Wafw00f¶

Overview¶

WAFW00F (Web Application Firewall Fingerprinting Tool) is a Python-based security tool used to detect and identify Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) protecting a target web application. It helps penetration testers and security researchers understand what security mechanisms are in place before performing further testing.

By analyzing HTTP responses, headers, and behavior patterns from a target website, WAFW00F determines whether a WAF is present and, if so, identifies the specific vendor or technology being used.

Key Features¶

Detects the presence of a Web Application Firewall (WAF).
Identifies over 100+ known WAF vendors and services.
Provides fingerprinting based on HTTP responses, headers, and status codes.
Supports testing via command-line or Python integration.
Useful for reconnaissance during penetration testing and vulnerability assessments.

Installation¶

You can install WAFW00F using pip:

pip install wafw00f

Alternatively, you can clone the GitHub repository:

git clone https://github.com/EnableSecurity/wafw00f.git
cd wafw00f
python setup.py install

Check if the installation was successful:

wafw00f -h

Usage¶

Basic Scan¶

To scan a target website for a WAF:

wafw00f https://example.com

Explanation:

The tool sends crafted HTTP requests to the target.
It observes the responses and determines if a WAF is present.
It identifies the WAF vendor if possible.

Example Output:

Checking https://example.com
The site https://example.com is behind Cloudflare (Cloudflare Inc.)
Number of requests: 6

Scan Multiple Targets¶

You can scan multiple targets from a file:

wafw00f -i targets.txt

Where targets.txt contains a list of URLs, one per line.

Save Results to a File¶

To save scan results for reporting:

wafw00f https://example.com -o result.txt

Verbose Output¶

To get detailed information during scanning:

wafw00f -v https://example.com

Example in a Workflow¶

Scenario:
During a web penetration test, before launching automated scanners (like Nikto or sqlmap), a tester runs WAFW00F to check if the site is protected by a WAF.

Command:

wafw00f https://targetsite.com

Result:

The site https://targetsite.com is behind AWS WAF (Amazon Web Services)

The tester then adjusts their scanning strategy (for example, using slower scan rates or payload obfuscation) to evade WAF detection.

Common Options¶

Option	Description
`-v`	Verbose mode
`-a`	Run all tests
`-i <file>`	Input file with multiple URLs
`-o <file>`	Output results to file
`-h`	Show help message

Practical Use Cases¶

Reconnaissance Phase: Identify WAF protection before further exploitation.
Bypass Planning: Adjust payloads and scanning techniques to evade detection.
Red Team Operations: Understand target’s security perimeter.
Security Audits: Validate if WAF deployment is functioning correctly.

Summary¶

Category	Details
Tool Name	WAFW00F
Developed By	Sandro Gauci (EnableSecurity)
Language	Python
Purpose	Detect and identify Web Application Firewalls
Use Case	Reconnaissance and penetration testing

Reference¶

Official GitHub Repository: https://github.com/EnableSecurity/wafw00f
Documentation: https://wafw00f.readthedocs.io/

Would you like me to add a section for integrating WAFW00F with Python scripts (for automation inside your cybersecurity toolkit)?