Web applications are among the most vulnerable systems to external cyber threats. Therefore, it is essential to perform regular security scans. OWASP ZAP (Zed Attack Proxy) is a free and open-source security scanning tool. It can automatically detect common web vulnerabilities such as XSS, SQL Injection, and CSRF. In this article, we will explain step by step how to scan a website using OWASP ZAP and find security vulnerabilities.

1. What is OWASP ZAP?

It is an open-source "web vulnerability scanner" tool developed by OWASP.
It can work with both GUI (graphical interface) and CLI (command-line interface).
It can be used with both manual testing (as a proxy) and automated scanning methods.

2. Installation

It can be downloaded from the official site: https://www.zaproxy.org/download/
It offers support for Windows, Linux, and macOS.
Docker container or terminal interface versions are also available.

3. Website Scanning Steps

A) Finding Vulnerabilities with Automatic Scan:

Start OWASP ZAP.
Enter the target URL in the "Quick Start" tab: https://www.examplewebsite.com
Start the scan by clicking the "Attack" button.
When the scan is complete, the detected vulnerabilities are listed in the "Alerts" tab.

B) Manual Detection with Proxy Mode:

Set OWASP ZAP as a proxy (default: localhost:8080).
Set HTTP Proxy to 127.0.0.1:8080 in browser settings.
Transfer all requests in the session to ZAP by browsing the website normally.
Then, you can perform a detailed scan by doing an "Active Scan" on the relevant requests.

4. Some Vulnerabilities It Can Detect

Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
SQL Injection
Command Injection
Directory Traversal
Insecure Headers
Cookie security vulnerabilities
Server Banner Disclosure

5. Reporting

You can get a report in the following ways when the scan is complete:

Via GUI: Report > Generate Report
With CLI: zap.sh -cmd -quickurl https://examplewebsite.com -quickout report.html
HTML, XML, or JSON formats are supported.

6. Things to Consider

OWASP ZAP should be used for ethical testing. You may face legal liability if you use it on sites you do not own or have permission to test.
Intensive scans can cause performance issues on weak servers.

OWASP ZAP is an important tool in web application security testing, both with its easy interface for beginners and advanced configurations for experts. The data obtained as a result of the scan helps developers make their systems more secure. It provides effective process management when used within ethical rules.