Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) Technical Audit

A Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) Technical Audit is a systematic process to identify, assess, and exploit vulnerabilities in IT assets—including networks, applications, servers, and endpoints—to evaluate their real-world risk exposure.

Below is a comprehensive table format that outlines the VAPT audit scope, checks, and evidence requirements.

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🛡️ VAPT Technical Audit – Checklist Table

#	Category	Audit Control / Activity	Expected Evidence / Output
1	Scoping & Planning	Define in-scope IPs, URLs, systems, cloud, APIs	Signed scope document, NDA, authorization form
2		Determine black-box, grey-box, or white-box approach	Test plan, attack vector strategy
3	Network Scanning	Perform port and service enumeration	Nmap results, TCP/UDP port scans
4		Identify live hosts and open ports	Host discovery logs
5	Vulnerability Scanning	Use automated tools for known CVEs and misconfigs	Nessus/OpenVAS/Qualys scan reports
6		OS and software patch level review	Patch status report, unpatched CVE list
7	Web Application Testing	Test for OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities (XSS, SQLi, CSRF, etc.)	Burp Suite/ZAP reports, screenshots
8		Authentication, session, and input validation flaws	Token replay tests, session hijacking results
9		Insecure APIs and exposed admin interfaces	Postman/API scanner logs, HTTP request samples
10	System/Server Testing	Check for default credentials, outdated services	Exploit attempts, service version analysis
11		File permission misconfigurations	Config dumps, ls -la outputs, server screenshots
12	Wireless Testing	Identify rogue access points or weak encryption	Wi-Fi scanner logs, WPA/WEP crack tests
13	Credential & Password Audit	Test for weak passwords and hash cracking (if permitted)	Password policy doc, hash dump reports, cracking attempts
14	Privilege Escalation	Attempt to escalate privileges on hosts	whoami, sudo/root logs, shell screenshots
15	Social Engineering (if in scope)	Simulated phishing or USB drops	Email templates, click-through rate, result dashboard
16	Cloud Security (if in scope)	S3 bucket exposure, IAM misconfigurations	ScoutSuite/Prowler outputs, cloud policy screenshots
17	Reporting & Risk Rating	Assign CVSS scores and rank vulnerabilities by risk	VAPT Report with CVSS ratings and executive summary
18	Remediation Verification	Retest resolved issues post-fix	Delta scan report, fixed vulnerability screenshots

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🎯 Output of VAPT Audit

Deliverable	Description
Executive Summary	Non-technical overview for management
Detailed VAPT Report	Vulnerabilities, severity (CVSS), impacted assets, PoC
Screenshots/Proof of Concept (PoC)	Visual evidence of exploits or findings
Risk Matrix	High/Medium/Low classification
Remediation Plan	Fix recommendations for each issue
Post-Remediation Report	Comparison report showing resolved vs. outstanding issues

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🧰 Tools Commonly Used

Area	Tools
Network Scanning	Nmap, Netcat, Angry IP Scanner
Vulnerability Scanning	Nessus, Qualys, OpenVAS, Nexpose
Web App Testing	Burp Suite, OWASP ZAP, Nikto
Exploitation	Metasploit, SQLMap, Hydra
Cloud Security	Prowler, ScoutSuite, CloudSploit
Password Testing	Hashcat, John the Ripper, Hydra

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Would you like:

• A downloadable VAPT Audit Report Template (Word format)?
• A sample risk heat map?
• Or a VAPT checklist (Excel) for internal or third-party audits?