From: Bogdan Calin (bogdanacunetix.com)
Date: Tue May 16 2006 - 09:10:21 CDT

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Hello,

A few days ago Dr. Holger Peine published a "Comparison report on web
app security scanners".

For this report he used two web applications: one of them is WebGoat and
the other one is a proprietary application which is not public.

I don't know anything about this proprietary application but I would
like to say that WebGoat is not a good test case for evaluating web
scanners.

WebGoat is using server side state variables to track user actions. For
example, if you want to test the String SQL injection flaw you first
need to navigate to the "String SQL injection" section in order to set
the proper state of the application.

If the application is not in the proper state, the SQL injection test
will not work. The application will just ignore your inputs.

An automated scanner cannot guess this application behavior, and unless
you optimize your scanner for this particular application it will not be
able to scan it properly.

When the scanner has finished discovering the site structure, WebGoat
will be in some unknown state. All tests will be performed while WebGoat
is in this state.

This is not a common implementation.

Because we are offering free audits, we have audited more than 1,000
websites and didn't encountered this kind of implementation.

WebGoat is great for learning about web security flaws but I don't think
it should be used as a test case for web security scanners.

Bogdan Calin
Acunetix Ltd. - www.acunetix.com
Acunetix Web Vulnerability Scanner

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