Veracode DAST vs w3af

Veracode DAST scans live web applications and REST APIs for security vulnerabilities. It can test authenticated or unauthenticated assets, including applications behind firewalls, and inspect API endpoints and workflows to validate business logic. Scans can run automatically or on a schedule, with configurable depth, speed, and accuracy; the cloud-native engine is designed for hundreds of assets across environments. Veracode reports a false positive rate below 5%. CI/CD connections are available through webhooks or the Veracode CLI, and reports can be downloaded as PDF, JUnit, or CSV files. A Quick scan takes approximately three to five minutes and runs non-invasive checks for basic misconfigurations. API scans require an OpenAPI 2.0 or 3.0 specification in JSON or YAML; HAR files are not supported. A free 14-day trial is available through the Veracode Platform, while pricing is on request. The service is offered as SaaS with hybrid deployment options. Veracode reports SOC 2 Type II attestation and a FedRAMP Moderate Authority to Operate for its cloud-based application security platform.

w3af is a free, open-source web application security scanner for vulnerability assessments and penetration tests. It can identify more than 200 vulnerabilities, including cross-site scripting, SQL injection, and OS command injection. Its workflow starts with crawler plugins that find URLs and injection points, continues with audit plugins that check for vulnerabilities, and can use attack plugins to exploit findings. Other plugin types cover infrastructure detection, request and response analysis, output, brute force, request modification, and evasion.

Users can scan and analyze results in a GTK graphical interface or a console. Web application payloads can interact with Metasploit when an exploit provides exec() capability. Developers can use the REST API from development languages and run it in Docker; scripts and the API also support automation. The project documents Linux and macOS installation, including running in Docker without installing w3af dependencies. It is available for Linux, macOS, web, API, and self-hosted deployment. REST API traffic over HTTP is unencrypted, so the documentation recommends added protection such as an SSL proxy for publicly reachable deployments.