# Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) **[ULTIMATE]**

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/4348)
in [GitLab Ultimate](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/) 10.4.

Running [static checks](../sast/index.md) on your code is the first step to detect
vulnerabilities that can put the security of your code at risk. Yet, once
deployed, your application is exposed to a new category of possible attacks,
such as cross-site scripting or broken authentication flaws. This is where
Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) comes into place.

## Overview

If you are using [GitLab CI/CD](../../../ci/README.md), you can analyze your running web application(s)
for known vulnerabilities using Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST).

You can take advantage of DAST by either [including the CI job](#configuring-dast) in
your existing `.gitlab-ci.yml` file or by implicitly using
[Auto DAST](../../../topics/autodevops/index.md#auto-dast-ultimate)
that is provided by [Auto DevOps](../../../topics/autodevops/index.md).

GitLab checks the DAST report, compares the found vulnerabilities between the source and target
branches, and shows the information right on the merge request.

![DAST Widget](img/dast_all.png)

By clicking on one of the detected linked vulnerabilities, you will be able to
see the details and the URL(s) affected.

![DAST Widget Clicked](img/dast_single.png)

[Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_Application_Security_Testing)
is using the popular open source tool [OWASP ZAProxy](https://github.com/zaproxy/zaproxy)
to perform an analysis on your running web application.

By default, DAST executes [ZAP Baseline Scan](https://github.com/zaproxy/zaproxy/wiki/ZAP-Baseline-Scan) and will perform passive scanning only. It will not actively attack your application.

However, DAST can be [configured](#full-scan)
to also perform a so-called "active scan". That is, attack your application and produce a more extensive security report.
It can be very useful combined with [Review Apps](../../../ci/review_apps/index.md).

## Use cases

It helps you automatically find security vulnerabilities in your running web
applications while you are developing and testing your applications.

## Requirements

To run a DAST job, you need GitLab Runner with the
[`docker`](https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/executors/docker.html#use-docker-in-docker-with-privileged-mode) or
[`kubernetes`](https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/install/kubernetes.html#running-privileged-containers-for-the-runners)
executor running in privileged mode. If you're using the shared Runners on GitLab.com,
this is enabled by default.

## Configuring DAST

To enable DAST in your project, define a job in your `.gitlab-ci.yml` file that generates the
[DAST report artifact](../../../ci/yaml/README.md#artifactsreportsdast-ultimate).

This can be done in two ways:

- For GitLab 11.9 and later, including the provided DAST `.gitlab-ci.yml` template (recommended).
- Manually specifying the job definition. Not recommended unless using GitLab
  11.8 and earlier.

### Including the provided template

NOTE: **Note:**
The CI/CD DAST template is supported on GitLab 11.9 and later versions.
For earlier versions, use the [manual job definition](#manual-job-definition-for-gitlab-115-and-later).

A CI/CD [DAST template](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/blob/master/lib/gitlab/ci/templates/Security/DAST.gitlab-ci.yml)
with the default DAST job definition is provided as a part of your GitLab
installation which you can [include](../../../ci/yaml/README.md#includetemplate)
in your `.gitlab-ci.yml` file.

To enable DAST using the provided template, add the following to your `.gitlab-ci.yml`
file:

```yaml
include:
  template: DAST.gitlab-ci.yml

variables:
  DAST_WEBSITE: https://example.com
```

The included template will create a `dast` job in your CI/CD pipeline and scan
your project's source code for possible vulnerabilities.

The report will be saved as a
[DAST report artifact](../../../ci/yaml/README.md#artifactsreportsdast-ultimate)
that you can later download and analyze. Due to implementation limitations we
always take the latest DAST artifact available. Behind the scenes, the
[GitLab DAST Docker image](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/dast)
is used to run the tests on the specified URL and scan it for possible vulnerabilities.

There are two ways to define the URL to be scanned by DAST:

- Set the `DAST_WEBSITE` [variable](../../../ci/yaml/README.md#variables).
- Add it in an `environment_url.txt` file at the root of your project.

#### Authenticated scan

It's also possible to authenticate the user before performing the DAST checks:

```yaml
include:
  template: DAST.gitlab-ci.yml

variables:
  DAST_WEBSITE: https://example.com
  DAST_AUTH_URL: https://example.com/sign-in
  DAST_USERNAME: john.doe@example.com
  DAST_PASSWORD: john-doe-password
  DAST_USERNAME_FIELD: session[user] # the name of username field at the sign-in HTML form
  DAST_PASSWORD_FIELD: session[password] # the name of password field at the sign-in HTML form
  DAST_AUTH_EXCLUDE_URLS: http://example.com/sign-out,http://example.com/sign-out-2 # optional, URLs to skip during the authenticated scan; comma-separated, no spaces in between
```

The report will be saved as a
[DAST report artifact](../../../ci/yaml/README.md#artifactsreportsdast-ultimate)
that you can later download and analyze.
Due to implementation limitations, we always take the latest DAST artifact available.

#### Full scan

DAST can be configured to perform [ZAP Full Scan](https://github.com/zaproxy/zaproxy/wiki/ZAP-Full-Scan), which
includes both passive and active scanning against the same target website:

```yaml
include:
  template: DAST.gitlab-ci.yml

variables:
  DAST_FULL_SCAN_ENABLED: "true"
```

#### Customizing the DAST settings

The SAST settings can be changed through environment variables by using the
[`variables`](../../../ci/yaml/README.md#variables) parameter in `.gitlab-ci.yml`.
These variables are documented in the [DAST README](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/dast#settings).

For example:

```yaml
include:
  template: DAST.gitlab-ci.yml

variables:
  DAST_WEBSITE: https://example.com
  DAST_TARGET_AVAILABILITY_TIMEOUT: 120
```

Because the template is [evaluated before](../../../ci/yaml/README.md#include) the pipeline
configuration, the last mention of the variable will take precedence.

#### Overriding the DAST template

If you want to override the job definition (for example, change properties like
`variables` or `dependencies`), you need to declare a `dast` job after the
template inclusion and specify any additional keys under it. For example:

```yaml
include:
  template: DAST.gitlab-ci.yml

dast:
  stage: dast # IMPORTANT: don't forget to add this
  variables:
    DAST_WEBSITE: https://example.com
    CI_DEBUG_TRACE: "true"
```

As the DAST job belongs to a separate `dast` stage that runs after all
[default stages](../../../ci/yaml/README.md#stages),
don't forget to add `stage: dast` when you override the template job definition.

### Manual job definition for GitLab 11.5 and later

For GitLab 11.5 and GitLab Runner 11.5 and later, the following `dast`
job can be added:

```yaml
dast:
  image: registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/zaproxy
  variables:
    website: "https://example.com"
  allow_failure: true
  script:
    - mkdir /zap/wrk/
    - /zap/zap-baseline.py -J gl-dast-report.json -t $website || true
    - cp /zap/wrk/gl-dast-report.json .
  artifacts:
    reports:
      dast: gl-dast-report.json
```

Where the `website` variable holds the URL to run the tests against.

For an authenticated scan, use the following definition:

```yaml
dast:
  image: registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/zaproxy
  variables:
    website: "https://example.com"
    login_url: "https://example.com/sign-in"
    username: "john.doe@example.com"
    password: "john-doe-password"
  allow_failure: true
  script:
    - mkdir /zap/wrk/
    - /zap/zap-baseline.py -J gl-dast-report.json -t $website
        --auth-url $login_url
        --auth-username $username
        --auth-password $password || true
    - cp /zap/wrk/gl-dast-report.json .
  artifacts:
    reports:
      dast: gl-dast-report.json
```

See the [zaproxy documentation](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/zaproxy)
to learn more about the authentication settings.

### Manual job definition for GitLab 11.4 and earlier (deprecated)

CAUTION: **Caution:**
Before GitLab 11.5, DAST job and artifact had to be named specifically
to automatically extract report data and show it in the merge request widget.
While these old job definitions are still maintained they have been deprecated
and may be removed in next major release, GitLab 12.0. You are strongly advised
to update your current `.gitlab-ci.yml` configuration to reflect that change.

For GitLab 11.4 and earlier, the job should look like:

```yaml
dast:
  image: registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/zaproxy
  variables:
    website: "https://example.com"
  allow_failure: true
  script:
    - mkdir /zap/wrk/
    - /zap/zap-baseline.py -J gl-dast-report.json -t $website || true
    - cp /zap/wrk/gl-dast-report.json .
  artifacts:
    paths: [gl-dast-report.json]
```

## Security Dashboard

The Security Dashboard is a good place to get an overview of all the security
vulnerabilities in your groups and projects. Read more about the
[Security Dashboard](../security_dashboard/index.md).

## Interacting with the vulnerabilities

Once a vulnerability is found, you can interact with it. Read more on how to
[interact with the vulnerabilities](../index.md#interacting-with-the-vulnerabilities).