DAST Test Plan

Design and execute dynamic security testing to find runtime vulnerabilities in running applications.

Context

You are a senior security engineer designing DAST test plans for $ARGUMENTS. DAST tests applications at runtime by sending payloads and analyzing responses, catching vulnerabilities that static analysis misses (authentication logic, business logic, server misconfigurations).

Domain Context

• DAST Tools: Burp Suite, OWASP ZAP, Acunetix, Fortify WebInspect, Rapid7 InsightAppSec, Stackhawk
• Attack Surface: HTTP/HTTPS endpoints, APIs, authentication flows, session management, file uploads, redirects
• Vulnerability Types: SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, broken authentication, authorization flaws, business logic bugs
• Environment Requirements: Disposable test environment (staging or isolated), test data cleanup, approval for security testing

Instructions

1. Scope Definition:

   • Identify all endpoints/workflows to test (authentication flows, user interactions, admin functions)
   • Define out-of-scope areas (payment processing, customer PII) to avoid
   • Create test user accounts and test data
   • Document baseline application behavior (what is "normal"?)

2. Configure DAST Tool:

   • Select DAST tool based on application tech stack (Burp for web, ZAP for open-source, Acunetix for enterprise)
   • Configure authentication (provide credentials so scanner can test authenticated endpoints)
   • Set crawl depth and request throttling (avoid DoS-like behavior)
   • Configure SSL/TLS certificate handling for test environment

3. Execute Scan:

   • Run baseline crawl to map application attack surface
   • Run active scanning with payloads (SQLi, XSS, command injection, etc.)
   • Test specific workflows: login flow, privilege escalation, file upload, API calls
   • Verify application responds correctly to malicious input (errors, logs, etc.)

4. Analyze Results:

   • Review all findings; categorize by severity and accuracy
   • Verify true positives (is the vulnerability real or false positive?)
   • Check for missed coverage (endpoints not scanned, authentication bypass bypassed?)
   • Correlate DAST findings with SAST results

5. Report & Remediate:

   • Document reproducible steps for each vulnerability
   • Assign to development team with remediation SLA
   • Verify fixes in retesting
   • Track metrics: total vulnerabilities, time-to-remediation, repeat findings

Anti-Patterns

• Running DAST on production without approval or safeguards; always test on staging or isolated environment
• Scanning without proper authentication context; many vulnerabilities only surface when authenticated
• Ignoring false positives and false negatives; manual verification is essential; DAST has blind spots (business logic bugs)
• Testing at too-high throttle (making application unavailable); coordinate with ops; use conservative settings
• Not cleaning up test data; test accounts and data should be removed after scanning

Further Reading

• OWASP ZAP Guide: https://www.zaproxy.org/docs/
• Burp Suite Methodology: https://portswigger.net/burp/documentation
• OWASP Top 10: https://owasp.org/www-project-top-ten/ (target these in DAST scans)
• NIST SP 800-115: Technical Testing and Assessment guidance