testssl.sh alternatives

Looking for an alternative tool to replace testssl.sh? During the review of testssl.sh 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

cipherscan (TLS/SSL cipher scanner)
sslcaudit (auditing tool for SSL/TLS clients)
A2SV (SSL vulnerability scanner)

These tools are ranked as the best alternatives to testssl.sh.

Alternatives (by score)

cipherscan

Introduction

The tool is of great assistance to quickly perform a security audit and may be used during penetrating testing, or guiding system administrator for system hardening.

Project details

cipherscan is written in Python, shell script.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ Screen output is colored
+ More than 1000 GitHub stars
+ Very low number of dependencies
+ Supported by a large company

Typical usage

Information gathering
Security assessment
System hardening
Web application analysis

cipherscan review

sslcaudit

Introduction

Sslcaudit is a tool that focuses on the niche of testing SSL/TLS clients.

Project details

sslcaudit is written in Python.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ The source code of this software is available

Typical usage

Security assessment
Software testing

sslcaudit review

A2SV

Introduction

A2SV is short for Auto Scanning to SSL Vulnerability, a security tool to scan for SSL and TLS vulnerabilities. It can be used during security assessments.

Project details

A2SV is written in Python.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ The source code of this software is available

- Full name of author is unknown

Typical usage

Vulnerability scanning
Vulnerability testing

A2SV review

tlsenum

Introduction

Tlsenum is a CLI tool to enumerate TLS protocol and TLS cipher support by a server. The tool lists then the output based on the order of priority. Tlsenum can be used to find the supported protocols and ciphers of a system and determine if it is properly hardened. This information can be useful to system administrators and pentesters doing a security assessment of the system.

Project details

tlsenum is written in Python.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ The source code of this software is available

Typical usage

Information gathering
Security assessment
System enumeration
System hardening

tlsenum 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

OpenSCAP

Introduction

The OpenSCAP project provides a wide variety of hardening guides, configuration baselines, and tools to test for vulnerabilities and configuration issues. It uses SCAP as the protocol to store the underlying data.

Project details

OpenSCAP is written in C.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ More than 25 contributors
+ The source code of this software is available
+ Supported by a large company

Typical usage

Security assessment
Vulnerability scanning

OpenSCAP review

Cloud Security Suite (CS Suite)

Introduction

Cloud Security Suite (CS Suite) is a security toolkit that allows scanning Amazon, Google, and Azure cloud platforms. It leverages tools like Lynis, Prowler, and Scout2 to collect all information. The promise of the tool is to simplify the installation of the tools, their configuration, and the data collection.

Project details

Cloud Security Suite is written in Python.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ The source code of this software is available

- No releases on GitHub available

Typical usage

IT audit
Configuration audit
Penetration testing
System hardening

Cloud Security Suite review

CloudSploit scans

Introduction

CloudSploit scans is an open source software project to test security risks related to an AWS account. It runs tests against your Amazon account and aims to discover any potential misconfigured setting or other risks.

Project details

CloudSploit scans is written in Node.js.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ More than 10 contributors
+ More than 500 GitHub stars
+ The source code of this software is available

- No releases on GitHub available

Typical usage

IT audit
Configuration audit
Security assessment

CloudSploit scans review

Kube-Bench

Introduction

Tools like Kube-Bench help with quickly checking configuration weaknesses or discovering bad defaults.

Project details

Kube-Bench is written in Golang.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ The source code of this software is available

Kube-Bench review

LUNAR

Introduction

LUNAR is short for Lockdown UNix Auditing and Reporting and runs on the system itself.

Project details

LUNAR is written in shell script.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ The source code of this software is available

Typical usage

Security assessment
Self-assessment
System hardening

LUNAR review

Prowler

Introduction

Prowler is a security tool to check systems on AWS against the related CIS benchmark. This benchmark provides a set of best practices for AWS. The primary usage for this tool is system hardening and compliance checking.

Project details

Prowler is written in shell script.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ More than 25 contributors
+ More than 500 GitHub stars
+ The source code of this software is available

Typical usage

Compliance testing
Security assessment
System hardening

Prowler review

SSHsec

Introduction

SSHsec scans a system running the SSH protocol and retrieves its configuration, host keys, and Diffie-Hellman groups.

Project details

SSHsec is written in Python.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ The source code of this software is available

Typical usage

Information gathering
Penetration testing
Security assessment

SSHsec review

VHostScan

Introduction

Tools like VHostScan are powerful to perform reconnaissance and discover configuration defaults. This can be useful during penetration tests or security testing, to see if a system has been stripped from default pages. If not, this tool might discover them and provide valuable information about the system.

Project details

VHostScan is written in Python.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ The source code of this software is available

Typical usage

Penetration testing
Reconnaissance

VHostScan review

Zeus

Introduction

Zeus is a tool to perform a quick security scan of an AWS environment. It helps to find missing security controls, so additional system hardening measures can be applied to systems.

Project details

Zeus is written in shell script.

Strengths and weaknesses

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

- No releases on GitHub available

Typical usage

Configuration audit
Security assessment
Self-assessment
System hardening

Zeus review

iniscan

Introduction

Iniscan scans a given php.ini file and tests it against security best practices. It reports back the results by showing a Pass or Fail for each related test. As it is a command-line utility, it can be used in automated testing.

Project details

iniscan is written in PHP.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ More than 25 contributors
+ More than 1000 GitHub stars
+ The source code of this software is available

Typical usage

Configuration audit
Security assessment

iniscan review

orthrus

Introduction

Orthrus is a security framework and auditing tool. It allows monitoring and analyzing security configurations across multiple environments.

Project details

orthrus is written in Golang.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ The source code of this software is available

- Project is in early phase and may be unstable

Typical usage

Security assessment
Self-assessment
System hardening
Vulnerability scanning

orthrus review

otseca

Introduction

Tools like otseca help with data collection. This could be useful for system administrators to collect data on a regular interval. This data then can be compared with a future data capture. Another possibility is to use it during pentesting. In that case one should have already obtained root access, as the tool requires this as well.

Project details

otseca is written in shell script.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ The source code is easy to read and understand
+ Tool is modular and extendable
+ The source code of this software is available

Typical usage

Configuration audit
Penetration testing
Security assessment

otseca review

sysechk (System Security Checker)

Introduction

System Security Checker, or sysechk, is a tool to perform a system audit against a set of best practices. It uses a modular approach to test the system.

Project details

sysechk is written in shell script.

Strengths and weaknesses

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

Typical usage

IT audit
System hardening

sysechk review

OpenSSL

Introduction

This popular toolkit is used by many systems. It provides options like encryption and hashing of data, integrity testing, and digital certificates and signatures. Many software applications use the toolkit to provide support for these functions. OpenSSL also has a client utility that can be used on the command line to test, decrypt and encrypt data, and create certificates.

Project details

OpenSSL is written in C.

Strengths and weaknesses

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

- Major vulnerabilities in the past

Typical usage

Certificate management
Data encryption

OpenSSL review

Certificate Transparency

Introduction

HTTPS connections use cryptographic functions to provide confidentiality and integrity. It can provide features like domain validation, end-to-end encryption, and a trust chain from certificate authorities down to the end-user. Any flaws can endanger these goals, like the impersonation of a system, man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks, and website spoofing. This project helps to find flaws and improve the overall security of our internet.

Project details

Lemur

Introduction

With Lemur you can provide a central portal for developers and administrators to issue TLS certificates with predefined defaults.

Lemur works on CPython 3.5 and uses the Flask framework. Another component it uses is cryptography to handle the creation of the certificates.

Netflix develops on macOS and deploys on Ubuntu servers.

Project details

Lemur is written in Python.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ More than 500 GitHub stars
+ The source code of this software is available
+ Supported by a large company

Typical usage

Certificate management

Lemur review

MassBleed

Introduction

MassBleed is a SSL vulnerability scanner to check for several known vulnerabilities and attacks like DROWN, POODLE, and ShellShock.

Project details

MassBleed is written in Perl, Python, shell script.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ The source code of this software is available

- Full name of author is unknown
- Unknown project license

Typical usage

Application security
Web application analysis

MassBleed review

AESKeyFinder

Introduction

AESKeyFinder uses various algorithms to perform entropy tests and filter out blocks that are not AES keys. The remaining blocks are then displayed as possible AES keys.