custom-nse-documentation.md

NMAP Custom Script for HTTP Headers Scanning

Introduction

This guide provides a detailed walkthrough on using a custom NMAP script to scan for HTTP header vulnerabilities. The script ranks detected vulnerabilities based on custom-defined metrics to aid security assessments.

For demonstration, a vulnerable Nginx web application will be set up, allowing users to analyze real-time scanning results.

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Prerequisite Tools

Ensure the following tools are installed:

• NMAP – Required for executing the custom NSE script.
• Docker – Used to build and manage the vulnerable test environment.
• Make – Simplifies command execution.

Project structure

.
├── Makefile
├── nse-custom-script
│   ├── debug-script.nse
│   └── sec-headers-check.nse
├── README.md
└── vulnerable-environment
    ├── docker-compose.yml
    ├── Dockerfile
    ├── Makefile
    └── nginx.conf

3 directories, 8 files

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Custom Metrics for Vulnerability Ranking

The vulnerabilities are categorized based on:

1. Severity – The criticality of the issue.
2. CVSS Score – A standardized rating to measure risk.
3. Impact – The potential consequences of an exploit.

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Use Case

The target for this scanning process is a web application running on Nginx. The goal is to detect security misconfigurations in HTTP headers and rank them by severity, CVSS score, and impact.

Common HTTP Security Vulnerabilities

1. HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security)
   Severity: High
   CVSS: ~6.5–7.5
   Impact: MITM attacks, downgrade attacks

2. Content-Security-Policy (CSP)
   Severity: High
   CVSS: ~6.0–7.0
   Impact: XSS, data injection attacks

3. HPKP (HTTP Public Key Pins) [Deprecated]
   Severity: Medium-High
   CVSS: ~5.0–6.5
   Impact: MITM, rogue certificate attacks

4. Set-Cookie (Secure & HttpOnly Missing)
   Severity: Medium
   CVSS: ~5.0–6.0
   Impact: Session hijacking, CSRF

5. X-Frame-Options
   Severity: Medium
   CVSS: ~4.5–5.5
   Impact: Clickjacking

6. X-XSS-Protection (Obsolete)
   Severity: Medium
   CVSS: ~4.0–5.0
   Impact: XSS attacks

7. X-Content-Type-Options
   Severity: Medium
   CVSS: ~4.0–5.0
   Impact: MIME sniffing attacks

8. Expect-CT (Obsolete)
   Severity: Low-Medium
   CVSS: ~3.5–4.5
   Impact: Prevents misissued certificates

9. X-Permitted-Cross-Domain-Policies
   Severity: Low
   CVSS: ~3.0–4.0
   Impact: Flash/Silverlight exploitation

10. Cache-Control & Pragma
   Severity: Low
   CVSS: ~3.0–3.5
   Impact: Sensitive data exposure via caching

11. Expires
   Severity: Low
   CVSS: ~2.5–3.5
   Impact: Caching-related risks

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Installation

Prepare the script for execution:

# Make the script executable
chmod +x sec-headers-check.nse

# Run the script with NMAP
nmap --script /path/to/sec-headers-check.nse -p 80 <your-nginx-ip>

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How It Works / Testing

Testing on a Vulnerable Environment

1. Set up the vulnerable Nginx environment:

   cd vulnerable-environment
   make up

2. Confirm Nginx is running by navigating to http://localhost:8000
3. Run the vulnerability scan:

   nmap --script ./sec-headers-check.nse -p 8000 localhost

4. Expected output:

   PORT     STATE SERVICE
   8000/tcp open  http-alt
    | High -- [CVSS 7.0] content-security-policy missing -- Vulnerable to XSS and data injection
    | Medium -- [CVSS 6.0] x-frame-options missing -- Clickjacking risk
    | Medium -- [CVSS 5.0] x-content-type-options missing -- MIME sniffing attack risk
    | Low -- [CVSS 2.5] expect-ct missing -- Weak certificate transparency enforcement
    | Low -- [CVSS 3.0] x-xss-protection missing -- Limited XSS protection
    |_Low -- [CVSS 2.0] cache-control missing -- Potential data leaks via cache

Testing on a Secure Environment

1. Deploy a secure Nginx instance:

   docker run --name nginx-app -d -p 8085:80 nginx

2. Run a security scan:

   nmap --script ./sec-headers-check.nse -p 8085 localhost

3. Expected output:

   PORT     STATE  SERVICE
   8085/tcp closed unknown

This confirms that secure configurations prevent vulnerabilities.

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Debugging

For troubleshooting, use these commands:

1. Enable script tracing:

   nmap --script ./sec-headers-check.nse -p 8000 localhost --script-trace

2. Enable debug logs:

   nmap --script ./sec-headers-check.nse -p 8000 localhost -d

3. Test using a debugging script:

   nmap --script debug-script.nse -p 8000 localhost

   Expected output:

   PORT     STATE SERVICE
   8000/tcp open  http-alt
   |_debug-script: NSE script is running successfully!

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Conclusion

This guide outlines how to identify HTTP security vulnerabilities using a custom NMAP script. By setting up both vulnerable and secure environments, users can validate security controls and improve their web application's defense mechanisms.