Frieren DAST-AI
Frieren DAST-AI is an open-source dynamic application security testing tool combining an HTTPS MITM proxy with a real-time dashboard and LLM-driven multi-agent active scanner. A YAML-based passive rule engine (62 rules covering headers, cookies, CORS, secrets, error pages, LLM endpoint detection, and Blazor-specific checks) flags issues on every intercepted response, while an LLM planner dispatches parallel VulnAgents (xss, sqli, ssrf, file_read, auth_bypass, secrets, discovery, llm_injection, business_logic, blazor) per endpoint, with an LLM validator confirming findings and adaptive WAF-bypass payload mutation.
What it is
Frieren DAST-AI is KnowBe4's open-source DAST tool. Beyond the proxy/dashboard/multi-agent scanner the summary describes, the repo page gives the concrete operational shape: how you stand it up, an unusual AWS-SSO dependency, a cross-host token-sharing feature, and where sensitive material lands on disk.
How it works
Traffic flows through the MITM proxy (port 8080), into an in-memory session store, then forks: a passive YAML scanner fires zero-request checks on every response, while in-scope entries queue for active scanning by an LLM coordinator (planner → parallel VulnAgents → LLM validator), pushed to the dashboard (port 8088) over WebSocket.
One capability not in the summary: it auto-detects that multiple hosts belong to the same microservice app via shared JWTs, common parent domain, correlation headers (X-Trace-ID, traceparent), and shared session cookie name+value. It then shares tokens across hosts — the auth agent reuses tokens on sibling hosts, and SSRF probes are aimed at discovered internal services. Merge/split is manual-overridable.
Preconditions / Affected
- An LLM backend is mandatory for the coordinator, agents, and validator — pick a provider via
AI_PROVIDERin.env. - Setup assumes AWS SSO:
make sso-configureonce, thenmake ssoper session/when the token expires.make proxyand the desktop launcher inheritAWS_PROFILE/AWS_ACCESS_KEY_IDfrom your shell. - You must install the tool's CA cert into the browser/OS trust store for TLS interception to work.
- Desktop launcher needs Node.js + npm.
What to do
Standard bring-up, in order (SSO steps precede the proxy):
make setup
make sso-configure # first time only
make sso # once per session / on token expiry
make proxyThen set the browser HTTP proxy to 127.0.0.1:8080, install the CA cert from http://127.0.0.1:8088/ca.crt (one-time), and open the dashboard at http://127.0.0.1:8088.
Optional native window (spawns the same backend):
make desktop-install # first run, ~200MB
make desktop
make desktop PROXY_PORT=9090 DASHBOARD_PORT=9099Passive checks are YAML in dast/passive_rules/ — adding a rule is a new file, no code. Payloads live in dast/payloads/*.yaml. Scan-engine toggles (workers, concurrency, passive/active, planner/validator) are in AI > Settings, applied at runtime without restart.
Caveats
- The desktop bundles produced by
make desktop-dist-*are launcher-only (Phase 1): the packaged app still assumesuvand the checked-out repo are present at runtime — it does not bundle the Python backend. - The CA private key is written to
~/.dast-ai/ca.key, alongside session JSON in~/.dast-ai/sessions/— treat that directory as sensitive. - Rule-count is inconsistent on the page (diagram says 47, text says "62 rules loaded at startup"); 62 is the startup figure.
Technologies named here
- Frieren DAST-AI
- HTTPS MITM Proxy
- Passive Scanner
- Coordinator
- VulnAgents
- Dashboard
- Electron desktop launcher
- Playwright
- electron-builder
- Electron
- AWS SSO
Techniques named here
- Passive vulnerability scanning
- Active vulnerability scanning via parallel agents
- LLM-based WAF bypass payload mutation
- Multi-host application correlation
- Security header checks
- Information disclosure detection
- Cache control checks
- Cookie flag checks
- CORS misconfiguration detection
- Secrets detection
- Error page / injection artifact detection
- LLM endpoint detection and prompt injection/leak checks
- Blazor framework-specific checks
- HTTP/2 CONTINUATION flood probe
- Discovery checks
- Pre-authenticated session scanning
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