Back to Penetration Testing

What is Web Application Penetration Testing?

Web application penetration testing is a manual test of your web app: can someone log in as another user, see other people's data or abuse your app's logic?

We focus on the flaws that automated scanners miss.

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Example finding from a pentest reportSEC-007
Critical

The password reset lets you take over any account

Impact
An attacker logs in as any user, including an administrator.
Fix first
Make reset links single-use, short-lived and tied to one account.
Validated by an ethical hackerRetest included

What is the testing scope?

OWASP Top 10 vulnerability testing
Authentication and session management
Business logic flaws
API security testing
Input validation and injection attacks
Access control and authorization

How do we approach testing?

Code Analysis

We combine manual testing with targeted tooling and analyse how the application behaves in practice, not just how it was designed.

Data Testing

We assess how sensitive data is processed, stored, and transmitted, and whether it is adequately protected against misuse or leakage.

Access Control

We test authentication, roles, and permissions to verify whether access can be bypassed or privileges escalated beyond intended limits.

Why do scanners miss the most dangerous vulnerabilities?

Automated scanners detect known CVEs and common misconfigurations. The most impactful vulnerabilities in your application are specific to your code, your logic, and your data model.

Business logic flaws are invisible to scanners

Business logic vulnerabilities occur when an application's own workflows can be abused in ways the developer did not intend. A scanner does not know that your checkout process is supposed to require payment before order confirmation, or that a discount code should only apply once. Manual testers understand context. Scanners do not.

Authentication complexity requires human judgment

Multi-step authentication flows, OAuth implementations, SSO configurations, and session management logic contain abuse scenarios that cannot be expressed in scanner signatures. A tester who understands how the flow is supposed to work can identify every place where it can be broken.

IDOR exposes data across accounts

Insecure Direct Object References allow attackers to access other users' data by manipulating identifiers in requests. Sequential IDs, predictable tokens, and missing authorization checks are the root causes. Scanners miss IDOR almost entirely because identifying the flaw requires understanding the relationship between users, objects, and permissions in context.

What do you receive after the Web App pentesting?

Every web application pentest delivers a complete evidence package. Not just a list of vulnerabilities, but the proof your team and your stakeholders need.

Executive summary

A risk overview for leadership that translates technical findings into business impact. Findings ranked by risk, key vulnerabilities explained in plain language, and clear priorities for remediation investment.

Technical report with OWASP mapping

Full technical detail per finding: description, exploitation proof, OWASP mapping, CVSS score, root cause, and reproduction steps. Structured so your development team can understand and fix each issue independently.

Remediation roadmap

Prioritized fix guidance that distinguishes quick wins from architectural changes. Not just a list of problems but a practical action plan your team can follow in sequence without guesswork.

Retest included

After you fix the findings, we retest to confirm each vulnerability is effectively resolved. You receive written retest confirmation: the documentation your auditors, clients, and insurers expect.

Built with Lovable, Bolt or Replit? Book a Go-Live Pentest

AI coding tools turn an idea into a working app in days, but they rarely check who can see which data. The Go-Live Pentest is a web application pentest for apps built with AI, done before real users and real data arrive.

Data access and the database

We check who can read and change which records. In AI-built apps on Supabase or Firebase, row-level security is often missing or too broad, so one logged-in user can read everyone's data.

Secrets and API keys

We look for keys, tokens and passwords in the frontend, the repository and the build. AI tools often put them where any visitor can find them.

Login, roles and payments

We test sign-up, password reset, sessions, admin functions and payment flows: the places where generated code tends to trust the browser too much.

Go or no-go, with fixes you can paste

You get a clear go or no-go for launch, findings in plain language and a fix instruction per finding that you can paste into your AI coding tool. The retest is included.

How does web application testing support NIS2?

NIS2 Article 21(1) requires security of network and information systems. Web application testing is the primary validation method for systems that process data or enable business-critical functions.

NIS2 Article 21 covers web application security

NIS2 Article 21(1) requires appropriate technical measures to manage cybersecurity risks, including the security of network and information systems. Web applications that process sensitive data or support critical services fall directly in scope. An annual web application penetration test is the most direct way to demonstrate active validation of these controls.

OWASP-mapped findings for audit documentation

Our deliverable maps each finding to OWASP Top 10 categories and NIS2 requirements. Your compliance team and supervisory authority receive a structured record that your application security is actively tested, vulnerabilities are identified and remediated, and the methodology follows recognized standards.

Frequently asked questions

The OWASP Top 10 is the most widely referenced list of critical web application security risks, covering categories including injection flaws, broken authentication, insecure direct object references, security misconfigurations, and cross-site scripting. We test against the OWASP Top 10 as a baseline and go beyond it. The most impactful vulnerabilities in your application are often specific to your implementation and business logic, which automated tools and checklist-based testing miss by design.

Yes. We prefer staging environments for the active exploitation phase to eliminate risk to production users. For the reconnaissance and mapping phase, we often include the production environment within agreed scope to ensure we test the real attack surface. The approach is agreed in advance with your technical team so that scope and constraints are clearly defined.

We operate under a strict data handling protocol. Personal data encountered during testing is not stored, copied, or transmitted outside the testing environment. Any data exposure is documented as a finding and flagged immediately. All testing data and notes are deleted within an agreed period after the final report is delivered.

A standard web application test typically takes 5 to 10 working days of active testing, depending on the size of the application, the number of user roles, and the complexity of authentication and business logic. Applications with many API endpoints, microservices, or complex authorization models take longer. We confirm the timeline before starting so there are no surprises.

Automated DAST and AI pentesting tools find common patterns at speed and are valuable in CI/CD. They struggle with broken authorization, IDOR, race conditions, payment flow manipulation, and chained logic flaws that depend on understanding the business. Our hackers test exactly those layers and produce a signed report you can hand to a client or auditor. The strongest setup combines both: automation for breadth in every deployment, manual pentesting for depth on what matters.

Yes. That is the Go-Live Pentest: a web application pentest for apps built with tools such as Lovable, Bolt or Replit. We test the running app and, where you give us access, the code and the database settings. We focus on what AI-generated code most often gets wrong: data access between users, exposed secrets, login and payment flows. You get a clear go or no-go for launch, and the retest is included.

Every new release can change who sees which data. With RedSOC you request a pentest when you ship something new, so a new feature is tested before it reaches your users.

Assess Your Application Security

Find the vulnerabilities in your application before attackers do.

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