:876A:130B].
    Scan the demo site
    Click this link to fill in the URL of the AppScan demo site. This lets you run a scan without verifying a domain. In the Login tab, enter Username JSmith and Password Demo1234
    Note: Running a scan of the demo site is not counted towards your license limit as long as you use the full URL provided. If you remove the ?mode=demo switch, the scan is counted towards your limit.
    Include only links in and below this directory
    Select this check box to exclude any external, parallel, or sub-domains that may be discovered as links when scanning. When this check box is cleared, the scan can include domains other than that of the starting URL, and those domains must be verified. For more details, see Domain verification examples.

    Domains to be tested

    Lists all domains that will be included in the scan. The starting URL you enter is added here automatically. All domains must be verified unless your network is private and you're using a Presence.

    If your site includes domains other than that of the starting URL, and you want them scanned, click Add another domain to add them.

    A green check mark next to each domain indicates it has been verified. For domains that have not yet been verified, go to Organization > Domains > Verify a new domain.
    Note: The option to select Staging or Production environment was recently removed as it is no longer needed. For more information, see Why can I no longer specify the environment to be Staging or Production?.
  4. Targets: Private site scanning

    Public site scanning is the default. If your site is not available on the Internet, click Private network. Select your presence from the list of connected presences.

    If you have not yet created an an AppScan Presence you can do so now by clicking the Presences link, and referring to Creating the AppScan Presence.

  5. Targets: Exclude paths

    Exclude certain paths in the application from the scan. You can filter the scope of the automatic Explore stage by adding URLs (full paths, which may include queries) or Regular Expressions to the Excluded paths list. Possible reasons for doing this may be:

    • Because they are still under development and you know they are problematic and do not want to scan them right now
    • Because you know they are not problematic and you want to reduce scan time
    • To reduce scan time by restricting the scan to certain parts of the application

    You can also include certain paths to be scanned as an exception to the excluded path.

    Configuration showing one exclusion and one exception added

    Setting

    Options

    + Add path

    Displays options below the list to add a path as an exclusion or exception to the scan.

    Exclusion Listed paths are excluded from the scan. Any link that matches a path configured to be an exclusion is filtered out of the scan.
    • Path: Type a path or regular expression. If the path is a regular expression, select the RegEx toggle button.
    • Description (Optional): Add a description to be displayed in the Exclude Paths list.
    • Exclusion: Select the radio button to add an exclusion and click Add. The listed path and its subdirectories will be excluded from the scan, unless you define any exception.
    Exception Use to include a specific a directory or a file within a path that was excluded higher up in the list.
    • Path: Type a path or regular expression. If the path is a regular expression, select the RegEx toggle button.
    • Description (Optional): Add a description to be displayed in the Exclude Paths list.
    • Exception: Select the radio button to add an exception to a specific directory within a path that was excluded higher up in the list and click Add. The listed path will be included in the scan. Note that the Exception must be below the Exclusion to take effect.
    Note:
    • Use Exception only needed when you want to include a directory or a file that is within a path that you have excluded. For example, if you have excluded: https://demo.testfire.net/bank you could then add https://demo.testfire.net/bank/queryxpath.jsp as an Inclusion, lower down in the list, to include that subdirectory in scans.
    • If you add Exclusions between the Explore and Test stages of scanning, AppScan® will not test the excluded paths even though they were explored.
    • Where there is a conflict between two items in the list, the lower item takes priority. Click and drag the item in the list to move them up or down and adjust the order of items as required.
  6. Authentication and connectivity: Login management

    By default, login is not required. Leave this selection as is if no login/authorization is required.

    Setting

    Options

    Login

    Login required: Username and Password
    Select if ASoC is able to log in as needed using credentials but with no special procedure. You can also enter a third credential (optional). For example: PIN# = 1234. However, the use of a third credential requires intervention by the ASoC Support team, and the scan may take longer.
    Note: CAPTCHA is not supported.
    Tip: ASoC recommends use of test credentials rather than the credentials of an actual user.
    Login Required: Recorded login
    If a special login procedure is needed, select this option to upload a recording of the procedure that ASoC must use whenever it logs in to the applications during the scan. You can record using the AppScan Activity Recorder (saved as a CONFIG file) or AppScan Standard (exported as a LOGIN file).
    Important: The recorded login sequence must contain the following requests:
    • Login/authorization request
    • An additional logged-in/authorized request. This "extra" request helps AppScan identify a successful authorization and maintain session when testing the application.

    For details about recording a CONFIG or LOGIN file see Recording traffic and Recording the login using AppScan Standard.

  7. Authentication and connectivity: HTTP authentication

    In addition to the login information, indicate whether the application requires HTTP authentication (Negotiate, NTLM, Kerberos, ADFS, Basic, or Digest). Enter the Username, Password, and Domain (optional) for ASoC to use during the scan.

  8. Authentication and connectivity: One-time password

    If your site requires a time-based one time password for users to log in (MFA), select this check box and complete the first four fields in the dialog.

    Setting

    Options

    Use TOTP

    • Secret key
    • OTP length (number of digits)
    • Hash algorithm used (select from drop-down)
    • Time step (in seconds)
    Note: TOTP is the only OTP supported in this wizard. For more OTP options you can configure a scan in AppScan Standard and upload to ASoC. When configuring a scan in AppScan Standard with OTP, you must use action-based login, not request-based login, see the AppScan Standard documentation for details.
    OTP HTTP parameters (optional)

    If you used "Login required: Recorded login" in the previous step, this last field is not usually required, as AppScan usually identifies the OTP headers itself, when validating the recorded login procedure at the start of the scan.

    If you used the Login required: Username and password, you must add the parameter here. If there is more than one, separate them with commas.

    Example of a possible OTP header: OTPvalue

    How do I identify the OTP HTTP-parameter?

  9. Authentication and connectivity: Communication

    Set the maximum number of requests that ASoC can send to the site simultaneously.

    Setting

    Options

    Number of threads

    Reduce the limit if your site does not allow this amount; if your site does not allow simultaneous threads at all, reduce the limit to 1.

    Server communication timeout

    Adjust automatically during the scan
    Allow ASoC to decide how long to wait for any particular response before timing out. This can significantly reduce scan time.
    Fixed
    Set the maximum time ASoC waits for a response before timing out. Increase this setting if your site's responses are slow and ASoC is missing responses due to the short timeout.

    Max request rate

    By default, ASoC sends its requests to the site as fast as possible. If this limit will overload your network or server, you can reduce it.

  10. Authentication and connectivity: Explore

    Define how ASoC explores the site during the scan.

    Setting

    Options

    Automatic form fill

    ASoC uses AppScan Standard's default form fill parameter values to fill and submit forms on the site.
    Important: If you are scanning a live production site, we recommended disable this function. For more details refer to What changes should I make when scanning a live production site?
    Note: If you turn off automatic form fill and scan in AppScan on Cloud, it will remove all the information filled in the forms except for the login management data. AppScan will not fill in the forms automatically during scanning. When you import this scan into AppScan Standard, automatic form fill is enabled, but the form filling data, except for login management, will be empty.

    Type

    Explore automatically
    AppScan crawls the web application automatically, from the starting URL, to discover the pages it will test.
    Explore with guidance
    Upload your own recorded Explore stage for AppScan to test. You can use this on its own or in addition to an automatic Explore stage.
    For details about the two Explore types, see About dynamic analysis (DAST)

    Explore with guidance

    This section is active only if you selected Explore with guidance.

    Upload recording

    Upload one or more DAST.CONFIG traffic files. For details of how to record these, see Recording traffic.

    File settings

    If the requests in your traffic file must be sent in the specific order you recorded them, activate Multistep. This method significantly increases the duration of the scan, so use only if needed. To understand the difference between Multistep and regular Explore with guidance, refer to Explore with guidance.

    To activate Multistep:
    • For each uploaded recording, click on the filename and toggle the Activate Multi-step option to On.
    How to use the recording
    Use the recorded Explore in addition to a full automatic Explore stage, and test it all
    ASoC runs its own automatic Explore stage to discover the application, and test it based on both these results and the traffic file you uploaded.
    Analyze and test the recorded Explore only
    ASoC treats the uploaded file as the Explore stage for the scan. It analyzes and creates tests for the recorded traffic only, and then tests it. There will be no automatic Explore stage.
  11. Tests: Test policy and optimization

    Define the collection of tests that will be sent to the application during testing (the test policy), and apply optimization for faster scans at times in the product lifecycle when speed is more important to you than scan depth.

    Setting

    Options

    Test policy

    Select one of the five predefined test policies based on the level of coverage required. The default is Default that includes all tests except invasive and port listener tests. For details, see Test policy.
    Tip: Test policy is different from application policy.

    Test optimization

    Select the level of tradeoff between scan speed and issue coverage for your needs. The slider offers four levels. The default is Fast. For details, see Test Optimization.

  12. Tests: Test options

    Choose whether to send tests on login and logout pages. If you choose to send tests on login pages, specify whether to send session identifiers.

    Setting

    Options

    Login/Logout tests Choose whether to send tests on login and logout pages. If you choose to send tests on login pages, specify whether to send session identifiers.
    Report vulnerable components AppScan finds vulnerabilities in third-party components and recommends updates.
  13. Preferences: Schedule

    Specify when the scan runs: now, later, or on a schedule.

    Setting

    Options

    Scan now

    Your scan runs as soon as set up and review are complete.

    Save for later

    Your configuration is saved when completed. You can run the scan later.

    Schedule
    Your configuration is saved, and one or more scans run as configured:
    1. Select a date and time. Enter these according to the time zone configured on your machine, but note that times will be converted to UTC when displayed in the user interface.
    2. To run the scan more than once, select the Repeat, and then choose:
      • Daily, and select a daily interval (1-30 days)
      • Weekly, and select which day, or
      • Monthly, select a monthly interval, and then select which numerical day of the month, or which weekday of the month (first, second, third, fourth, last).
      Note: If the maximum number of concurrent scans are running when the scheduled time arrives, the scan starts as soon as allowed by your subscription.
    3. Set the End date (the last date a scan will run), or click Remove end date to have the schedule run indefinitely.
  14. Preferences: scan options
    In the Scan options panel, you can:
    • Elect to run the scan as a Personal scan.
    • Elect to receive an email when the scan is complete.
    • Specify Scan enablement. By default, the Allow intervention check box is selected. This means that if ASoC detects that the scan may produce poor results with the current settings, it alerts the Scan Enablement Team to review them. The scan status changes to Under Review and resumes when review is complete (see Scan status).
      • If you do not want to allow intervention by the Scan Enablement Team, clear the check box.
      • If you allow intervention, you can include a message to the team if you think they might need specific information to resolve an issue. Optional.
  15. Summary

    Edit the name of the scan, if desired, and review the settings selected for the scan. Click back to previous panels to make adjustments if needed.

  16. Click Scan.

Results

The new scan is added to the Scans view with its starting time, and a progress bar indicates that the scan is running. When the scan is complete the progress bar closes, the results are summarized in a graph, and (if selected) you receive an email notification. See Results.
Note: Free Plan scans are limited to four hours in length, so large or complex sites may not be completely covered by these.