Scan your app against the OWASP Top 10
The OWASP Top 10 is a widely used awareness document that ranks the most critical web application security risks. AuditWard runs an OWASP Top 10 vulnerability scan and tags each finding to the category it belongs to, so you get evidence lined up against a list your reviewers already know.
What the OWASP Top 10 is.
The OWASP Top 10 ranks the most critical web application security risks, compiled from breach data, CVE and CWE analysis, and community input. The 2021 edition, A01 Broken Access Control through A10, is the most cited. OWASP published a 2025 edition that keeps Broken Access Control at the top and raises Security Misconfiguration.
Because the Top 10 is a direct catalog of web vulnerability classes, it is the framework most closely aligned with what a web scanner detects. Categories like Security Misconfiguration, Cryptographic Failures, Injection, and Vulnerable and Outdated Components map cleanly onto specific scanner checks, which is why an OWASP Top 10 web application scan is a practical first read on your risk posture.
How AuditWard supports your OWASP Top 10 work.
AuditWard maps real scanner checks to the OWASP categories they touch and tags each finding with a category reference such as owasp:A01. The table below shows which categories an external scan covers well and which tooling drives each check. Coverage depth varies by category, and the honesty notes further down spell out the gaps.
| OWASP category | What AuditWard checks | Tooling |
|---|---|---|
| Security Misconfiguration | HTTP security headers, CORS policy, exposed directories and files, insecure HTTP methods, and server-config defaults. | curl, Nuclei, Gobuster, WhatWeb |
| Cryptographic Failures | TLS protocol and cipher analysis, weak-cipher detection, and insecure cookie flags such as missing Secure or HttpOnly. | testssl.sh, curl |
| Injection | XSS and SQLi indicators from probe templates and analysis of how the app responds to crafted input. | Nuclei |
| Vulnerable and Outdated Components | Software and version fingerprinting to flag known-vulnerable frameworks, servers, and libraries. | WhatWeb, Nuclei |
| Identification and Authentication Failures | Default-credential and exposed-login checks, run best-effort from an unauthenticated position. | Nuclei, curl |
Every confirmed issue carries a CVSS score, a remediation step, and references that often cite OWASP and the matching CWE. Those land in the pentest-style PDF report alongside annotated screenshots, so a reviewer can trace each finding back to its category. The broader scanning pillar is covered on the website security scan page.
What AuditWard does not do.
The OWASP Top 10 is an awareness list, not a certification or compliance standard, so there is nothing to be certified against and AuditWard makes no such claim. An external scan covers some categories well and others only partly. Read these limits before you treat a clean scan as full coverage.
No certification, no compliance verdict
There is no OWASP certificate to earn. AuditWard does not make your app compliant and does not issue a pass or fail against the Top 10. It produces evidence you can act on and hand to a reviewer.
Some categories need authenticated, logic-aware testing
An external, unauthenticated scan cannot fully cover categories that depend on application logic and signed-in state, such as Broken Access Control, Insecure Design, and Identification and Authentication failures. AuditWard probes them best-effort and is honest about the gap.
It does not replace a pentest or code review
AuditWard complements a manual penetration test and source-code review, it does not stand in for them. Deeper coverage of access control and design flaws still needs a human tester and access to the code.
Tags are LLM-assigned and need validation
Category tags are assigned by the Analyst agent and may not match the exact numbering across the 2021 and 2025 editions. Automated detection also yields false positives and negatives, so a security reviewer should validate the findings.
A note on PCI and ASV scans
If you are reaching for the OWASP Top 10 as part of a PCI program, note that AuditWard is not a PCI Approved Scanning Vendor. An external ASV scan from an approved vendor is still required for PCI DSS, and AuditWard does not provide or replace it. See the PCI DSS page for how the two fit together.
What to do with the evidence.
Treat the scan output as a working list, not a sign-off. Each finding carries its OWASP category, a CVSS score, and a remediation step, so your team can sort by category, fix the highest-risk items first, and keep the report as dated evidence. Then close the gaps an external scan cannot reach.
Group findings by OWASP category and severity. The categories an external scan covers well, like Security Misconfiguration and Cryptographic Failures, are usually quick wins worth clearing first.
Apply the remediation steps, then run the scan again to confirm the issue is gone. The before and after reports give you a clean evidence trail for each category you addressed.
For Broken Access Control, Insecure Design, and authentication flaws, plan a manual pentest or code review. The scan tells you where to focus that deeper work.
Team plans add compliance export, which packages findings and their framework tags so you can attach the OWASP mapping to a control or hand it to a reviewer. For related framework work, see SOC 2 and GDPR, or start from the compliance overview.
OWASP Top 10 questions.
Does AuditWard cover all ten OWASP categories?
Not fully. An external scan covers categories like Security Misconfiguration, Cryptographic Failures, Injection, and Vulnerable and Outdated Components well. Categories that depend on application logic and signed-in state, such as Broken Access Control and Insecure Design, are only partly reachable from the outside.
Can I get OWASP Top 10 certified with AuditWard?
No. The OWASP Top 10 is an awareness list, not a certification, so there is nothing to be certified against. AuditWard runs an OWASP Top 10 vulnerability scan, tags findings to the categories they touch, and gives you evidence to act on. It is not a certification.
Which OWASP edition do the tags follow?
Tags reference OWASP categories such as owasp:A01. They are assigned by the Analyst agent and may not match the exact numbering across the 2021 and 2025 editions, so confirm the category when you map a finding to a specific edition.
Does this replace a penetration test?
No. AuditWard complements a manual penetration test and a source-code review, it does not replace either. Deeper coverage of access control, business logic, and design flaws still needs a human tester with access to the application and its code.
How accurate are the findings?
Automated detection produces false positives and false negatives. Each finding carries a confidence score, a CVSS rating, and references, but a security reviewer should validate the results before you treat them as final.