vulnerability-scanning

Vulnerability Scanning

Identify and prioritize security vulnerabilities across infrastructure and applications.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• Performing security assessments
• Implementing vulnerability management programs
• Meeting compliance requirements
• Triaging and prioritizing remediation
• Scanning infrastructure for known CVEs

Prerequisites

• Access to scanning tools
• Network access to targets
• Appropriate authorization

Vulnerability Scanning Tools

OpenVAS Setup

Docker Deployment

# Run OpenVAS container
docker run -d --name openvas \
  -p 443:443 \
  -v openvas-data:/data \
  greenbone/openvas-scanner

# Access web UI at https://localhost
# Default credentials: admin/admin

Scanning Commands

# Create target
omp -u admin -w admin --xml='<create_target>
  <name>Web Servers</name>
  <hosts>192.168.1.0/24</hosts>
</create_target>'

# Create task
omp -u admin -w admin --xml='<create_task>
  <name>Weekly Scan</name>
  <target id="target-uuid"/>
  <config id="daba56c8-73ec-11df-a475-002264764cea"/>
</create_task>'

# Start task
omp -u admin -w admin --xml='<start_task task_id="task-uuid"/>'

# Get results
omp -u admin -w admin --xml='<get_results task_id="task-uuid"/>'

Nessus

API Usage

import requests

class NessusScanner:
    def __init__(self, url, access_key, secret_key):
        self.url = url
        self.headers = {
            'X-ApiKeys': f'accessKey={access_key}; secretKey={secret_key}',
            'Content-Type': 'application/json'
        }
    
    def create_scan(self, name, targets, template='basic'):
        """Create a new scan."""
        templates = self.get('/editor/scan/templates')
        template_uuid = next(
            t['uuid'] for t in templates['templates'] 
            if t['name'] == template
        )
        
        payload = {
            'uuid': template_uuid,
            'settings': {
                'name': name,
                'text_targets': targets,
                'enabled': True
            }
        }
        return self.post('/scans', payload)
    
    def launch_scan(self, scan_id):
        """Start a scan."""
        return self.post(f'/scans/{scan_id}/launch')
    
    def get_results(self, scan_id):
        """Get scan results."""
        return self.get(f'/scans/{scan_id}')
    
    def export_report(self, scan_id, format='pdf'):
        """Export scan report."""
        payload = {'format': format}
        response = self.post(f'/scans/{scan_id}/export', payload)
        file_id = response['file']
        
        # Wait for export
        while True:
            status = self.get(f'/scans/{scan_id}/export/{file_id}/status')
            if status['status'] == 'ready':
                break
            time.sleep(5)
        
        return self.get(f'/scans/{scan_id}/export/{file_id}/download')
    
    def get(self, path):
        response = requests.get(f'{self.url}{path}', headers=self.headers, verify=False)
        return response.json()
    
    def post(self, path, data=None):
        response = requests.post(f'{self.url}{path}', json=data, headers=self.headers, verify=False)
        return response.json()

# Usage
scanner = NessusScanner('https://nessus:8834', 'access-key', 'secret-key')
scan = scanner.create_scan('Weekly Infrastructure Scan', '10.0.0.0/24')
scanner.launch_scan(scan['scan']['id'])