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Nikto Cheat Sheet

nikto is an open-source web server vulnerability scanner that tests for dangerous files, outdated software, misconfigurations, and known vulnerabilities.

Basic Scan

nikto -h http://example.com

Scan HTTPS Target

nikto -h https://example.com

Specify Port

nikto -h example.com -p 8080

Scan Multiple Hosts

nikto -h hosts.txt

Tuning Scan Types

nikto -Tuning 123b

Common tuning options: - 1 → Interesting files - 2 → Misconfiguration - 3 → Information disclosure - 4 → Injection - b → Software identification

Authentication

Basic Auth

nikto -h http://example.com -id admin:password

nikto -h http://example.com -C PHPSESSID=abcdef

SSL / TLS Testing

nikto -h https://example.com -ssl

Ignore SSL errors: 

nikto -h https://example.com -ssl -noverify

Proxy Support

nikto -h http://example.com -useproxy http://127.0.0.1:8080

Evade IDS

nikto -h http://example.com -evasion 1

Evasion techniques: - Random URI encoding - Fake headers

Output Formats

nikto -h http://example.com -o result.txt
nikto -h http://example.com -o result.html -Format html
nikto -h http://example.com -o result.xml -Format xml

Update Nikto Database

nikto -update

Typical Workflow

nikto -h http://target
Review findings
Validate manually
Exploit with Burp / Metasploit

Common Issues

False positives

Always manually verify findings.

Slow scans

Nikto is not stealthy and can be slow.

  • burpsuite
  • nmap
  • wpscan
  • whatweb

Use Cases

  • Web server security assessment
  • Misconfiguration discovery
  • Legacy application testing

Danger

Use Nikto only on systems you own or have explicit permission to test.