arch-audit alternatives

Looking for an alternative tool to replace arch-audit? During the review of arch-audit we looked at other open source tools. Based on their category, tags, and text, these are the ones that have the best match.

Top 3

  1. OpenVAS (vulnerability scanner)
  2. w3af (web application attack and audit framework)
  3. Archery (vulnerability assessment and management)

These tools are ranked as the best alternatives to arch-audit.

Alternatives (by score)

97

OpenVAS

Introduction

OpenVAS is an open source vulnerability scanner that emerged from when Nessus became closed source in October of 2005.

Project details

OpenVAS is written in C.

Strengths and weaknesses

  • + The source code of this software is available
  • + Well-known tool

    Typical usage

    • Penetration testing
    • Security assessment
    • Vulnerability scanning

    OpenVAS review

    64

    w3af

    Introduction

    W3af is an open source web application attack and audit framework and helps in scanning for vulnerabilities. The tool comes with both a graphical user interface (GUI) and command line utility. Some of the project files include a copyright line of 2006. That gives a good idea on the maturity of the project, and it is one of the rare tools that is still maintained after so many years.

    Project details

    w3af is written in Python.

    Strengths and weaknesses

    • + Tool is modular and extendable
    • + More than 2000 GitHub stars
    • + The source code of this software is available

      Typical usage

      • Application security
      • Application testing
      • Penetration testing
      • Vulnerability scanning
      • Web application analysis

      w3af review

      93

      Archery

      Introduction

      Archery is a tool that helps to collect data about vulnerabilities within an environment. Instead of focusing on the actual scanning, it allows managing findings in a web-based interface. This includes options like reporting, searching, and dashboards. It can interact with other tools, including the well-known vulnerability scanners.

      Project details

      Archery is written in Python.

      Strengths and weaknesses

      • + More than 500 GitHub stars
      • + The source code of this software is available

        Typical usage

        • Penetration testing
        • Vulnerability management
        • Vulnerability scanning
        • Vulnerability testing

        Archery review

        60

        Dagda

        Introduction

        The main reasons to use Dagda is the detection of vulnerable or malicious components within your containerized environment.

        Project details

        Dagda is written in Python.

        Strengths and weaknesses

        • + The source code of this software is available

          Typical usage

          • Malware detection
          • Malware scanning
          • Vulnerability management
          • Vulnerability scanning

          Dagda review

          78

          Intrigue Core

          Introduction

          Intrigue Core provides a framework to measure the attack surface of an environment. This includes discovering infrastructure and applications, performing security research, and doing vulnerability discovery.

          Intrigue also allows enriching available data and perform OSINT research (open source intelligence). The related scans include DNS subdomain brute-forcing, email harvesting, IP geolocation, port scanning, and using public search engines like Censys, Shodan, and Bing.

          Project details

          Intrigue Core is written in Ruby.

          Strengths and weaknesses

          • + More than 500 GitHub stars
          • + The source code of this software is available

            Typical usage

            • OSINT research
            • Asset discovery
            • Attack surface measurement
            • Intelligence gathering
            • Penetration testing
            • Security assessment

            Intrigue Core review

            100

            Lynis

            Introduction

            Lynis is an open-source security auditing tool that is available since 2007 and created by Michael Boelen. Its primary goal is to evaluate the security defenses of systems running Linux or other flavors of Unix. It provides suggestions to install, configure, or correct any security measures.

            Project details

            Lynis is written in shell script.

            Strengths and weaknesses

            • + The source code is easy to read and understand
            • + More than 100 contributors
            • + More than 8000 GitHub stars
            • + Tool is easy to use
            • + Available as package (simplified installation)
            • + Commercial support available
            • + Used language is shell script
            • + Very low number of dependencies
            • + Project is mature (10+ years)
            • + The source code of this software is available

              Typical usage

              • IT audit
              • Penetration testing
              • Security assessment
              • System hardening
              • Vulnerability scanning

              Lynis review

              97

              Safety

              Introduction

              When having applications deployed in your environment, not all of those may be installed via a package manager. When your infrastructure grows, it becomes even harder to know which tools are properly patched and which ones are not. For Python applications, this is where Safety comes in that can help scan installed software components via pip. It will also look at any of the dependencies that are installed.

              Project details

              Safety is written in Python.

              Strengths and weaknesses

              • + More than 10 contributors
              • + The source code of this software is available

                Typical usage

                • Penetration testing
                • Security assessment
                • Security monitoring
                • Vulnerability scanning

                Safety review

                64

                VScan

                Introduction

                Vscan is a security tool to perform vulnerability scanning with Nmap. It leverages NSE scripts to provide some flexibility in terms of vulnerability detection and exploitation.

                Project details

                VScan is written in shell script.

                Strengths and weaknesses

                • + The source code of this software is available

                  Typical usage

                  • Backdoor detection
                  • Vulnerability scanning

                  VScan review

                  100

                  Vuls

                  Introduction

                  Vuls is a vulnerability scanner for Linux and FreeBSD. It is written in Go, agentless, and can use a remote login to find any software vulnerabilities. It has multiple levels of scanning, from a fast scan up to a deep scan with extensive analysis.

                  Project details

                  Vuls is written in Golang.

                  Strengths and weaknesses

                  • + More than 50 contributors
                  • + More than 5000 GitHub stars
                  • + The source code of this software is available

                    Typical usage

                    • System hardening
                    • Vulnerability scanning

                    Vuls review

                    60

                    BDA (Big Data Audit)

                    Introduction

                    BDA is a vulnerability scanner for big data tools like Hadoop and Spark. It searches for configuration weaknesses and reports them. Hadoop and Spark are one of the few applications that encounter a lot of data. So by securing these applications, a big leap can be made as it covers a lot of data.

                    Project details

                    BDA is written in Python.

                    Strengths and weaknesses

                    • + The source code of this software is available

                      Typical usage

                      • Application testing
                      • Vulnerability scanning
                      • Vulnerability testing

                      BDA review

                      60

                      Bash Scanner

                      Introduction

                      Bash Scanner is a security tool that does a quick scan to see if there are vulnerable packages. It uses an external service to validate.

                      Project details

                      Bash Scanner is written in shell script.

                      Strengths and weaknesses

                      • + Used language is shell script
                      • + The source code of this software is available

                        Typical usage

                        • Security assessment
                        • Security monitoring

                        Bash Scanner review

                        64

                        JexBoss

                        Introduction

                        JexBoss is a security tool to verify and exploit vulnerabilities in JBoss applications. It can be used for security assignments and pentests.

                        Project details

                        JexBoss is written in Python.

                        Strengths and weaknesses

                        • + The source code of this software is available
                        • - No releases on GitHub available

                        Typical usage

                        • Application security
                        • Application testing
                        • Penetration testing
                        • Vulnerability scanning

                        JexBoss review

                        78

                        Nmap

                        Introduction

                        Nmap is short for "Network Mapper". It is a free and open source utility for network discovery and security auditing. It was release in September of 1997 by Gordon Lyon, commonly known under his pseudonym "Fyodor".

                        Project details

                        Nmap is written in C, C++, Lua, Python.

                        Strengths and weaknesses

                        • + Project is mature (10+ years)
                        • + The source code of this software is available
                        • + Well-known author
                        • + Well-known tool
                        • - Software usage is restricted (e.g. commercially)

                        Typical usage

                        • Network scanning
                        • Vulnerability scanning

                        Nmap review

                        64

                        Tulpar

                        Introduction

                        Tulpar is a vulnerability scanner that can be used to test new or existing web applications. In the former case, it could be helpful to test a new project before it is deployed into production. This could be done by the developer or a security professional. If some web application is already in production, then it might be a good tool to perform regular testing on known vulnerabilities. In this case, it is typically a pentester or security specialist that does the testing.

                        Project details

                        Tulpar is written in Python.

                        Strengths and weaknesses

                        • + The source code of this software is available
                        • - Minimal or no documentation available

                        Typical usage

                        • Application security
                        • Application testing
                        • Web application analysis

                        Tulpar review

                        64

                        Vane

                        Introduction

                        Vane is a forked project of the now non-free popular WordPress vulnerability scanner WPScan.

                        Project details

                        Vane is written in Ruby.

                        Strengths and weaknesses

                        • + More than 25 contributors
                        • + The source code of this software is available

                          Typical usage

                          • Application security
                          • Web application analysis

                          Vane review

                          97

                          Wapiti

                          Introduction

                          Wapiti is typically used to audit web applications.

                          Project details

                          Wapiti is written in Python.

                          Strengths and weaknesses

                          • + Project is mature (10+ years)
                          • + The source code of this software is available
                          • + Well-known tool

                            Typical usage

                            • Application fuzzing
                            • Vulnerability scanning
                            • Web application analysis

                            Wapiti review

                            60

                            Whitewidow

                            Introduction

                            Whitewidow is a security tool to perform automated SQL vulnerability scans. It can be used during penetration tests or for security assessments.

                            Project details

                            Whitewidow is written in Ruby.

                            Strengths and weaknesses

                            • + More than 500 GitHub stars
                            • + The source code of this software is available

                              Typical usage

                              • Application security
                              • Penetration testing
                              • Vulnerability scanning

                              Whitewidow review

                              64

                              Yasuo

                              Introduction

                              Yasuo is a Ruby script that scans for vulnerable and exploitable third-party web applications. There are many remotely exploitable vulnerabilities for web applications and their front-end components. Yasuo helps to make it easier to scan for the weaknesses like remote code execution (RCE), SQL injections, and file inclusions.

                              Project details

                              Yasuo is written in Ruby.

                              Strengths and weaknesses

                              • + The source code of this software is available

                                Typical usage

                                • Penetration testing
                                • Vulnerability scanning
                                • Web application analysis

                                Yasuo review

                                68

                                flunym0us

                                Introduction

                                Flunym0us is a security scanner for WordPress and Moodle installations. The tool tests the security of the installation by performing enumeration attempts.

                                Project details

                                flunym0us is written in Python.

                                Strengths and weaknesses

                                • + The source code of this software is available

                                  Typical usage

                                  • Vulnerability scanning
                                  • Web application analysis

                                  flunym0us review

                                  78

                                  vulscan

                                  Introduction

                                  Vulscan is a vulnerability scanner which uses the well-known Nmap tool. By enhancing it with offline data from VulDB, it allows for detecting vulnerabilities. The database itself based on information from multiple sources.

                                  Project details

                                  vulscan is written in Lua.

                                  Strengths and weaknesses

                                  • + The source code of this software is available
                                  • - No releases on GitHub available

                                  Typical usage

                                  • Penetration testing
                                  • Security assessment
                                  • Vulnerability scanning
                                  • Vulnerability testing

                                  vulscan review

                                  64

                                  CMSeeK

                                  Introduction

                                  CMSeeK is a security scanner for content management systems (CMS). It can perform a wide range of functions starting from the detection of the CMS, up to vulnerability scanning. The tool claims to support over 100 different CMS tools, with extensive support for the commonly used ones like Drupal, Joomla, and WordPress.

                                  The scans performed by CMSeeK include version detection. It can also do enumeration of users, plugins, and themes. This might be useful to see what users or components are available. The tool includes admin page discovery, file discovery, and directory listing. Anything that might be useful to a penetration test or security assessment, might be displayed.

                                  Project details

                                  CMSeeK is written in Python.

                                  Strengths and weaknesses

                                  • + The source code of this software is available
                                  • - Full name of author is unknown

                                  Typical usage

                                  • Penetration testing
                                  • Software exploitation
                                  • Software identification
                                  • Vulnerability scanning

                                  CMSeeK review

                                  78

                                  PTF (The PenTesters Framework)

                                  Introduction

                                  PTF or the PenTesters Framework is a Python script to keep your penetration testing toolkit up-to-date. It is designed for distributions running Debian, Ubuntu, Arch Linux, or related clones. PTF will do the retrieval, compilation, and installation of the tools that you use. As it is a modular framework, you can use many of the common pentesting tools or add your own tools.

                                  Project details

                                  PTF is written in Python.

                                  Strengths and weaknesses

                                  • + More than 50 contributors
                                  • + Tool is easy to use
                                  • + More than 1000 GitHub stars
                                  • + The source code of this software is available

                                    Typical usage

                                    • Penetration testing
                                    • Security assessment
                                    • Software management
                                    • Software testing

                                    PTF review

                                    44

                                    Pacman

                                    Introduction

                                    Pacman is the default package manager for Arch Linux. The main differences with other package managers include the focus on a binary package format and the underlying build system for software. Its goal is to keep the system up-to-date, especially as Arch Linux is considered to be a 'rolling release'. By using a server/client model it synchronizes package lists and allows the user to install the latest available packages.

                                    Project details

                                    Pacman is written in C.

                                    Strengths and weaknesses

                                    • + Project is mature (10+ years)
                                    • + The source code of this software is available

                                      Pacman review

                                      74

                                      Arachni

                                      Introduction

                                      Arachni is framework written in Ruby with focus on evaluating the security of web applications. Typical users include security professionals and system administrators.

                                      The tooling is free and open source. Besides Linux, it also runs on macOS and Microsoft Windows.

                                      Project details

                                      Arachni is written in Ruby.

                                      Strengths and weaknesses

                                      • + More than 1000 GitHub stars
                                      • + The source code of this software is available

                                        Typical usage

                                        • Penetration testing
                                        • Security assessment
                                        • Web application analysis

                                        Arachni review

                                        64

                                        Damn Small Vulnerable Web (DSVW)

                                        Introduction

                                        Damn Small Vulnerable Web (DWVW) is a deliberately vulnerable web application to test your exploitation skills. It provides developers and penetration testers a practice tool. For developers, it is good to see common mistakes and create more secure software. Pentesters will be able to improve vulnerability detection and improving their attacks. Hopefully with the end goal of achieving privilege escalation or unauthorized data retrieval.

                                        Project details

                                        Damn Small Vulnerable Web is written in Python.

                                        Strengths and weaknesses

                                        • + The source code of this software is available

                                          Typical usage

                                          • Application testing
                                          • Learning
                                          • Skill development
                                          • Vulnerability testing

                                          Damn Small Vulnerable Web review

                                          Some relevant tool missing as an alternative to arch-audit? Please contact us with your suggestion.