Install and Use Nikto Web Vulnerability Scanner
In this article, I’m going to share how to install and Nikto web vulnerability scanner tool. Let’s get started:
Table of Contents
Introduction
Nikto is an Open Source (GPL) web server scanner which performs comprehensive tests against web servers for multiple items, including over 6700 potentially dangerous files/programs, checks for outdated versions of over 1250 servers, and version specific problems on over 270 servers. It also checks for server configuration items such as the presence of multiple index files, HTTP server options, and will attempt to identify installed web servers and software. Scan items and plugins are frequently updated and can be automatically updated.
Nikto is not designed as a stealthy tool. It will test a web server in the quickest time possible and is obvious in log files or to an IPS/IDS. However, there is support for LibWhisker’s anti-IDS methods in case you want to give it a try (or test your IDS system).
Not every check is a security problem, though most are. There are some items that are “info only” type checks that look for things that may not have a security flaw, but the webmaster or security engineer may not know are present on the server. These items are usually marked appropriately in the information printed. There are also some checks for unknown items which have been seen scanned for in log files.
Installation
Nikto comes pre-installed in Kali Linux. We can easily install if it installed:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt install nikto -yUasge
Let’s see some commands to perform web scanning.
Options: Get all available options:
nikto -HelpScan a server: This output will show lot of information.
nikto -h server_ip_addressScan a port:
nikto -h server_ip_address -p 4544Scan a host:
nikto -h http://example.comScan multiple ports:
nikto -h server_ip_address -p 4544,4640
# or
nikto -h server_ip_address -p 4544-4640To learn more about Nikto, visit their GitHub repository.
That’s it. Thanks for reading. ?Share on Social Media
Comment
Preview may take a few seconds to load.
Markdown Basics
Below you will find some common used markdown syntax. For a deeper dive in Markdown check out this Cheat Sheet
Bold & Italic
Italics *asterisks*
Bold **double asterisks**
Code
Inline Code
`backtick`Code Block```
Three back ticks and then enter your code blocks here.
```
Headers
# This is a Heading 1
## This is a Heading 2
### This is a Heading 3
Quotes
> type a greater than sign and start typing your quote.
Links
You can add links by adding text inside of [] and the link inside of (), like so:
Lists
To add a numbered list you can simply start with a number and a ., like so:
1. The first item in my list
For an unordered list, you can add a dash -, like so:
- The start of my list
Images
You can add images by selecting the image icon, which will upload and add an image to the editor, or you can manually add the image by adding an exclamation !, followed by the alt text inside of [], and the image URL inside of (), like so:
Dividers
To add a divider you can add three dashes or three asterisks:
--- or ***
Comments (0)