OWASP Amass
OWASP Amass is a command-line tool that can map a target’s external network by collecting OSINT from over 55 different sources. You can set it to perform passive or active scans. If you choose the active option, Amass will collect information directly from the target by requesting its certificate information. Otherwise, it collects data from search engines (such as Google, Bing, and HackerOne), SSL certificate sources (such as GoogleCT, Censys, and FacebookCT), search APIs (such as Shodan, AlienVault, Cloudflare, and GitHub), and the web archive Wayback.
Making the most of Amass with API Keys
Before diving into using Amass, we should make the most of it by adding API keys to it. Let's obtain a few free API keys to enhance our Amass scans.
First, we can see which data sources are available for Amass (paid and free) by running:
Next, we will need to create a config file to add our API keys to.
Now we can update the config.ini. I will demonstrate the process for adding API keys with Censys. Simply visit Censys and register for a free account. Make sure to use a valid email because you will have to verify access to your free account.
Once you have obtained your API ID and Secret, edit the config.ini file and add the credentials to the file.
Also, as with any credentials make sure not to share them like I just did. If you did share them then simply use the "Reset My API Secret" button back on Censys.io.
You can repeat this process with many free accounts and API keys, then you will make OWASP Amass into a powerhouse for API reconnaissance.
This scan could reveal many unique API subdomains, including legacy-api.target-name.com. An API endpoint named legacy could be of particular interest because it seems to indicate an improper asset management vulnerability.
Amass has several useful command-line options. Use the intel command to collect SSL certificates, search reverse Whois records, and find ASN IDs associated with your target. Start by providing the command with target IP addresses.
If this scan is successful, it will provide you with domain names. These domains can then be passed to intel with the whois option to perform a reverse Whois lookup:
This could give you a ton of results. Focus on the interesting results that relate to your target organization. Once you have a list of interesting domains, upgrade to the enum subcommand to begin enumerating subdomains. If you specify the -passive option, Amass will refrain from directly interacting with your target:
The active enum scan will perform much of the same scan as the passive one, but it will add domain name resolution, attempt DNS zone transfers, and grab SSL certificate information:
To up your game, add the -brute option to brute-force subdomains, -w to specify the API_superlist wordlist, and then the -dir option to send the output to the directory of your choice:
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