Vulnerability Categories

Detectify detects a wide range of vulnerability types across web applications, APIs, and infrastructure. Each finding is classified using CWE (Common Weakness Enumeration)  identifiers — the industry-standard taxonomy for categorizing security weaknesses. See the full list of covered CWEs in the Detectify test catalogue .

Injection Vulnerabilities

Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)

XSS vulnerabilities allow attackers to inject malicious scripts into web pages viewed by other users. Detectify tests for:

• Reflected XSS — Malicious input is reflected back in the response without proper sanitization
• Stored XSS — Malicious input is persisted (for example, in a database) and served to other users
• DOM-based XSS — Client-side JavaScript processes untrusted data in an unsafe way

Related CWE: CWE-79 

SQL Injection (SQLi)

SQL injection occurs when user input is incorporated into SQL queries without proper parameterization. Attackers can extract, modify, or delete database contents. Detectify tests for error-based, blind, and time-based SQL injection across various database engines.

Related CWEs: CWE-89 , CWE-943 

Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)

SSRF vulnerabilities allow attackers to make the server issue requests to arbitrary destinations, including internal services that are not directly accessible. This can lead to access to metadata services, internal APIs, and cloud provider credentials.

Related CWE: CWE-918 

Remote Code Execution (RCE)

RCE vulnerabilities allow attackers to execute arbitrary code on the server. These are typically the most critical findings and can result from deserialization flaws, template injection, or other server-side weaknesses.

Related CWEs: CWE-94 , CWE-502 , CWE-1336 

Command Injection

Command injection occurs when user input is passed to operating system commands without proper sanitization. Attackers can execute arbitrary system commands, potentially gaining full control of the server.

Related CWEs: CWE-78 , CWE-77 

Path Traversal

Path traversal (also called directory traversal) allows attackers to access files outside the intended directory by manipulating file path parameters. This can expose configuration files, source code, or sensitive system files.

Related CWEs: CWE-22 , CWE-23 , CWE-36 

XML External Entity (XXE)

XXE vulnerabilities exist in applications that parse XML input. An attacker can define external entities that read local files, make network requests, or cause denial of service.

Related CWE: CWE-611 

Prompt Injection

Prompt injection targets applications that integrate large language models (LLMs). Attackers craft inputs that manipulate the LLM’s behavior, potentially bypassing safety controls, extracting system prompts, or causing unintended actions. Detectify tests for prompt injection in both web application forms and API endpoints.

Related CWE: CWE-1336 

Additional Injection Types

Authentication and Access Control

Detectify identifies weaknesses in authentication and authorization mechanisms:

• Authentication bypass — Accessing resources without proper credentials (CWE-287 , CWE-306 )
• Broken access control — Accessing resources beyond assigned privileges (CWE-284 , CWE-285 )
• Default credentials — Services accessible with known default username/password combinations (CWE-798 )
• CSRF — Cross-site request forgery, forcing authenticated users to perform unintended actions (CWE-352 )

Information Disclosure

Detectify identifies cases where applications inadvertently reveal sensitive data:

• Sensitive data in responses — Credentials, API keys, internal paths, or PII exposed in web responses (CWE-200 )
• Directory listings — Web server directories exposed without index files (CWE-548 )
• Verbose error messages — Stack traces or debug information revealed to users (CWE-209 )
• Sensitive file exposure — Backup files, configuration files, or source code accessible via the web (CWE-538 )

Infrastructure Vulnerabilities

Subdomain Takeover

Subdomain takeover occurs when a DNS record points to a service that has been deprovisioned. An attacker can claim the orphaned service and serve malicious content on your subdomain. Detectify monitors for dangling DNS records across common cloud providers.

SSL/TLS Issues

SSL/TLS vulnerabilities include:

• Expired or soon-to-expire certificates
• Weak cipher suites (CWE-326 )
• Outdated protocol versions (SSLv3, TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1)
• Missing or misconfigured HSTS headers
• Certificate chain issues (CWE-295 )

Security Misconfiguration

Detectify detects security misconfigurations across the application stack, including exposed admin panels, default configurations, missing security headers, and overly permissive CORS policies.

Related CWE: CWE-16 

CWE Coverage

Detectify maps all findings to CWE  identifiers. The table below shows the top CWEs covered. Click any CWE to see the corresponding tests in the test catalogue .

CWE/SANS Top 25 Coverage

Detectify covers the majority of the CWE/SANS Top 25 Most Dangerous Software Weaknesses  that are detectable through runtime testing, including:

• CWE-79  (XSS), CWE-89  (SQL Injection), CWE-78  (OS Command Injection)
• CWE-22  (Path Traversal), CWE-352  (CSRF), CWE-434  (Unrestricted Upload)
• CWE-502  (Deserialization), CWE-918  (SSRF), CWE-611  (XXE)
• CWE-287  (Improper Authentication), CWE-862 /CWE-863  (Missing/Incorrect Authorization)
• CWE-20  (Improper Input Validation), CWE-306  (Missing Authentication)

Weaknesses primarily detectable through source code analysis — such as CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write), CWE-416 (Use After Free), and CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference) — are outside the scope of DAST testing.

References

• CWE — Common Weakness Enumeration 
• CWE/SANS Top 25 Most Dangerous Software Weaknesses 
• Detectify Test Catalogue