Web application testing
Test what each user can actually do.
Examine the routes through your web application, from sign-in and file uploads to the access checks protecting sensitive records.
Scope a web application testCan an editor change a record owned by another team?
The server accepts a record ID for an update without checking team ownership.
Illustrative test report
- Test setup
- Use two team accounts and one fictional record owned by team A in the agreed workflow.
- Evidence
- Record the role, request, target record and whether the request changed its state.
- Verification
- Team A’s authorised edit succeeds. Team B’s edit is refused and the record stays unchanged.
Example application test scope
- Roles
- Agree which users, permissions and workflows to exercise.
- Boundaries
- Check that data stays within the correct user or tenant.
- Evidence
- Document reproducible findings and verify the fix.
Prepare for this engagement
When it is useful
A release changes user permissions, a new customer portal opens or a significant workflow has not been tested.
What to bring
For a cross-team editing test, provide a fictional record owned by team A, one editor account in each team, and the workflow that updates the record. Team A’s edit should succeed. Team B’s edit should fail and leave the record unchanged. Share the affected URLs and test environment during scoping. If callers use the endpoint directly, choose API penetration testing.
What you receive
The report identifies the role, request and data affected, the business consequence and a reproducible check for the owner of the fix.
Get a faster, clearer, and simpler view of your web app vulnerabilities
A customer should only be able to view their own records. We test whether changing a request, switching roles or calling an API directly can bypass that boundary.
Our web application penetration testing simulates a skilled attacker executing a campaign against your customer facing or internal web apps and APIs to find exploitable vulnerabilities and insecure configurations before they can be discovered and exploited for real.
What is involved in web application penetration testing?
Use representative accounts for each relevant role and tenant. Test whether a user can read, create or change another user’s records through the API as well as through the browser. Automated checks complement manual testing of access rules and business workflows.
Our Comprehensive Approach: SAST & DAST
- SAST (Static Application Security Testing) analyses source code for vulnerabilities like SQL injection and cross-site scripting early in development.
- DAST (Dynamic Application Security testing) simulates real-world attacks on running applications, uncovering security weaknesses that only emerge under certain conditions.
By combining SAST and DAST testing we provide a holistic view of an application’s security, covering both code-level and runtime vulnerabilities for robust protection.
Application controls in scope
Authentication & Authorisation
Evaluate login mechanisms, session management, and privilege escalation risks to ensure users only access what they are permitted to.
File Upload Handling
Inspect upload functionality for malicious file execution risks, MIME-type mismatches, and unrestricted file access.
Input Validation
Identify injection points including SQL, XSS, and command injection through improper sanitization of user-controlled inputs.
Transport Layer Protection
Verify secure configuration of HTTPS, TLS settings, and encryption enforcement to prevent data interception or manipulation.
Error Handling & Information Leakage
Test how your app responds to unexpected input and failures, ensuring no sensitive details are disclosed through stack traces or verbose errors.
Security Misconfigurations
Identify common platform misconfigurations including exposed admin panels, default credentials, or unnecessary services.
Patch Management & Dependency Risks
Evaluate use of outdated libraries, CMS components, and third-party tools with known CVEs.
Benefits of web application penetration testing
Strengthen your organisations’ security posture
Early detection of vulnerabilities prevents data breaches, financial loss, and service disruption.
Having a trusted third party independently assess your web applications is also an invaluable training and continuous improvement tool for internal teams as it:
- Provides actionable recommendations to fix vulnerabilities and improve security practices.
- Helps teams adopt better security controls, patch management, and monitoring practices.
- Also targets web servers, surfacing outdated software, vulnerabilities, and misconfigurations.
Protect against inherent web app security flaws
It is not uncommon to uncover vulnerabilities in widely used ‘off the shelf’ commercial applications.
Default configurations: Commercial or open-source applications arrive with default settings that may have not been changed or updated by the end user.
Third-party dependencies: Commercial applications often rely on libraries or plugins, which may contain outdated or unpatched vulnerabilities.
A trusted software supplier cannot validate every configuration and integration in your environment. Test the access rules you control, including how the server handles a request that bypasses a button or substitutes a record identifier.
start a conversationWeb application penetration testing FAQs
What is web application penetration testing?
Web application penetration testing is a simulated, controlled cyberattack on your web application to identify vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and insecure functionality before malicious hackers can exploit them. It helps improve your application’s security posture and protect sensitive data.
My web apps are developed by internationally recognised organisations. Why is penetration testing necessary?
Even well-developed applications can have hidden vulnerabilities. Web application penetration testing exposes weaknesses in authentication, input handling, business logic, APIs, and server configuration, helping prevent data breaches, financial loss, and reputational damage.
How often should I have my web applications be tested? Best practices recommend testing:
- After any major feature releases or updates.
- At least once a year for ongoing security assurance.
- Whenever regulatory compliance requires it.
Can my team and my customers still use my web applications while it is being tested?
For production systems, agree monitoring contacts, excluded actions, rate limits and an immediate stop condition. Exercise potentially disruptive or irreversible workflows in a representative test environment. The test plan identifies any remaining risk to users.
How long does a web application penetration test take?
The duration depends on the application’s size, complexity, and scope of testing. A small application may take a couple of days, while large enterprise systems can take several weeks. A clear timeline is always provided before testing begins.