WASA — Web Application Security Assessment
Procurement-grade Web Application Security Assessment — design integrity, not just exploit-finding.
WASA is a structured, framework-mapped evaluation of how a web application withstands real-world attack behavior across architecture, business logic, APIs, session handling and authentication. Macksofy delivers WASA reports that drop directly into enterprise procurement, RBI / SEBI / DPDP submissions, and SOC 2 / ISO 27001 evidence packs — without the rework most pentest PDFs trigger.
- OWASP Top 10 (2021) + API Security Top 10 (2023)
- OWASP ASVS V4.0 (Application Security Verification Standard)
- SANS CWE Top 25
- NIST SP 800-53 (IA-5, SC-7) + NIST SP 800-115 v2 testing methodology
- ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A.5, A.8 + ISO/IEC 27002:2022
- PCI DSS v4.0 (clauses 6.x + 8.2.6 session controls)
- OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications (2025) — for AI surfaces in scope
- CERT-In empanelled submission format (for Indian regulator inputs)
- RBI Master Direction on IT Governance (Nov 2023) Annex-1 (for BFSI scopes)
Compliance is leverage, not paperwork.
A modern enterprise buyer (and an increasing share of Indian BFSI auditors) doesn't want a raw pentest PDF. They want a Web Application Security Assessment that proves design integrity, maps every finding to a recognised control framework (OWASP Top 10, ASVS V4.0, SANS CWE Top 25, ISO 27001 Annex A, PCI DSS), and surfaces compound risk — the chained low-severity flaws that combine into account takeover, lateral movement or tenant-bleed. The 2025 State of Continuous Pentesting report attributes 96% of vulnerabilities in the last 12 months to web applications, and most of them are not zero-days; they are weak session controls, exposed API metadata and misconfigured headers that look minor in isolation but combine into compound exposure. Macksofy's WASA programme is purpose-built for that reality, with dual-layered AI-augmented + manual testing, threat-modelled scoping, and RFP-ready reporting that satisfies enterprise InfoSec, CERT-In format submission and the RBI Master Direction on IT Governance (November 2023) Annex-1 evidence the inspector reads.
- B2B SaaS shipping enterprise security questionnaires (CAIQ, SIG, Shared Assessments)
- Fintech / lending / payment-aggregator licensees needing RBI-format AppSec evidence
- Healthtech / US-PHI GCC operators needing HIPAA Security Rule §164.308–312 evidence
- BPO / KPO + IT-services majors with customer-third-party-AppSec-standard obligations
- Public-sector and ministry-adjacent operators on the Digital India ecosystem
- AI / LLM product companies adding OWASP LLM Top 10 (2025) coverage on AI surfaces
Aligned to the regulations that matter.
How we run a WASA Audit engagement.
Interactive walkthrough — every phase clickable, every activity documented, every artefact regulator-ready.
Wk 1 · Threat-Modelled Scoping
- Architecture review and trust-boundary mapping with CTO + AppSec lead
- Authorisation matrix discovery role-by-role (tenant / role / api-key / admin)
- Sensitive-data flow inventory (PII, PHI, payment, regulated-financial-data)
- Engagement letter with production safe-harbour + rules of engagement
- 01Wk 1 · Threat-Modelled Scoping
- Architecture review and trust-boundary mapping with CTO + AppSec lead
- Authorisation matrix discovery role-by-role (tenant / role / api-key / admin)
- Sensitive-data flow inventory (PII, PHI, payment, regulated-financial-data)
- Engagement letter with production safe-harbour + rules of engagement
- 02Wk 2 · AI-Augmented Recon & DAST Baseline
- Authenticated and unauthenticated surface map (Burp Pro, Caido, Nuclei)
- Misconfiguration, exposed-endpoint, insecure-header, CORS gap discovery
- Known-CVE / dependency-vulnerability triage against the deployed stack
- Dynamic attack-surface mapping for the manual phase to chain into
- 03Wk 3 · Manual Context-Aware Testing
- Authentication & session — brute-force, MFA flow tampering, session fixation, token replay, refresh-token rotation, JWT algorithm confusion
- Access control — broken object-level access (BOLA), IDOR chaining, tenant-bleed, SCIM impersonation, role-misassignment
- API behaviour — fuzzing, parameter pollution, endpoint over-exposure, rate-limit bypass
- Business logic — order manipulation, unauthorised workflow branching, billing abuse, design-flaw exploitation
- Error & info leakage — debug-trace exposure, verbose error handling, stack metadata in UI responses
- 04Wk 4 · Chained Exploit Modelling
- Combine low-severity findings into compound exploit narratives (account takeover, privilege escalation, data leakage)
- Map each chain to MITRE ATT&CK techniques where applicable
- Validate proof-of-exploit with reproducible curl / Burp .req / Python harness
- Tie every finding to the threat-model output and the framework control it violates
- 05Wk 5 · RFP-Ready Reporting
- Executive summary in buyer-readable language (InfoSec + procurement)
- Framework crosswalk per finding (OWASP, ASVS, SANS CWE Top 25, ISO 27001 Annex A, PCI DSS)
- CERT-In empanelled format + RBI Master Direction Annex-1 mapping where Indian scope applies
- Vendor-pack annex for customer-security-questionnaire attachment (CAIQ, SIG, Shared Assessments)
- 06Wk 6 · Remediation & Validation
- 60-day re-test of every Critical and High finding at no extra cost
- Updated severity scoring with clean validation output per finding
- Engineer-readable remediation guidance with reproducible repros
- Risk-register sync to the customer's GRC tool (Archer / ServiceNow IRM / Vanta / Drata)
Everything you need to satisfy auditors.
- WASA report with framework-mapped findings (OWASP Top 10, ASVS V4.0, SANS CWE Top 25, ISO 27001 Annex A, PCI DSS)
- Reproducible exploit code (curl / Burp .req / Python) per High and Critical finding
- Chained-exploit narrative with MITRE ATT&CK technique mapping
- Threat-model output document — architecture, trust boundaries, authorisation matrix
- CERT-In empanelled submission-format report for Indian regulator scope
- Vendor-pack annex for enterprise procurement (CAIQ, SIG, Shared Assessments) attachment
- 60-day re-test of every Critical and High at no extra cost
- Post-engagement risk-register sync to GRC tool (Archer / ServiceNow IRM / Vanta / Drata)
Annual WASA tied to next SOC 2 Type II audit + customer-procurement evidence pack
Outcome: 23 chained-exploit findings closed pre-disclosure; report shipped as vendor-pack annex for 18 enterprise RFPs over the next 12 months; SOC 2 Type II audit cleared with zero AppSec findings carried forward.
WASA + CERT-In submission-format report + RBI Master Direction Annex-1 crosswalk
Outcome: Three settlement-flow abuse paths closed pre-disclosure; one indirect-prompt-injection-via-RAG path on the AI customer-service assistant closed; RBI DPSS thematic review cleared with zero clarifications.
WASA + HIPAA Security Rule §164.308–312 evidence + DPDP §16 cross-border-transfer attestation
Outcome: Three SCIM impersonation paths closed; HIPAA evidence pack accepted by two US-customer compliance functions on first read; DPDP §16 attestation accepted by sponsor DPO.
The shape of a WASA Audit engagement.
Every number below is grounded in how Macksofy actually runs the engagement — not aspirational marketing copy.
What we actually examine.
Each pillar is a distinct workstream inside the engagement — scoped, evidenced, and signed off independently before the audit pack is assembled.
- Authentication & session integrity3 pts
- Access control & multi-tenant authz3 pts
- API behaviour3 pts
- Business logic3 pts
- Error & info leakage3 pts
- AI / LLM application surface3 pts
Where most procurement-questionnaire callouts originate — auth flows, MFA tampering, session lifecycle.
- Brute-force resistance, MFA flow tampering, credential stuffing
- Session fixation, token replay, refresh-token rotation
- JWT algorithm confusion, audience-claim handling, PKCE enforcement
Broken Object Level Authorisation (BOLA) remains OWASP API Top 10 #1 — exercised role-by-role.
- BOLA + IDOR chaining across every role boundary
- Tenant-bleed and shared-store impersonation
- SCIM impersonation paths in enterprise-customer-driven SaaS
Modern web apps are API surfaces — fuzzing, rate-limit and endpoint over-exposure are first-class scope.
- Input fuzzing, parameter pollution, mass-assignment
- Endpoint over-exposure and shadow-API discovery
- Rate-limit bypass and abuse-case testing on partner-API trust chains
The flaws automation cannot find — design-level abuse paths tied to real business impact.
- Order / billing / workflow manipulation
- Unauthorised workflow branching and state-machine abuse
- Privilege escalation through legitimate-looking sequences
Verbose errors and stack traces hand attackers the exploit blueprint — removed at source.
- Debug / verbose error suppression at the application boundary
- Stack-metadata and tech-stack-disclosure removal
- Header hygiene (HSTS, CSP, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options)
OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications (2025) coverage on any AI feature in scope.
- Direct + indirect prompt-injection (via RAG corpus or upstream customer data)
- Tool-use abuse on agent reasoning
- Training-data exfiltration via inference-API probing
From kick-off to regulator-ready report.
The horizontal flow below shows the typical week-by-week shape of a WASA Audit engagement. Click any station for detail in the methodology section above.
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