CtrlK
BlogDocsLog inGet started
Tessl Logo
SkillPublic

common-pentest-methodology

PTES-aligned penetration testing methodology for backend, frontend, and mobile. Provides attack taxonomy, exploit techniques per vulnerability class, and platform-specific test matrices. Use when executing pentest workflow, planning security assessments, mapping attack surfaces, or building threat models.

Quality

83%

Does it follow best practices?

Run evals on this skill

Adds up to 20 points to the overall score

View guide
SecuritybySnyk

Low

Low-risk findings worth noting

SKILL.md
Quality
Evals
Security

Penetration Testing Methodology (PTES-Aligned)

Priority: P0 (CRITICAL)

Always-Apply Rules

  • No Exploit = No Report: Every finding requires reproducible Proof-of-Concept. Hypotheses without PoC are discarded.
  • No Production Testing: All dynamic probes target local/staging only. Confirm authorization before Phase 1.
  • No Single-Platform Bias: Assess backend, frontend, AND mobile surfaces when in-scope.

Workflow

Load alongside /pentest workflow. Provides methodology backbone for all 7 phases.

  1. Scope → Define test mode (whitebox/greybox/blackbox), platforms, exclusions.
  2. Recon → Build asset inventory per platform. See platform-recon.
  3. Threat Model → Rank endpoints by risk. See threat-modeling.
  4. Analyze → Run vulnerability matrix across all domains. Load common-owasp, common-security-audit, common-dast-tooling.
  5. Exploit → Validate each finding with PoC. See exploit-techniques.
  6. Post-Exploit → Assess blast radius, lateral movement, privilege escalation.
  7. Report → Audit-grade output with CVSS scoring. See report-template and compliance-mapping.

Platform Coverage Matrix

DomainBackend/APIFrontend/WebMobile (iOS/Android)
InjectionSQLi, CMDi, NoSQLi, LDAPiTemplate injection, DOM sinksContent provider SQLi, Intent injection
XSSResponse encodingDOM XSS, innerHTML, framework bypassesWebView loadUrl, JavaScript bridges
AuthJWT, OAuth, Session, MFAToken storage, session managementKeychain/Keystore, biometric bypass
AuthZBOLA/IDOR, BFLA, Mass AssignmentClient-side role gatesLocal permission checks without server
SSRFHTTP client + user URLSSR with user-supplied URLCustom scheme fetching arbitrary URLs
Business LogicRace conditions, workflow bypassClient-only validation, price tamperIAP bypass, receipt validation skip
CryptoWeak hash, missing TLSHTTP calls, weak CSPMissing cert pin, cleartext traffic
ConfigCORS, debug mode, headersSource maps, debug flags in proddebuggable=true, ATS exceptions
Deps/SCAnpm audit, pip-audit, cargo auditBundle vuln analysispod audit, Gradle dependency scan
SecretsEntropy + regex + livenessSecrets in JS bundlesKeys in BuildConfig/Info.plist
LLM/AIPrompt injection, excessive agencyOutput to DOM sinksAgent tools without confirmation

Continuous & Compliance Execution

  • Continuous Testing: Execute Delta scans on PRs or Replay regression PoCs. See continuous-pentest.
  • Compliance Mapping: Map findings to SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, or OWASP MASVS. See compliance-mapping.

Anti-Patterns

  • No "scan and dump": Raw tool output not a pentest. Correlate findings across SAST + DAST + manual.
  • No severity inflation: Theoretical risk without exploit evidence ≠ confirmed vulnerability.
  • No happy-path-only: Test error states, edge cases, race conditions, not just golden flow.

References

Repository

HoangNguyen0403/agent-skills-standard

Path

.agents/skills/common/common-pentest-methodology/SKILL.md

Last updated
First committed

Is this your skill?

If you maintain this skill, you can claim it as your own. Once claimed, you can manage eval scenarios, bundle related skills, attach documentation or rules, and ensure cross-agent compatibility.