What is OpenVAS?

OpenVAS stands as a comprehensive vulnerability scanning tool offering both unauthenticated and authenticated testing, along with support for a wide array of internet and industrial protocols. It is designed to handle large-scale scans efficiently and features an advanced internal scripting language for crafting custom vulnerability tests. The vulnerability tests, sourced from a feed with a longstanding history of daily updates, enable the scanner to detect a range of security weaknesses.

Since its inception in 2006, OpenVAS has been actively developed by Greenbone. It is an integral component of the Greenbone Enterprise Appliance—a commercial suite for vulnerability management. Within this suite, OpenVAS joins with other open-source modules to constitute the Greenbone Community Edition.

Range of functions

• Automated Scanning: It can automatically scan multiple systems for thousands of known vulnerabilities.
• Scheduled Scans: Users can schedule scans to run at specific times, reducing manual oversight and ensuring regular monitoring.
• High and Low-Level Protocol Support: OpenVAS can interact with a variety of network protocols, which is crucial for in-depth network security analysis.
• Performance Tuning: It can be tuned for performance to handle large-scale scans, making it suitable for larger networks.
• Vulnerability Tests: The scanner uses a feed of Network Vulnerability Tests (NVTs), which are daily updated scripts used to detect security holes in networked systems.
• Authentication Testing: OpenVAS can perform tests with or without credentials, providing the ability to simulate an attack from both an outsider (without credentials) and an insider (with credentials).
• Greenbone Security Assistant (GSA): This is a web-based interface that allows for easy management of vulnerability scanning and assessment.
• Greenbone Security Assistant (GSM): A tool within the Greenbone Enterprise Appliance for managing and coordinating the vulnerability scanning process across multiple scanners.
• False Positive Management: It includes features to fine-tune scans and reduce false positives, helping to prioritize actual risks.
• Compliance Testing: OpenVAS can check systems against compliance standards, ensuring that they meet specific security requirements.
• Report Generation: It can generate detailed reports on the scan results, which can be used for audit and compliance purposes as well as to inform IT and security teams about the vulnerabilities.
• Extensibility: The scanner's internal programming language allows users to develop their own tests for customized needs, which is beneficial for organizations with specific security requirements.
• Community Feed: It utilizes a community feed for vulnerability tests, which is a comprehensive, regularly updated database of vulnerability checks.
• Full Feature Access via APIs: It offers APIs for integration with other systems, allowing for automated workflows and inclusion in DevSecOps practices.
• Integration with Other Security Tools: OpenVAS can integrate with third-party security tools and services for enhanced security operations and threat intelligence.

User-friendliness

• User-Friendly Interface: OpenVAS offers a streamlined web-based interface, the Greenbone Security Assistant, which provides a user-friendly experience even for those less familiar with vulnerability scanning tools.
• Configurable Scan Templates: It comes equipped with a range of pre-configured scan templates and allows for easy customization, facilitating both quick scans and more targeted assessments.
• Comprehensive Reporting: OpenVAS generates in-depth reports that highlight vulnerabilities with severity ratings and remediation advice, useful for both technical staff and stakeholders needing to understand security postures.
• Ready-to-Use Features: With default settings that are optimized for immediate use, OpenVAS enables users to start scanning their systems right away with minimal setup required.
• Tailored Scan Options: OpenVAS caters to advanced users by allowing them to create tailored scans with its powerful internal programming language, providing the flexibility to meet specific security analysis needs.
• Educational Resources and Community: A strong community and a plethora of guides, how-tos, and forums are available, supporting both newcomers and experienced users in leveraging OpenVAS effectively.
• Robust Integration: OpenVAS can be integrated with various other security solutions and IT management systems, enhancing its utility within an organization's existing security ecosystem.

What OpenVAS is missing?

OpenVAS is a comprehensive open-source vulnerability scanner, notable for its depth of scanning capabilities. However, it may present challenges for some users and organizations. Its user interface, while fully functional, lacks the polished ease of commercial alternatives, potentially steepening the learning curve. Technical proficiency is needed for setup and maintenance, as commercial support is absent, with reliance instead on community-driven assistance. The plug-in database is expansive, yet it may not be as current as those from proprietary tools with dedicated teams. OpenVAS's less commercial nature might affect its adoption in organizations that favor established brand recognition, especially where compliance is concerned. While OpenVAS offers a wide array of features, it might not match the cutting-edge analytics and user management features of paid solutions. It could underperform in large network environments and may require extra steps to optimize for high-volume scans. OpenVAS's detection accuracy is generally reliable, but users may encounter a higher rate of false positives, (as reported in some articles and posts) increasing the workload for security teams. Integrating OpenVAS with other tools is feasible but not always straightforward, lacking the plug-and-play integration of its commercial counterparts.

“In theory... but is it ? Let's TEST it!”

Nessus in practice

Review

User-friendliness:

Installation and setup:

• The CLI installation was tens of copy-paste commands that in the end didn't work, so I tried to use Docker and the installation was very easy. In the end, it still didn't work.

Error feedback:

• The whole framework was an error and we couldn't make it to work.

Conclusions

In Theory OpenVAS is very promising but it fell completely flat when we tried to run it. We've tried multiple troubleshooting steps and a different VM, which yield the same results.

Where to get OpenVAS?

Official documentation: Link