Fingerprinting Libraries
Many applications, third party libraries and frameworks have filenames, copyright notices and other characteristics that are unique – like a fingerprint. It's therefore possible to 'fingerprint' libraries and find out exactly which ones are in use in an application, by looking at these unique characteristics.
The Importance of Keeping All JavaScript Libraries Up to Date
Like any other software component, JavaScript libraries can have their own security issues.The Acunetix Web Application Vulnerability Report 2020 analyzes the issues in Vulnerable JavaScript Libraries. Unless the JavaScript libraries you use in your web applications are kept up-to-date, your web application could be vulnerable to known attacks.
Acunetix 360’s JavaScript Libraries Fingerprinting Engine
The Acunetix 360 edition includes a JavaScript Libraries engine. It identifies the JavaScript libraries used in a target web application, and their version. If an outdated JavaScript library is identified, Acunetix 360 creates an Issue and reports the vulnerabilities associated with that version of the library.
Which JavaScript Libraries Does the Acunetix 360 Scanner Detect?
The scanning engine can fingerprint 20 of the most popular libraries, such as jQuery, React, Angular.js and Bootstrap.js.
How to View a Complete List of JavaScript Libraries in Acunetix 360
- From the main menu, click Policies, then New Scan Policy.
- Select the Security Checks tab.
- Scroll down the A-Z list and select JavaScript Libraries. The right hand pane displays a list of JavaScript Libraries.
Fingerprinting Off-the-Shelf Web Applications
Custom built applications are very popular, especially in business-specific web applications, but off-the-shelf web applications, especially open source, are gaining in popularity. Please be aware that, like any custom application, open source applications can contain web vulnerabilities (see our Web Vulnerabilities Index).
Why Should You Keep Your Off-the-Shelf Web Applications Up to Date?
Malicious hackers are constantly and randomly scanning websites to check if they are vulnerable to a SQL Injection in an old version of WordPress or a Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in an old version of Joomla! or phpBB.
Warning | |
If you are running an old version of software with a known vulnerability, it is only a matter of time until you get hacked. |
Acunetix 360 Fingerprints Off-the-Shelf Web Applications
Since it is almost impossible to keep track of all the off-the-shelf web applications and components used in your web environment, we have several checks to help you automate this. Acunetix 360 will automatically fingerprint and identify any possible vulnerable JavaScript libraries and will also identify the versions of the most popular off-the-shelf web applications such as WordPress, Drupal, Joomla!, MediaWiki, phpBB, TWiki and several others.
