Exploring the Command 'dirsearch': A Comprehensive Guide with Examples

dirsearch is a powerful and widely used web path scanner designed to help security professionals and web developers identify potential vulnerabilities and hidden directories on web servers. By scanning web servers for common paths, extensions, and specific configurations, dirsearch aids in understanding web application structures, assessing possible security flaws, and enhancing system security.

Use Case 1: Scan a Web Server for Common Paths with Common Extensions

Code:

dirsearch --url http://example.com --extensions-list

Motivation:

Scanning a web server for common paths with common extensions is critical in early-stage web security assessments. This step helps identify directories and files that may be exposed due to default configurations or overlooked by developers, thereby revealing potential attack vectors.

Explanation:

• --url http://example.com: This argument specifies the target URL of the web server that you wish to scan. By providing the full URL, dirsearch aims its scanning capability at your specific target.
• --extensions-list: This option tells dirsearch to scan using a predefined list of common extensions. This list often includes extensions like .html, .js, .css, among others. These extensions are crucial for identifying resource files on a web server that could be unintentionally exposed to users.

Example Output:

[+] URL: http://example.com
[+] Starting: Tue Oct 10 09:00:00 2023
[+] 200 OK: admin (http://example.com/admin)
[+] 200 OK: login.php (http://example.com/login.php)
[+] TASK COMPLETED

Use Case 2: Scan a List of Web Servers for Common Paths with the .php Extension

Code:

dirsearch --url-list path/to/url-list.txt --extensions php

Motivation:

When testing multiple web servers, it’s efficient to scan all at once rather than one by one. Particularly, scanning for PHP files, which are common in web applications, can identify potentially misconfigured or outdated PHP scripts that might be vulnerable to attacks.

Explanation:

• --url-list path/to/url-list.txt: This argument specifies a file that contains a list of URLs or IPs of web servers to be scanned. Each entry in the list acts as an individual target for the scan.
• --extensions php: Using this option, dirsearch focuses exclusively on files with the .php extension, which is prevalent in web development for server-side scripting.

Example Output:

[+] URL: http://alpha.example.com
[+] Found: login.php (http://alpha.example.com/login.php)
[+] URL: http://beta.example.org
[+] TASK COMPLETED

Use Case 3: Scan a Web Server for User-Defined Paths with Common Extensions

Code:

dirsearch --url http://example.com --extensions-list --wordlist path/to/url-paths.txt

Motivation:

Customizing scans with a user-defined wordlist allows for greater flexibility and focus, targeting only the directories and files deemed pertinent to the specific context or web application structure, likely bypassing the traditional options and reaching deeper insights.

Explanation:

• --url http://example.com: This specifies the target website.
• --extensions-list: This uses the common list of extensions for scanning.
• --wordlist path/to/url-paths.txt: This directive tells dirsearch to use a custom list of paths for targeted scanning, which is particularly useful when you know specific areas that might need security assessments.

Example Output:

[+] URL: http://example.com
[+] 200 OK: custom-path (http://example.com/custom-path)
[+] TASK COMPLETED

Use Case 4: Scan a Web Server Using a Cookie

Code:

dirsearch --url http://example.com --extensions php --cookie PHPSESSID=abc123

Motivation:

Certain web pages or directories are only accessible after authentication or certain cookies are set, which can be due to user log-in sessions or other cookie-based access control. This use case is vital for testing security levels on authenticated sessions.

Explanation:

• --url http://example.com: The target URL input.
• --extensions php: Limiting the search to PHP files.
• --cookie PHPSESSID=abc123: This provides dirsearch with the necessary cookie value that might be required to access certain parts of the site, which is crucial during authenticated scans where session cookies are mandatory.

Example Output:

[+] URL: http://example.com
[+] Using cookies: PHPSESSID=abc123
[+] 200 OK: dashboard.php (http://example.com/dashboard.php)
[+] TASK COMPLETED

Use Case 5: Scan a Web Server Using the HEAD HTTP Method

Code:

dirsearch --url http://example.com --extensions php --http-method HEAD

Motivation:

The HEAD HTTP method is instrumental in scenarios where you only need metadata (header information) about the resource instead of the entire body. This method is less resource-intensive and faster, which can be advantageous when testing the reachability and status of web pages without downloading their full content.

Explanation:

• --url http://example.com: Directs the scanner to the target website.
• --extensions php: To focus on PHP file extensions during scanning.
• --http-method HEAD: Specifies that the HTTP HEAD method is used. This retrieves headers, which are often sufficient to check existing directories while reducing bandwidth usage.

Example Output:

[+] URL: http://example.com
[+] HTTP method: HEAD
[+] Found: report.php (HTTP Status: 200 OK)
[+] TASK COMPLETED

Use Case 6: Scan a Web Server, Saving the Results to a .json File

Code:

dirsearch --url http://example.com --extensions php --json-report path/to/report.json

Motivation:

Saving the scan results in a JSON format is advantageous for integration with other tools or future reference. This structured data format is versatile, parseable, and allows further processing or storage in databases and can be analyzed programmatically.

Explanation:

• --url http://example.com: The target web server URL.
• --extensions php: Searches for PHP file extensions.
• --json-report path/to/report.json: Instructs dirsearch to output results into a specified JSON file, thus preserving scan data in a structured format for subsequent examination and reporting.

Example Output:

JSON Report generated at path/to/report.json

Conclusion:

The dirsearch tool is a versatile and powerful utility in the toolkit of any cybersecurity professional or web developer aiming to ensure web server security and resilience. These specific use cases demonstrate how dirsearch can be leveraged in various contexts to detect potential weak points in web applications and infrastructure, each tailored to different settings and scanning requirements.