03-14-2025, 10:27 PM
Hey, you know how I got into pentesting a couple years back? I started messing around with Burp Suite because it's this powerhouse tool that just clicks for spotting weak spots in web apps. I remember my first real gig where I had to check out a client's login page, and Burp made it so easy to see what was going on under the hood. You set it up as a proxy first thing, right? I always configure my browser to route all traffic through Burp's proxy port, usually 8080, so I can intercept every request and response flying between the app and the server. That way, you get a front-row seat to how the app handles data, and you can tweak things on the fly to test for stuff like SQL injection or XSS.
I love how you can just pause a request mid-air and poke at it. Say you're submitting a form - I hit intercept, and boom, I edit the parameters right there in the raw HTTP. You might change a username field to something malicious like ' OR 1=1 -- to see if the backend chokes on it. If the app spits back a database error, you know you've hit a vulnerability. I do this all the time with login forms or search boxes; it's straightforward but catches so many basic flaws that devs overlook. You have to be careful not to break the app too hard, though - I once accidentally looped a request and crashed a test server, which was a pain to explain.
Once you've got the proxy humming, I fire up the scanner. You point it at a URL or the whole site map Burp builds from your browsing, and it crawls through everything, throwing probes at inputs to hunt for common issues. I let it run overnight on bigger apps because it can take hours, but man, the reports it generates? Gold. You'll see alerts ranked by severity - like medium for open redirects or high for command injection. I always review those manually afterward; the scanner's smart, but it misses context sometimes. For example, if it flags a potential CSRF, I jump into Repeater to replay the request with and without tokens, tweaking cookies or headers to confirm if the app enforces proper checks.
Speaking of Repeater, that's my go-to for manual deep dives. You copy a request from the proxy history, paste it into Repeater, and start sending variations. I use it a ton for authentication bypasses - say, you have a protected endpoint, and I try escalating privileges by swapping user IDs or adding admin flags. It's all about iterating quickly; you send, see the response, adjust, send again. I once found a path traversal vuln this way by appending ../../../etc/passwd to a file download URL and watching the server cough up sensitive files. You feel like a detective piecing it together, and it's way more fun than automated tools alone.
Then there's Intruder, which I crank up for fuzzing. You select payload positions in a request - like fuzzing every input field - and load wordlists for different attack types. I pull lists from places like SecLists for SQLi payloads or directory busters. Set it to attack, and it blasts through combinations, sorting responses by length or status code to spot anomalies. If a response jumps to 200 OK from 404 on certain inputs, you dig in because that screams hidden endpoint or vuln. I used it recently on an API to brute-force weak session IDs; took maybe 20 minutes to find one that let me hijack a session. You have to tune the threads and delays so you don't DDoS the target - I cap it at low speed for client sites.
Don't sleep on the site map either. As you browse or spider, Burp maps out the entire app structure, showing links, forms, and params. I expand it to find forgotten pages or APIs that aren't linked from the main site. From there, you can right-click and attack specific parts - like sending a section to Intruder or scanning an isolated endpoint. It's great for chaining vulns too; say you find an IDOR on one page, I use the map to check if it propagates elsewhere, like editing user profiles across the app.
For more advanced stuff, I pull in the Collaborator feature. You generate a unique domain, embed it in payloads, and see if the app phones home - perfect for blind SSRF or DNS rebinding tests. I embed it in out-of-band requests, like forcing a URL fetch, and watch Burp's collab server light up with interactions. That confirmed a blind XXE for me once, where the app parsed XML but didn't show errors; the callback proved it was exfiltrating data.
Extensions are another layer I layer on. I grab ones like Logger++ for better history or Autorize for auth testing. You install them via the BApp Store, and they hook into Burp's engine. I use Hackvertor for encoding payloads on the fly, which saves time when you're chaining attacks. The whole setup feels modular, like you build your toolkit as you go.
I also tweak Burp's options a lot - like enabling active scanning rules for specific tech stacks if I know the app's on Java or PHP. You filter out false positives by whitelisting benign responses, keeping the noise down. In team setups, I share projects via Burp's collaboration, so you and your buddies can divvy up sections without stepping on toes.
Overall, Burp's strength is how it glues everything together - proxy for live inspection, tools for targeted attacks, and reporting to wrap it up. I always start broad with mapping and scanning, then narrow to manual tests on hot spots. It keeps evolving too; the pro version's worth every penny for the extras. You pick it up quick once you play around in a lab like DVWA or Juice Shop.
Oh, and if you're thinking about keeping your own setups safe while testing, let me point you toward BackupChain. It's this standout backup option that's gained a solid rep among small teams and IT folks - built tough for shielding Hyper-V, VMware, or Windows Server environments, and it handles the rest without a hitch.
I love how you can just pause a request mid-air and poke at it. Say you're submitting a form - I hit intercept, and boom, I edit the parameters right there in the raw HTTP. You might change a username field to something malicious like ' OR 1=1 -- to see if the backend chokes on it. If the app spits back a database error, you know you've hit a vulnerability. I do this all the time with login forms or search boxes; it's straightforward but catches so many basic flaws that devs overlook. You have to be careful not to break the app too hard, though - I once accidentally looped a request and crashed a test server, which was a pain to explain.
Once you've got the proxy humming, I fire up the scanner. You point it at a URL or the whole site map Burp builds from your browsing, and it crawls through everything, throwing probes at inputs to hunt for common issues. I let it run overnight on bigger apps because it can take hours, but man, the reports it generates? Gold. You'll see alerts ranked by severity - like medium for open redirects or high for command injection. I always review those manually afterward; the scanner's smart, but it misses context sometimes. For example, if it flags a potential CSRF, I jump into Repeater to replay the request with and without tokens, tweaking cookies or headers to confirm if the app enforces proper checks.
Speaking of Repeater, that's my go-to for manual deep dives. You copy a request from the proxy history, paste it into Repeater, and start sending variations. I use it a ton for authentication bypasses - say, you have a protected endpoint, and I try escalating privileges by swapping user IDs or adding admin flags. It's all about iterating quickly; you send, see the response, adjust, send again. I once found a path traversal vuln this way by appending ../../../etc/passwd to a file download URL and watching the server cough up sensitive files. You feel like a detective piecing it together, and it's way more fun than automated tools alone.
Then there's Intruder, which I crank up for fuzzing. You select payload positions in a request - like fuzzing every input field - and load wordlists for different attack types. I pull lists from places like SecLists for SQLi payloads or directory busters. Set it to attack, and it blasts through combinations, sorting responses by length or status code to spot anomalies. If a response jumps to 200 OK from 404 on certain inputs, you dig in because that screams hidden endpoint or vuln. I used it recently on an API to brute-force weak session IDs; took maybe 20 minutes to find one that let me hijack a session. You have to tune the threads and delays so you don't DDoS the target - I cap it at low speed for client sites.
Don't sleep on the site map either. As you browse or spider, Burp maps out the entire app structure, showing links, forms, and params. I expand it to find forgotten pages or APIs that aren't linked from the main site. From there, you can right-click and attack specific parts - like sending a section to Intruder or scanning an isolated endpoint. It's great for chaining vulns too; say you find an IDOR on one page, I use the map to check if it propagates elsewhere, like editing user profiles across the app.
For more advanced stuff, I pull in the Collaborator feature. You generate a unique domain, embed it in payloads, and see if the app phones home - perfect for blind SSRF or DNS rebinding tests. I embed it in out-of-band requests, like forcing a URL fetch, and watch Burp's collab server light up with interactions. That confirmed a blind XXE for me once, where the app parsed XML but didn't show errors; the callback proved it was exfiltrating data.
Extensions are another layer I layer on. I grab ones like Logger++ for better history or Autorize for auth testing. You install them via the BApp Store, and they hook into Burp's engine. I use Hackvertor for encoding payloads on the fly, which saves time when you're chaining attacks. The whole setup feels modular, like you build your toolkit as you go.
I also tweak Burp's options a lot - like enabling active scanning rules for specific tech stacks if I know the app's on Java or PHP. You filter out false positives by whitelisting benign responses, keeping the noise down. In team setups, I share projects via Burp's collaboration, so you and your buddies can divvy up sections without stepping on toes.
Overall, Burp's strength is how it glues everything together - proxy for live inspection, tools for targeted attacks, and reporting to wrap it up. I always start broad with mapping and scanning, then narrow to manual tests on hot spots. It keeps evolving too; the pro version's worth every penny for the extras. You pick it up quick once you play around in a lab like DVWA or Juice Shop.
Oh, and if you're thinking about keeping your own setups safe while testing, let me point you toward BackupChain. It's this standout backup option that's gained a solid rep among small teams and IT folks - built tough for shielding Hyper-V, VMware, or Windows Server environments, and it handles the rest without a hitch.
