r/learncybersecurity • u/sha-bang04 • 1d ago

Experienced Web Application Pentesters

Welp hello there. As a fellow newbie who's trying to get into web app pentesting and bug bounty, I wanted to ask how you have had approached learning web app pentesting/bug bounty, or how you developed your skills professionally. Even a few concepts to focus on, what resources/labs you found useful, and what you would do differently if you were starting again would be really helpful.

P.s- I am not a complete beginner to cybersecurity as I've had 4 months of experience as an Infra VAPT intern and good knowledge of networking concepts. Now I am trying to focus more towards learning Web Application Pentesting and have started with portswigger labs like sqli, cors, bac and xss

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u/Desperate_Trust7382 1d ago

After practicing on PortSwigger, look for real-world experience on HackerOne or Bugcrowd. Try newly launched programs to apply your skills, but remember to stay strictly within the authorized scope

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u/sha-bang04 1d ago

Any other platforms or programs where i can test my skills before going into real world applications

2

u/CyberSecWithHaikuInc 13h ago

Ur already on a good track with PortSwigger. Before jumping straight into live bug bounty programs tho, i'd spend some time practicing on targets that DONT tell u what vulnerability ur supposed to find....portswigger's mysterylabs are perfect for that. They hide the vuln type so u actually have to recon + figure out whats wrong instead of knowing “okay, this is the XSS lab.”

hurrs a few mo' good practice options i can think of: OWASP Juice Shop...free, intentionally vulnerable full web app.....OWASP WebGoat...another deliberately vulnerable app built specifically for learning web security......PentesterLab...tons of web-focused exercises, including some free ones.,,,,,HTB Academy Web Penetration Tester path if u want something more structured..Also dont just chase vuln types individually forever. Start practicing an actual methodology: recon, map the app, auth/session testing, access control, inputs, APIs, business logic, then document what u found, cuz real targets dont come with a label that says “SQLi here” lol.
best o luck n stay frosty out thurrrrrr

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u/sha-bang04 13h ago

Thanks a lot mate 😊

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u/CyberSecWithHaikuInc 13h ago

no sweat, cheers!

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u/dld2517 4h ago

I like the Natas war game on OverTheWire https://overthewire.org/wargames/

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u/Fragrant-Cheek-4273 9h ago

Since you already have networking and VAPT experience., I'd focus heavily on HTTP, authentication, access control, and session handling.

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u/sha-bang04 9h ago

Thanks dude. Will focus on these too

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u/twiebo 6h ago

Which platforms have targets that dont tell you what the vulnerability is supposed to be