How to run a Python 3 script in OWASP ZAP

Question

OWASP ZAP is a security testing tool used for web application security. How can a Python 3 script be executed within OWASP ZAP for automation and testing?

Answer 1

OWASP ZAP (Zed Attack Proxy) is a widely used tool for web application security testing. While ZAP supports scripting through Jython (a Python 2.7 implementation in Java), it does not natively support running Python 3 scripts within its internal scripting environment.

However, you can utilize Python 3 to automate and control ZAP externally by interacting with its REST API. This approach allows you to leverage Python 3's capabilities for automation and testing tasks.

Using Python 3 to Control OWASP ZAP via the REST API

1. Install the ZAP Python API Client

   To interact with ZAP using Python 3, install the ZAP Python API client (python-owasp-zap-v2.4) using pip:

   pip install python-owasp-zap-v2.4

2. Start OWASP ZAP

   Launch ZAP in daemon mode to run it without the graphical user interface:

   java -jar zap.jar -daemon

   Alternatively, start ZAP normally and ensure the API is enabled.

3. Configure the API Key

   Set or retrieve the API key in ZAP:

   • Navigate to Tools > Options > API in the ZAP interface.
   • Generate or note the existing API key.

4. Develop the Python 3 Script

   Use the ZAP Python API client to interact with ZAP. Here's an example script that performs a basic scan:

   from zapv2 import ZAPv2
   import time
   
   # Configuration
   api_key = 'your_api_key_here'
   zap_proxy = 'http://127.0.0.1:8080'
   target_url = 'http://example.com'
   
   # Initialize ZAP instance
   zap = ZAPv2(apikey=api_key, proxies={'http': zap_proxy, 'https': zap_proxy})
   
   # Access target URL
   zap.urlopen(target_url)
   time.sleep(2)  # Wait for the URL to be loaded
   
   # Start Spider
   print(f'Starting Spider on {target_url}')
   spider_id = zap.spider.scan(target_url)
   time.sleep(2)
   
   # Wait for Spider to complete
   while int(zap.spider.status(spider_id)) < 100:
       print(f'Spider progress: {zap.spider.status(spider_id)}%')
       time.sleep(2)
   print('Spider completed')
   
   # Start Active Scan
   print(f'Starting Active Scan on {target_url}')
   scan_id = zap.ascan.scan(target_url)
   time.sleep(2)
   
   # Wait for Active Scan to complete
   while int(zap.ascan.status(scan_id)) < 100:
       print(f'Active Scan progress: {zap.ascan.status(scan_id)}%')
       time.sleep(5)
   print('Active Scan completed')
   
   # Retrieve and display alerts
   alerts = zap.core.alerts(baseurl=target_url)
   for alert in alerts:
       print(f"Alert: {alert['alert']}, Risk: {alert['risk']}")

   This script performs the following actions:

   • Initializes a connection to the ZAP proxy using the provided API key and proxy settings.
   • Accesses the target URL to ensure ZAP is aware of it.
   • Initiates a spider scan to crawl the website and discover pages and links.
   • Performs an active scan to identify vulnerabilities.
   • Retrieves and displays the alerts (vulnerabilities) found during the scans.

Considerations

• API Key Matching: Ensure that the API key used in your Python script matches the one configured in ZAP.

• Error Handling: Implement appropriate error handling in your script to manage exceptions and ensure robust execution.

• Performance: Be mindful of the resources consumed by ZAP during scans, especially for large or complex applications, to avoid performance issues.

By following this approach, you can effectively use Python 3 to automate and control OWASP ZAP for web application security testing.