OpenVAS alternatives

Looking for an alternative tool to replace OpenVAS? During the review of OpenVAS 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. Vuls (agentless vulnerability scanner)
  2. Archery (vulnerability assessment and management)
  3. w3af (web application attack and audit framework)

These tools are ranked as the best alternatives to OpenVAS.

Alternatives (by score)

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

    100

    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

      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

        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

          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

              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

                60

                vulnix

                Introduction

                Tools like vulnix help with the detection of known weaknesses in packages by leveraging external resources. It can be used as an additional security layer on top of software patch management.

                Project details

                vulnix is written in Python.

                Strengths and weaknesses

                • + The source code of this software is available

                  Typical usage

                  • Vulnerability scanning

                  vulnix review

                  64

                  VulnWhisperer

                  Introduction

                  VulnWhisperer helps with the collection of vulnerability data and its reports. The goal of the tool is to make vulnerability data more actionable. It supports scans and data from products like Nessus, Qualys products, OpenVAS, and Tenable.io.

                  Project details

                  VulnWhisperer is written in Python.

                  Strengths and weaknesses

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

                    Typical usage

                    • Vulnerability management
                    • Vulnerability scanning

                    VulnWhisperer 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

                      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

                      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

                        60

                        arch-audit

                        Introduction

                        Arch-audit is a small utility that scans the system for known vulnerabilities on Arch Linux. It can be used by users of the Linux distribution to know when to update and what packages have weaknesses. With Arch Linux being a rolling distribution, this may improve the interval or timing of software patching.

                        Project details

                        arch-audit is written in Rust.

                        Strengths and weaknesses

                        • + The source code of this software is available

                          Typical usage

                          • Software management
                          • Vulnerability scanning

                          arch-audit 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

                            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

                              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

                                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

                                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

                                  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

                                      vFeed

                                      Introduction

                                      vFeed consists of a database and utilities to store vulnerability data. It uses third-party references and data, which then can be used to see if a software component has a known vulnerability. The data itself is enriched by cross-checking it and store additional details about the vulnerabilities.

                                      The vFeed tooling has an API available with JSON output. It can be used by security researchers and practitioners to validate vulnerabilities and retrieve all available details.

                                      Project details

                                      vFeed is written in Python.

                                      Strengths and weaknesses

                                      • + Commercial support available
                                      • + The source code of this software is available

                                        Typical usage

                                        • Security assessment
                                        • Vulnerability scanning

                                        vFeed review

                                        60

                                        ThreatPinch Lookup

                                        Introduction

                                        ThreatPinch helps to speed up collecting information from common resources like CVE databases or public WHOIS data. As it works from the browser, it is a helpful addition for people who have to perform forensics, security monitoring, or system administration. For example, getting the owner of a domain and IP address becomes almost instant knowledge.

                                        Project details

                                        ThreatPinch Lookup is written in JavaScript.

                                        Strengths and weaknesses

                                        • + Many integration possibilities available
                                        • - Unknown project license

                                        Typical usage

                                        • Information gathering
                                        • Threat hunting

                                        ThreatPinch Lookup review

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