Vulnerability scanning tools used for the detection of vulnerabilities in applications using many ways. Like Code analysis, vulnerability tools analyze coding bugs. Audit vulnerability tools can find well-known rootkits, backdoor, and trojans.

There are many vulnerability scanners available these days. They can be free, paid, or open-source.

Type of Vulnerability scanning tools

The vulnerability scanners are divided into four types based on how they work.

1. Cloud-Based Vulnerability Scanners

Cloud-based scanners are used to find vulnerabilities within cloud-based systems such as web applications, WordPress, and Joomla.

2. Host-Based Vulnerability Scanners

Host-based scanners are used to find vulnerabilities on a single system such as an individual computer or a network device like a switch or core-router.

3. Network-Based Vulnerability Scanners

Network-based scanners are used to find vulnerabilities in an internal network by scanning for open ports. Services running on open ports determined whether vulnerabilities exist or not.

4. Database-Based Vulnerability Scanners

Database scanners are used to find vulnerabilities in database management systems and performed on database systems to prevent attacks like SQL Injection.

 

List of Vulnerability Scanning Tools

1. Acunetix

Acunetix is an automated web application security testing tool that audits your web applications by checking for vulnerabilities like SQL Injection, Cross site scripting and other exploitable vulnerabilities. In general, Acunetix scans any website or web application that is accessible via a web browser and uses the HTTP/HTTPS protocol.

Acunetix offers a strong and unique solution for analyzing off-the-shelf and custom web applications including those utilizing JavaScript, AJAX and Web 2.0 web applications. Acunetix has an advanced crawler that can find almost any file. This is important since what is not found cannot be checked.

2. Aircrack

Aircrack also is known as Aircrack-NG, is a set of tools used for assessing the WiFi network security. Aircrack-ng is a complete suite of tools to assess WiFi network security.

It focuses on different areas of WiFi security like Monitoring (Packet capture and export of data to text files for further processing by third party tools), Attacking (Replay attacks, deauthentication, fake access points and others via packet injection), Testing (Checking WiFi cards and driver capabilities), Cracking: WEP and WPA PSK for both WPA 1 and 2

It works primarily Linux but also Windows, OS X, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, as well as Solaris. This tool allows to retrieve the lost keys by capturing the data packets.

3. Arachni

Arachni is a feature-full, modular, high-performance Ruby framework aimed towards helping penetration testers and administrators evaluate the security of modern web applications. It is free, with its source code public and available for review.

This tool covers a variety of vulnerabilities and is updated regularly. Arachni is a free and open-source vulnerability tool that supports Linux, Windows, and macOS.

4. Comodo HackerProof

Comodo Hackerproof helps to reduce cart abandonment, perform daily vulnerability scanning, and use the included PCI scanning tools. With the patent-pending scanning technology, SiteInspector, it has a new level of security.

5. GoLismero

GoLismero is an open-source framework for security testing. It’s currently geared towards web security, but it can easily be expanded to other kinds of scans. GoLismero focuses on finding vulnerabilities on web applications but also can scan for vulnerabilities in the network as well.

6. Intruder

Intruder is a cloud-based vulnerability scanner that finds cyber security weaknesses in your digital infrastructure, to avoid costly data breaches. Intruder can help identify network vulnerabilities as well as provide quality reporting and suggestions. Intruder is suitable for enterprise-level vulnerability scanning as it can manage many network devices.

7. Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA)

The Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer has several vital features, including scanning your network service packets, checking for security updates or other windows updates, and more. It is the ideal tool for Windows users.

It’s excellent for helping to identify missing updates or security patches

8. Nessus Professional

Nessus scans cover a wide range of technologies including operating systems, network devices, hypervisors, databases, web servers, and critical infrastructure. The results of the scan can be reported in various formats, such as plain text, XML, HTML and LaTeX. The results can also be saved in a knowledge base for debugging.

The tool offers an extensive range of OS, Dbs, applications, and several other devices among cloud infrastructure, virtual and physical networks.

9. Netsparker

Netsparker helps you combat the cybersecurity skills gap and fully automate your web security processes. Netsparker automatically crawls and scans all types of legacy & modern web applications including HTML5, Web 2.0- and Single-Page Applications (SPA), as well as password-protected web assets.

This tool is also capable of finding vulnerabilities in thousands of web applications within a few hours.

10. Nexpose

Rapid7 Nexpose is a vulnerability scanner which aims to support the entire vulnerability management lifecycle, including discovery, detection, verification, risk classification, impact analysis, reporting and mitigation

Vulnerabilities are categorized by the tool according to their risk level and ranked from low to high. It’s capable of scanning new devices, so your network remains secure.

11. Nikto2

Nikto2 is an open-source vulnerability 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.

12. Nmap

Nmap (“Network Mapper”) is a free and open-source (license) utility for network discovery and security auditing. Many systems and network administrators also find it useful for tasks such as network inventory, managing service upgrade schedules, and monitoring host or service uptime. Nmap uses raw IP packets in novel ways to determine what hosts are available on the network, what services (application name and version) those hosts are offering, what operating systems (and OS versions) they are running, what type of packet filters/firewalls are in use, and dozens of other characteristics.

13. OpenSCAP

OpenSCAP is a free and open-source tool developed by communities. The OpenSCAP ecosystem provides multiple tools to assist administrators and auditors with assessment, measurement, and enforcement of security baselines. OpenSCAP only supports Linux platforms and vulnerability scanning on web applications, web servers, databases, operating systems, networks, and virtual machines.

14. OpenVAS

OpenVAS is a software framework of several services and tools offering vulnerability scanning and vulnerability management. All OpenVAS products are free software, and most components are licensed under the GNU General Public License.

OpenVAS receives updates daily, which broadens the vulnerability detection coverage. It also helps in risk assessment and suggests countermeasures for the vulnerabilities detected.

15. Retina CS Community

Retina CS Community is an open-source web-based console that will enable you to make a more centralized and straightforward vulnerability management system. Retina CS Community has features like compliance reporting, patching, and configuration compliance, and because of this, you can perform an assessment of cross-platform vulnerability

16. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager

The vulnerability assessment tool features that it includes addresses a specific type of vulnerability that many other options do not, such as misconfigured networking equipment. This feature sets it apart from the rest. The primary utility as a vulnerability scanning tool is in the validation of network equipment configurations for errors and omissions.

17. W3AF

W3AF is a free and open-source tool known as Web Application Attack and Framework. This tool is an open-source vulnerability scanning tool for web applications. It creates a framework which helps to secure the web application by finding and exploiting the vulnerabilities.