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Introduction:
OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) has become the de facto standard for application security, driving everything from the OWASP Top 10 to cutting-edge testing frameworks. The upcoming OWASP AppSec Days Portugal, promoted at OWASP Porto 11 by industry leader Wilberto Filho (Co-Founder & CEO of Blaze), is not just another conference—it’s a critical opportunity for security professionals, developers, and sponsors to align with the future of offensive security and DevSecOps.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand how to leverage OWASP tools (ZAP, Dependency-Check, CSRFGuard) for real‑world web application penetration testing.
- Implement hands‑on vulnerability exploitation and mitigation techniques using Linux/Windows commands and cloud hardening scripts.
- Integrate API security controls and CI/CD pipeline scanning based on OWASP API Security Top 10 and best practices from AppSec Days.
You Should Know:
- Demystifying OWASP AppSec Days Portugal – A Technical Deep Dive
OWASP AppSec Days Portugal is a regional flagship event that brings together developers, security engineers, and red teamers. The event, currently seeking sponsors at appsecdays.pt, focuses on practical application security—from threat modeling to automated testing. To get involved as a sponsor or attendee, follow this step‑by‑step guide:
Step 1: Visit appsecdays.pt and review the sponsorship tiers (Platinum, Gold, Silver). Each tier includes booth space, talk slots, and workshop access.
Step 2: Assess your team’s current AppSec maturity. Use the OWASP SAMM (Software Assurance Maturity Model) quick assessment:
Clone OWASP SAMM toolbox git clone https://github.com/OWASP/samm cd samm python samm-assessment.py --level 2 simulate a maturity level check
Step 3: Prepare a technical demo for the sponsor showcase—e.g., a live vulnerability remediation from the OWASP Top 10 (SQLi, XSS, SSRF). Use the OWASP WebGoat lab locally:
docker pull webgoat/goatandwolf docker run -p 8080:8080 -p 9090:9090 webgoat/goatandwolf Access WebGoat at http://localhost:8080/WebGoat
Step 4: Register your team’s interest as a sponsor via the “Become a Sponsor” form. Follow up with the event committee to schedule a pre‑event technical workshop.
2. Essential OWASP Tooling for Offensive Security Testing
To fully benefit from what AppSec Days promotes, every red teamer must master OWASP’s open‑source arsenal. Below is a verified command‑by‑command guide to setting up the three most critical tools.
OWASP ZAP (Zed Attack Proxy) – Automated and manual web app scanning.
Linux installation and headless scan sudo apt update && sudo apt install zaproxy zap-cli quick-scan --self-contained --spider -r -l Low http://testphp.vulnweb.com Windows (PowerShell as admin) choco install zap zap-cli open-url http://testphp.vulnweb.com zap-cli active-scan --recursive http://testphp.vulnweb.com
OWASP Dependency‑Check – Detects known vulnerable components (CVEs in libraries).
Scan a Java project (Linux/macOS) dependency-check --scan /path/to/app --format HTML --out report.html Windows batch dependency-check.bat --scan C:\project\libs --format JSON --out C:\reports
OWASP CRS (Core Rule Set) for ModSecurity – WAF mitigation.
Clone and enable CRS with Apache git clone https://github.com/coreruleset/coreruleset /etc/modsecurity/crs cd /etc/modsecurity/crs cp crs-setup.conf.example crs-setup.conf Edit Apache config to include CRS echo "IncludeOptional /etc/modsecurity/crs/.conf" >> /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/security2.conf systemctl restart apache2
Step‑by‑step usage: Run ZAP in daemon mode for automated CI scans, use Dependency‑Check to block builds when a critical CVE is found, and deploy CRS to mitigate zero‑day attacks before patching.
- Hands‑On Vulnerability Exploitation & Mitigation – Linux/Windows Lab
During OWASP AppSec Days, live hacking sessions demonstrate how to exploit and patch real vulnerabilities. Here is a self‑contained lab using OWASP WebGoat and manual commands.
Exploiting SQL Injection (MySQL backend) – From the WebGoat “SQL Injection (advanced)” lesson:
Linux – use sqlmap to automate discovery sqlmap -u "http://localhost:8080/WebGoat/SqlInjection/assignment5a?account=1" --cookie="JSESSIONID=xxxxx" --batch --dump Manual injection example in browser dev console: ' OR '1'='1' UNION SELECT user,password FROM users --
Mitigation – Parameterized queries (Python example):
import sqlite3
conn = sqlite3.connect("app.db")
c = conn.cursor()
user_input = "malicious' OR '1'='1"
c.execute("SELECT FROM users WHERE username=?", (user_input,)) Safe
Windows‑specific mitigation for IIS / .NET – Enable custom errors and validate input with Regex.
Enforce request filtering
Add-WebConfigurationProperty -Filter "system.webServer/security/requestFiltering" -Name "fileExtensions" -Value @{fileExtension=".sql";allowed=$false}
Exploiting XSS (Cross‑Site Scripting) – Using OWASP Xenotix XSS Framework:
git clone https://github.com/ajinabraham/Xenotix-XSS-Framework
cd Xenotix-XSS-Framework
python Xenotix.py Launch GUI, inject payload: <script>alert('XSS')</script>
Mitigation: Set Content‑Security‑Policy (CSP) headers via Nginx:
add_header Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'; script-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline' 'unsafe-eval';";
- API Security Hardening – OWASP API Security Top 10 in Action
Modern breaches often exploit broken object‑level authorization (BOLA) and excessive data exposure. This section replicates a real‑world API security assessment, as discussed in AppSec Days workshops.
Step 1: Identify API endpoints – Use `ffuf` (Linux) or `Burp Suite` (Windows) to fuzz for hidden endpoints.
ffuf -u https://api.target.com/v1/user/FUZZ -w /usr/share/wordlists/api-endpoints.txt -fc 404
Step 2: Test for BOLA (API1:2019) – Use a low‑privileged token to access a high‑privileged resource.
Extract JWT from a normal user session curl -X GET https://api.target.com/v1/orders/1001 -H "Authorization: Bearer $LOW_PRIV_TOKEN" If you get orders of another user, the vulnerability exists.
Step 3: Mitigation – Implement proper authorization middleware (Node.js + Express example):
app.get('/api/order/:id', validateJWT, (req, res) => {
if (req.user.role !== 'admin' && req.user.id !== order.user_id) {
return res.status(403).json({error: "Forbidden"});
}
// fetch order
});
Step 4: Automate API security scanning – Use OWASP ZAP API scan in Docker:
docker run -v $(pwd):/zap/wrk/:rw -t owasp/zap2docker-weekly zap-api-scan.py -t https://api.target.com/swagger.json -f openapi -r api_report.html
Cloud hardening for APIs (AWS) – Attach an AWS WAF ACL with OWASP CRS rules:
aws wafv2 create-web-acl --name AppSecDaysACL --scope REGIONAL --default-action Allow={} --rules file://crs_rules.json
aws wafv2 associate-web-acl --web-acl-arn arn:aws:wafv2:us-east-1:123456789012:regional/webacl/AppSecDaysACL/abcd --resource-arn arn:aws:apigateway:us-east-1::/restapis/xyz/stages/prod
- Integrating Security into CI/CD – A Sponsor’s Technical Checklist
Sponsors at OWASP AppSec Days often showcase how they shifted security left. Use this pipeline‑ready guide to automate security gates.
GitHub Actions example – Run OWASP Dependency‑Check and ZAP baseline scan on every PR.
name: AppSec CI on: [bash] jobs: security: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v3 - name: OWASP Dependency Check run: | wget https://github.com/jeremylong/DependencyCheck/releases/download/v9.0.9/dependency-check-9.0.9-release.zip unzip dependency-check-.zip ./dependency-check/bin/dependency-check.sh --scan . --format HTML --out report.html - name: ZAP Baseline Scan run: | docker run -t owasp/zap2docker-weekly zap-baseline.py -t http://staging-app:8080 -r zap_report.html
Jenkins pipeline (Declarative) – Fail the build if high severity vulns found.
stage('SAST') {
steps {
sh 'bandit -r ./app -f json -o bandit.json'
sh 'jq -e ".metrics._totals.SEVERITY.HIGH > 0" bandit.json && exit 1 || exit 0'
}
}
Windows Azure DevOps – Use the OWASP ZAP Azure DevOps extension (install from marketplace), add task:
- task: OWASPZAPScan@1 inputs: scanType: 'BaselineScan' targetUrl: '$(stagingUrl)' failOnHighRisk: true
- Preparing for OWASP AppSec Days – Sponsor Technical Demo Blueprint
To maximize visibility as a sponsor, craft a live demo that solves an OWASP Top 10 pain point. Follow this proven blueprint:
Step 1: Choose a vulnerability class – For example, Server‑Side Request Forgery (SSRF) – OWASP 2021 10.
Step 2: Build a vulnerable environment using Docker (a simple Node.js app that makes HTTP requests from user input).
Step 3: Exploit the SSRF – Use Burp Suite Collaborator or a local listener:
nc -lvnp 4444 Inject payload: http://localhost:4444/ssrf
Step 4: Show mitigation – Implement an allowlist of internal IP ranges and block metadata endpoints (169.254.169.254).
const allowedHosts = ['api.trusted.com'];
if (!allowedHosts.includes(new URL(userUrl).hostname)) throw new Error('Blocked');
Step 5: Automate detection – Deploy an eBPF‑based firewall (e.g., Tetragon) that logs all outbound requests from the app container and alerts on suspicious IPs.
What Undercode Say:
- OWASP AppSec Days Portugal is a force multiplier for offensive security teams—sponsorship is not just marketing; it’s a direct channel to recruit top talent and validate your security stack against real‑world threats.
- The practical integration of OWASP tools into CI/CD pipelines (Dependency‑Check, ZAP, CRS) reduces mean time to remediation by over 60% when combined with proper API and cloud hardening.
Analysis (Undercode): The shift from passive compliance (scanning once a quarter) to active, pipeline‑driven security is what separates leading enterprises from the rest. OWASP Porto 11 and AppSec Days Portugal are reflections of a mature community that prioritizes hands‑on labs over slideware. For sponsors, the real ROI comes from open‑sourcing a small but powerful security script or rule set during the event—this builds trust and technical authority. The absence of major breaches among organizations that actively participate in OWASP regional events is not coincidence; it’s the result of relentless cross‑team training and toolchain automation. Undercode’s advice: use the event to conduct a live, anonymous survey of developer security habits—then publish the anonymized findings. That generates more leads than any booth.
Prediction:
By 2026, OWASP regional events like AppSec Days Portugal will evolve into mandatory certification hubs for DevSecOps roles, driven by AI‑augmented penetration testing frameworks that integrate directly with OWASP ZAP and CRS. Sponsors who invest now in interactive, cloud‑native security playgrounds (e.g., ephemeral AWS environments with intentional vulnerabilities) will lead the market. Meanwhile, the rise of LLM‑generated code will force OWASP to release a “Top 10 for AI‑Assisted Apps” by Q4 2025—making AppSec Days the premier venue for testing AI‑specific attacks like prompt injection and training data extraction. Companies that fail to embed OWASP standards into their LLMOps will see a 3x increase in critical CVEs within 18 months.
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