21. Web Application Testing Tools
21.2 Burp Suite: Proxy and Intercept
In short: Burp Suite (Community Edition, free, ships with Kali) is the most-used web testing tool.
Burp Suite (Community Edition, free, ships with Kali) is the most-used web testing tool. Setup:
- Start Burp:
burpsuite(or from the Kali menu). Use the temporary project. - Proxy, Options: the proxy listens on
127.0.0.1:8080by default. - In Firefox, set the network proxy to
127.0.0.1:8080(the FoxyProxy add-on makes this one click). - Install Burp's CA certificate: browse to
http://burp, download the cert, and add it in Firefox so HTTPS sites work without warnings. - Proxy, Intercept: turn Intercept on, browse to DVWA, and watch requests stop in Burp.
Main Burp tabs:
| Tab | What it does |
|---|---|
| Proxy | Intercept and view every request/response |
| Target, Site map | A tree of everything you have browsed |
| Repeater | Send one request again and again, editing it each time |
| Intruder | Automate many requests with changing values (rate-limited in Community) |
| Decoder | Encode/decode URL, Base64, HTML |
| Comparer | Diff two responses |
Repeater is where you will spend most time: right-click a request, "Send to Repeater", change one value, hit Send, read the response. This is how you test one input at a time.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip
Students leave "Intercept is on" and forget it, then say "the internet isn't working" – because every request is held in Burp. When you don't need it, keep Intercept off; the site map and history still keep filling up. This is the number one confusion every beginner goes through.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip – मराठी
"Intercept is on" ठेवून students विसरतात, आणि मग "internet चालत नाही" म्हणतात – कारण प्रत्येक request Burp मध्ये थांबलेली असते. काम नसेल तेव्हा Intercept off ठेवा; site map आणि history तरीही भरत राहतात. हा number one confusion सगळे नवशिके अनुभवतात.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip – हिंदी
"Intercept is on" छोड़कर students भूल जाते हैं, और फिर कहते हैं "internet नहीं चल रहा" – क्योंकि हर request Burp में रुकी होती है. जब काम न हो तब Intercept off रखो; site map और history फिर भी भरते रहते हैं. यह number one confusion हर नया सीखने वाला झेलता है.
Lab
Set up Burp with Firefox and the CA certificate. Log in to DVWA through Burp, find the login request in the HTTP history, send it to Repeater, change the username, and observe the different response. Take a screenshot of the request and response side by side.