Manual Security Testing
Learn manual security testing techniques to find complex vulnerabilities that automated tools miss. Essential for testing business logic and application-specific security flaws.
Why Manual Testing is Essential
Automated tools excel at finding common vulnerabilities like SQL injection and XSS, but miss business logic flaws and application-specific security issues. Manual testing by skilled testers finds critical vulnerabilities that automation cannot detect.
Manual Security Testing Checklist
Follow these 12 steps for thorough manual security testing. Critical items require skilled testers and should be completed before launch.
Business logic testing
Test application-specific workflows for logic flaws that could lead to unauthorized actions or privilege escalation.
Authentication bypass testing
Manually test authentication mechanisms for bypass vulnerabilities that automated tools cannot detect.
Authorization matrix testing
Verify access controls across different user roles and permissions to identify privilege escalation paths.
Session management review
Test session token generation, expiration, fixation, and secure transmission manually.
Input validation testing
Manually craft malicious inputs to test for injection vulnerabilities, XSS, and validation bypass.
File upload testing
Test file upload functionality with malicious files, path traversal attempts, and unrestricted file types.
Error message analysis
Trigger errors to check for information leakage in error messages like stack traces or database details.
Client-side security review
Inspect client-side code for sensitive data exposure, insecure API keys, and validation bypass opportunities.
Rate limiting verification
Manually test rate limiting effectiveness on authentication endpoints and API calls.
Race condition testing
Test for time-of-check-time-of-use vulnerabilities in concurrent operations like payments or inventory.
API abuse testing
Test for mass assignment, parameter pollution, and other API-specific vulnerabilities.
Document findings
Create detailed reports with severity ratings, reproduction steps, and remediation recommendations.
Common Manual Testing Scenarios
Payment Flow Manipulation
CriticalTesting checkout processes for price manipulation, discount abuse, or inventory bypass vulnerabilities.
User Role Escalation
CriticalAttempting to access admin functions or elevate privileges through parameter tampering or direct object reference.
Workflow Bypass
HighTesting multi-step processes for steps that can be skipped or reordered to bypass security controls.
Data Export Abuse
HighTesting export functionality for unauthorized data access or excessive data exposure vulnerabilities.
Related Resources
Combine Manual and Automated Testing
The best security programs combine automated scanning with skilled manual testing. Use VibeEval to handle automated vulnerability detection so your team can focus on complex business logic testing.
Start Free Security Scan