It’s been almost 2 years since the last update on Nikto, which was version 2.

For those that don’t know, Nikto is an Open Source (GPL) web server scanner which performs comprehensive tests against web servers for multiple items, including over 3500 potentially dangerous files/CGIs, versions on over 900 servers, and version specific problems on over 250 servers. Scan items and plugins are frequently updated and can be automatically updated (if desired).

Nikto is not designed as an overly stealthy tool. It will test a web server in the shortest timespan possible, and it’s fairly obvious in log files. However, there is support for LibWhisker’s anti-IDS methods in case you want to give it a try (or test your IDS system).

Changes

This version has gone through significant rewrites under the hood to how Nikto works, to make it more expandable and usable.

• Rewrite to the plugin engine allowing more control of the plugin structure and making it easier to add plugins
• Rewrite to the reporting engine allowing reporting plugins to cover more and also ensuring that output is written if Nikto is quit before finishing
• Large overhaul of documentation to document built-in methods and variables
• Addition of caching to reduce amount of calls made to the web servers, as well as a facility to disable smart 404 guessing.
• Addition of simple guessing for whether a system is an embedded device and to report what it is
• Plugin to use OWASPs dictionary lists to attempt to brute force directories on the remote web server (as mutate 6)
• Plugin to attempt to brute force domains (as mutate 5)
• Allow username guessing (mutate 3 and 4) to use a dictionary file as well as brute forcing
• Support for NTLM authentication
• Lots of bug fixes and new security checks

You can download Nikon 2.1.0 here:

nikto-current.tar.gz

Plugins and DB can be found here.

Or read more here.

Another one that has been a long time coming, but finally here it is! Nikto 2.

Nikto is an Open Source (GPL) web server scanner which performs comprehensive tests against web servers for multiple items, including over 3500 potentially dangerous files/CGIs, versions on over 900 servers, and version specific problems on over 250 servers. Scan items and plugins are frequently updated and can be automatically updated (if desired).

Nikto is not designed as an overly stealthy tool. It will test a web server in the shortest timespan possible, and it’s fairly obvious in log files. However, there is support for LibWhisker’s anti-IDS methods in case you want to give it a try (or test your IDS system).

Not every check is a security problem, though most are. There are some items that are “info only” type checks that look for items that may not have a security flaw, but the webmaster or security engineer may not know are present on the server. These items are usually marked appropriately in the information printed. There are also some checks for unknown items which have been seen scanned for in log files.

Version 2 adds a ton of enhancements, including:

• Fingerprinting web servers via favicon.ico files
• 404 error checking for each file type
• Enhanced false positive reduction via multiple methods: headers, page content, and content hashing
• Scan tuning to include or exclude entire classes of vulnerability checks
• Uses LibWhisker 2, which has its own long list of enhancements
• A “single” scan mode that allows you to craft an HTTP request manually
• Basic template engine so that HTML reports can be easily customized
• An experimental knowledge base for scans, which will allow regenerated reports and retests (future)
• Optimizations, bug fixes and more…

You can download Nikto 2 here:

nikto-current.tar.gz

Or read more here.