nuclei
Nuclei is a fast, customizable vulnerability scanner powered by the global security community and built on a simple YAML-based DSL, enabling collaboration to tackle trending vulnerabilities on the internet. It helps you find vulnerabilities in your applications, APIs, networks, DNS, and cloud configurations.
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Quick Overview
Nuclei is a fast and customizable vulnerability scanner designed to probe applications for security issues. It uses a powerful and flexible templating engine to define and execute various security checks across multiple targets efficiently. Nuclei is widely used in bug bounty and penetration testing scenarios.
Pros
- Highly extensible with a large community-contributed template library
- Fast and efficient, capable of scanning multiple targets simultaneously
- Easy to use with a simple CLI interface and well-documented template format
- Supports various protocols including HTTP, DNS, TCP, and more
Cons
- Can potentially generate false positives if templates are not well-crafted
- Requires regular updates to maintain an up-to-date vulnerability database
- May be overwhelming for beginners due to the vast number of available templates
- Resource-intensive when running large-scale scans with numerous templates
Getting Started
To get started with Nuclei:
- Install Nuclei:
go install -v github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v2/cmd/nuclei@latest
- Run a basic scan:
nuclei -u https://example.com -t nuclei-templates/
- Update templates:
nuclei -update-templates
- Run a scan with custom templates:
nuclei -u https://example.com -t path/to/custom/templates/
For more advanced usage and configuration options, refer to the official documentation on the GitHub repository.
Competitor Comparisons
Fetch many paths for many hosts - without killing the hosts
Pros of meg
- Lightweight and focused on a single task (HTTP request fetching)
- Simple to use with minimal configuration required
- Fast execution for bulk HTTP requests
Cons of meg
- Limited functionality compared to Nuclei's extensive feature set
- Lacks built-in vulnerability scanning capabilities
- No templating system for custom checks or payloads
Code Comparison
meg:
meg -c 50 -d 1000 paths.txt hosts.txt
Nuclei:
nuclei -l targets.txt -t nuclei-templates/
Summary
meg is a straightforward tool for fetching HTTP endpoints in bulk, while Nuclei is a comprehensive vulnerability scanner with a rich templating system. meg excels in simplicity and speed for basic HTTP requests, but lacks the advanced scanning capabilities of Nuclei. Nuclei offers a more extensive feature set for security testing, including customizable templates and a wide range of pre-built checks. Choose meg for quick HTTP request tasks, and Nuclei for in-depth vulnerability scanning and security assessments.
Simple, fast web crawler designed for easy, quick discovery of endpoints and assets within a web application
Pros of hakrawler
- Lightweight and focused on web crawling and asset discovery
- Simple to use with minimal configuration required
- Fast execution for quick reconnaissance
Cons of hakrawler
- Limited functionality compared to Nuclei's extensive vulnerability scanning capabilities
- Lacks the ability to create custom templates for specific checks
- Smaller community and fewer updates compared to Nuclei
Code Comparison
hakrawler:
func crawl(url string, depth int) {
if depth <= 0 {
return
}
// Crawl logic here
}
Nuclei:
func (e *Engine) ExecuteTemplates() {
for _, template := range e.Templates {
e.executeTemplate(template)
}
}
hakrawler focuses on a simple crawling function, while Nuclei implements a more complex engine for executing multiple templates. This reflects the difference in scope and functionality between the two tools.
hakrawler is best suited for quick web crawling and asset discovery tasks, while Nuclei offers a more comprehensive vulnerability scanning solution with extensive customization options. The choice between the two depends on the specific requirements of the security assessment or penetration testing engagement.
The Swiss Army knife for automated Web Application Testing
Pros of Jaeles
- More flexible and customizable scanning engine
- Supports complex logic and chaining of multiple requests
- Built-in support for various output formats (JSON, HTML, Markdown)
Cons of Jaeles
- Smaller community and fewer available templates compared to Nuclei
- Less frequent updates and maintenance
- Steeper learning curve for creating custom templates
Code Comparison
Jaeles template example:
id: example-template
info:
name: Example Template
risk: Low
requests:
- method: GET
path: /
headers:
- User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0
detections:
- >-
StatusCode() == 200 && StringSearch("body", "example")
Nuclei template example:
id: example-template
info:
name: Example Template
severity: low
requests:
- method: GET
path:
- "{{BaseURL}}"
matchers:
- type: word
words:
- "example"
- type: status
status:
- 200
Both Jaeles and Nuclei are powerful security scanning tools with template-based approaches. Jaeles offers more flexibility in template creation and complex logic, while Nuclei has a larger community and more readily available templates. The choice between the two depends on specific use cases and user preferences.
Fetch known URLs from AlienVault's Open Threat Exchange, the Wayback Machine, and Common Crawl.
Pros of gau
- Focused specifically on URL discovery, making it more lightweight and faster for this task
- Supports multiple data sources including Wayback Machine, AlienVault, and CommonCrawl
- Simple to use with minimal configuration required
Cons of gau
- Limited to URL discovery, lacking the extensive vulnerability scanning capabilities of Nuclei
- Does not support custom templates or plugins for extending functionality
- Less active development and smaller community compared to Nuclei
Code Comparison
gau:
gau example.com
Nuclei:
id: example-template
info:
name: Example Template
severity: info
requests:
- method: GET
path:
- "{{BaseURL}}/example"
Summary
gau is a specialized tool for URL discovery, offering simplicity and speed for this specific task. Nuclei, on the other hand, is a more comprehensive vulnerability scanner with extensive customization options and a larger community. While gau excels in quickly finding URLs, Nuclei provides a broader range of security testing capabilities through its template-based approach.
Fast web fuzzer written in Go
Pros of ffuf
- Faster execution for basic fuzzing tasks
- Simpler to use for straightforward web fuzzing scenarios
- Lightweight and requires fewer dependencies
Cons of ffuf
- Limited functionality compared to Nuclei's extensive feature set
- Less flexibility in crafting complex, multi-step scanning workflows
- Smaller community and fewer pre-built templates
Code Comparison
ffuf example:
ffuf -w wordlist.txt -u https://example.com/FUZZ
Nuclei example:
id: example-template
info:
name: Example Template
severity: info
requests:
- method: GET
path:
- "{{BaseURL}}/{{.fuzz}}"
payloads:
fuzz: wordlist.txt
While ffuf excels in simple fuzzing tasks with a straightforward command-line interface, Nuclei offers a more comprehensive approach to vulnerability scanning with its template-based system. ffuf is ideal for quick, targeted fuzzing, whereas Nuclei provides a broader range of scanning capabilities and customization options. The choice between the two depends on the specific requirements of the security testing scenario and the desired level of complexity in the scanning process.
Directory/File, DNS and VHost busting tool written in Go
Pros of gobuster
- Simpler and more focused tool, primarily for directory and DNS enumeration
- Faster execution for basic directory brute-forcing tasks
- Lightweight with minimal dependencies
Cons of gobuster
- Limited functionality compared to Nuclei's versatile scanning capabilities
- Less extensible and customizable for complex scanning scenarios
- Smaller community and fewer regular updates
Code Comparison
gobuster:
func main() {
globalopts, pluginopts, err := parseOptions()
if err != nil {
fmt.Println(err)
os.Exit(1)
}
plugin, err := gobusterdir.NewGobusterDir(globalopts, pluginopts)
if err != nil {
fmt.Println(err)
os.Exit(1)
}
if err := plugin.Run(); err != nil {
fmt.Println(err)
os.Exit(1)
}
}
Nuclei:
func main() {
options.ShowBanner()
cfgFile, _ := options.ParseOptions()
runner.ParseOptions(cfgFile)
if err := runner.InitializeRunner(&runner.Options); err != nil {
gologger.Fatal().Msgf("Could not initialize runner: %s\n", err)
}
if err := runner.RunEnumeration(); err != nil {
gologger.Fatal().Msgf("Could not run enumeration: %s\n", err)
}
}
Both tools use Go and have similar main function structures, but Nuclei's code reflects its more complex and feature-rich nature, with additional initialization steps and error handling for its broader scanning capabilities.
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designs to code with AI
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Try Visual CopilotREADME
Nuclei is a modern, high-performance vulnerability scanner that leverages simple YAML-based templates. It empowers you to design custom vulnerability detection scenarios that mimic real-world conditions, leading to zero false positives.
- Simple YAML format for creating and customizing vulnerability templates.
- Contributed by thousands of security professionals to tackle trending vulnerabilities.
- Reduce false positives by simulating real-world steps to verify a vulnerability.
- Ultra-fast parallel scan processing and request clustering.
- Integrate into CI/CD pipelines for vulnerability detection and regression testing.
- Supports multiple protocols like TCP, DNS, HTTP, SSL, WHOIS JavaScript, Code and more.
- Integrate with Jira, Splunk, GitHub, Elastic, GitLab.
Table of Contents
Get StartedDocumentationNuclei Templates, Community and RewardsðOur MissionContributorsâ¤License
Get Started
1. Nuclei CLI
Install Nuclei on your machine. Get started by following the installation guide here. Additionally, We provide a free cloud tier and comes with a generous monthly free limits:
- Store and visualize your vulnerability findings
- Write and manage your nuclei templates
- Access latest nuclei templates
- Discover and store your targets
[!Important]
This project is in active development. Expect breaking changes with releases. Review the release changelog before updating. This project is primarily built to be used as a standalone CLI tool. Running nuclei as a service may pose security risks. It's recommended to use with caution and additional security measures.
2. Pro and Enterprise Editions
For security teams and enterprises, we provide a cloud-hosted service built on top of Nuclei OSS, fine-tuned to help you continuously run vulnerability scans at scale with your team and existing workflows:
- 50x faster scans
- Large scale scanning with high accuracy
- Integrations with cloud services (AWS, GCP, Azure, CloudFlare, Fastly, Terraform, Kubernetes)
- Jira, Slack, Linear, APIs and Webhooks
- Executive and compliance reporting
- Plus: Real-time scanning, SAML SSO, SOC 2 compliant platform (with EU and US hosting options), shared team workspaces, and more
- We're constantly
adding new features! - Ideal for: Pentesters, security teams, and enterprises
Sign up to Pro or Talk to our team if you have large organization and complex requirements.
Documentation
Browse the full Nuclei documentation here. If youâre new to Nuclei, check out our foundational Youtube series.
Installation
nuclei requires go1.21 to install successfully. Run the following command to get the repo:
go install -v github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/cmd/nuclei@latest
To learn more about installing nuclei, see https://docs.projectdiscovery.io/tools/nuclei/install.
Command Line Flags
To display all the flags for the tool:
nuclei -h
Expand full help flags
Nuclei is a fast, template based vulnerability scanner focusing
on extensive configurability, massive extensibility and ease of use.
Usage:
./nuclei [flags]
Flags:
TARGET:
-u, -target string[] target URLs/hosts to scan
-l, -list string path to file containing a list of target URLs/hosts to scan (one per line)
-eh, -exclude-hosts string[] hosts to exclude to scan from the input list (ip, cidr, hostname)
-resume string resume scan using resume.cfg (clustering will be disabled)
-sa, -scan-all-ips scan all the IP's associated with dns record
-iv, -ip-version string[] IP version to scan of hostname (4,6) - (default 4)
TARGET-FORMAT:
-im, -input-mode string mode of input file (list, burp, jsonl, yaml, openapi, swagger) (default "list")
-ro, -required-only use only required fields in input format when generating requests
-sfv, -skip-format-validation skip format validation (like missing vars) when parsing input file
TEMPLATES:
-nt, -new-templates run only new templates added in latest nuclei-templates release
-ntv, -new-templates-version string[] run new templates added in specific version
-as, -automatic-scan automatic web scan using wappalyzer technology detection to tags mapping
-t, -templates string[] list of template or template directory to run (comma-separated, file)
-turl, -template-url string[] template url or list containing template urls to run (comma-separated, file)
-w, -workflows string[] list of workflow or workflow directory to run (comma-separated, file)
-wurl, -workflow-url string[] workflow url or list containing workflow urls to run (comma-separated, file)
-validate validate the passed templates to nuclei
-nss, -no-strict-syntax disable strict syntax check on templates
-td, -template-display displays the templates content
-tl list all available templates
-tgl list all available tags
-sign signs the templates with the private key defined in NUCLEI_SIGNATURE_PRIVATE_KEY env variable
-code enable loading code protocol-based templates
-dut, -disable-unsigned-templates disable running unsigned templates or templates with mismatched signature
FILTERING:
-a, -author string[] templates to run based on authors (comma-separated, file)
-tags string[] templates to run based on tags (comma-separated, file)
-etags, -exclude-tags string[] templates to exclude based on tags (comma-separated, file)
-itags, -include-tags string[] tags to be executed even if they are excluded either by default or configuration
-id, -template-id string[] templates to run based on template ids (comma-separated, file, allow-wildcard)
-eid, -exclude-id string[] templates to exclude based on template ids (comma-separated, file)
-it, -include-templates string[] path to template file or directory to be executed even if they are excluded either by default or configuration
-et, -exclude-templates string[] path to template file or directory to exclude (comma-separated, file)
-em, -exclude-matchers string[] template matchers to exclude in result
-s, -severity value[] templates to run based on severity. Possible values - info, low, medium, high, critical, unknown
-es, -exclude-severity value[] templates to exclude based on severity. Possible values - info, low, medium, high, critical, unknown
-pt, -type value[] templates to run based on protocol type. Possible values - dns, file, http, headless, tcp, workflow, ssl, websocket, whois, code, javascript
-ept, -exclude-type value[] templates to exclude based on protocol type. Possible values - dns, file, http, headless, tcp, workflow, ssl, websocket, whois, code, javascript
-tc, -template-condition string[] templates to run based on expression condition
OUTPUT:
-o, -output string output file to write found issues/vulnerabilities
-sresp, -store-resp store all request/response passed through nuclei to output directory
-srd, -store-resp-dir string store all request/response passed through nuclei to custom directory (default "output")
-silent display findings only
-nc, -no-color disable output content coloring (ANSI escape codes)
-j, -jsonl write output in JSONL(ines) format
-irr, -include-rr -omit-raw include request/response pairs in the JSON, JSONL, and Markdown outputs (for findings only) [DEPRECATED use -omit-raw] (default true)
-or, -omit-raw omit request/response pairs in the JSON, JSONL, and Markdown outputs (for findings only)
-ot, -omit-template omit encoded template in the JSON, JSONL output
-nm, -no-meta disable printing result metadata in cli output
-ts, -timestamp enables printing timestamp in cli output
-rdb, -report-db string nuclei reporting database (always use this to persist report data)
-ms, -matcher-status display match failure status
-me, -markdown-export string directory to export results in markdown format
-se, -sarif-export string file to export results in SARIF format
-je, -json-export string file to export results in JSON format
-jle, -jsonl-export string file to export results in JSONL(ine) format
-rd, -redact string[] redact given list of keys from query parameter, request header and body
CONFIGURATIONS:
-config string path to the nuclei configuration file
-tp, -profile string template profile config file to run
-tpl, -profile-list list community template profiles
-fr, -follow-redirects enable following redirects for http templates
-fhr, -follow-host-redirects follow redirects on the same host
-mr, -max-redirects int max number of redirects to follow for http templates (default 10)
-dr, -disable-redirects disable redirects for http templates
-rc, -report-config string nuclei reporting module configuration file
-H, -header string[] custom header/cookie to include in all http request in header:value format (cli, file)
-V, -var value custom vars in key=value format
-r, -resolvers string file containing resolver list for nuclei
-sr, -system-resolvers use system DNS resolving as error fallback
-dc, -disable-clustering disable clustering of requests
-passive enable passive HTTP response processing mode
-fh2, -force-http2 force http2 connection on requests
-ev, -env-vars enable environment variables to be used in template
-cc, -client-cert string client certificate file (PEM-encoded) used for authenticating against scanned hosts
-ck, -client-key string client key file (PEM-encoded) used for authenticating against scanned hosts
-ca, -client-ca string client certificate authority file (PEM-encoded) used for authenticating against scanned hosts
-sml, -show-match-line show match lines for file templates, works with extractors only
-ztls use ztls library with autofallback to standard one for tls13 [Deprecated] autofallback to ztls is enabled by default
-sni string tls sni hostname to use (default - input domain name)
-dka, -dialer-keep-alive value keep-alive duration for network requests.
-lfa, -allow-local-file-access allows file (payload) access anywhere on the system
-lna, -restrict-local-network-access blocks connections to the local / private network
-i, -interface string network interface to use for network scan
-at, -attack-type string type of payload combinations to perform (batteringram,pitchfork,clusterbomb)
-sip, -source-ip string source ip address to use for network scan
-rsr, -response-size-read int max response size to read in bytes
-rss, -response-size-save int max response size to read in bytes (default 1048576)
-reset reset removes all nuclei configuration and data files (including nuclei-templates)
-tlsi, -tls-impersonate enable experimental client hello (ja3) tls randomization
-hae, -http-api-endpoint string experimental http api endpoint
INTERACTSH:
-iserver, -interactsh-server string interactsh server url for self-hosted instance (default - oast.pro,oast.live,oast.site,oast.online,oast.fun,oast.me)
-itoken, -interactsh-token string authentication token for self-hosted interactsh server
-interactions-cache-size int number of requests to keep in the interactions cache (default 5000)
-interactions-eviction int number of seconds to wait before evicting requests from cache (default 60)
-interactions-poll-duration int number of seconds to wait before each interaction poll request (default 5)
-interactions-cooldown-period int extra time for interaction polling before exiting (default 5)
-ni, -no-interactsh disable interactsh server for OAST testing, exclude OAST based templates
FUZZING:
-ft, -fuzzing-type string overrides fuzzing type set in template (replace, prefix, postfix, infix)
-fm, -fuzzing-mode string overrides fuzzing mode set in template (multiple, single)
-fuzz enable loading fuzzing templates (Deprecated; use -dast instead)
-dast enable / run dast (fuzz) nuclei templates
-dfp, -display-fuzz-points display fuzz points in the output for debugging
-fuzz-param-frequency int frequency of uninteresting parameters for fuzzing before skipping (default 10)
-fa, -fuzz-aggression string fuzzing aggression level controls payload count for fuzz (low, medium, high) (default "low")
UNCOVER:
-uc, -uncover enable uncover engine
-uq, -uncover-query string[] uncover search query
-ue, -uncover-engine string[] uncover search engine (shodan,censys,fofa,shodan-idb,quake,hunter,zoomeye,netlas,criminalip,publicwww,hunterhow,google) (default shodan)
-uf, -uncover-field string uncover fields to return (ip,port,host) (default "ip:port")
-ul, -uncover-limit int uncover results to return (default 100)
-ur, -uncover-ratelimit int override ratelimit of engines with unknown ratelimit (default 60 req/min) (default 60)
RATE-LIMIT:
-rl, -rate-limit int maximum number of requests to send per second (default 150)
-rld, -rate-limit-duration value maximum number of requests to send per second (default 1s)
-rlm, -rate-limit-minute int maximum number of requests to send per minute (DEPRECATED)
-bs, -bulk-size int maximum number of hosts to be analyzed in parallel per template (default 25)
-c, -concurrency int maximum number of templates to be executed in parallel (default 25)
-hbs, -headless-bulk-size int maximum number of headless hosts to be analyzed in parallel per template (default 10)
-headc, -headless-concurrency int maximum number of headless templates to be executed in parallel (default 10)
-jsc, -js-concurrency int maximum number of javascript runtimes to be executed in parallel (default 120)
-pc, -payload-concurrency int max payload concurrency for each template (default 25)
-prc, -probe-concurrency int http probe concurrency with httpx (default 50)
OPTIMIZATIONS:
-timeout int time to wait in seconds before timeout (default 10)
-retries int number of times to retry a failed request (default 1)
-ldp, -leave-default-ports leave default HTTP/HTTPS ports (eg. host:80,host:443)
-mhe, -max-host-error int max errors for a host before skipping from scan (default 30)
-te, -track-error string[] adds given error to max-host-error watchlist (standard, file)
-nmhe, -no-mhe disable skipping host from scan based on errors
-project use a project folder to avoid sending same request multiple times
-project-path string set a specific project path (default "/tmp")
-spm, -stop-at-first-match stop processing HTTP requests after the first match (may break template/workflow logic)
-stream stream mode - start elaborating without sorting the input
-ss, -scan-strategy value strategy to use while scanning(auto/host-spray/template-spray) (default auto)
-irt, -input-read-timeout value timeout on input read (default 3m0s)
-nh, -no-httpx disable httpx probing for non-url input
-no-stdin disable stdin processing
HEADLESS:
-headless enable templates that require headless browser support (root user on Linux will disable sandbox)
-page-timeout int seconds to wait for each page in headless mode (default 20)
-sb, -show-browser show the browser on the screen when running templates with headless mode
-ho, -headless-options string[] start headless chrome with additional options
-sc, -system-chrome use local installed Chrome browser instead of nuclei installed
-lha, -list-headless-action list available headless actions
DEBUG:
-debug show all requests and responses
-dreq, -debug-req show all sent requests
-dresp, -debug-resp show all received responses
-p, -proxy string[] list of http/socks5 proxy to use (comma separated or file input)
-pi, -proxy-internal proxy all internal requests
-ldf, -list-dsl-function list all supported DSL function signatures
-tlog, -trace-log string file to write sent requests trace log
-elog, -error-log string file to write sent requests error log
-version show nuclei version
-hm, -hang-monitor enable nuclei hang monitoring
-v, -verbose show verbose output
-profile-mem string optional nuclei memory profile dump file
-vv display templates loaded for scan
-svd, -show-var-dump show variables dump for debugging
-ep, -enable-pprof enable pprof debugging server
-tv, -templates-version shows the version of the installed nuclei-templates
-hc, -health-check run diagnostic check up
UPDATE:
-up, -update update nuclei engine to the latest released version
-ut, -update-templates update nuclei-templates to latest released version
-ud, -update-template-dir string custom directory to install / update nuclei-templates
-duc, -disable-update-check disable automatic nuclei/templates update check
STATISTICS:
-stats display statistics about the running scan
-sj, -stats-json display statistics in JSONL(ines) format
-si, -stats-interval int number of seconds to wait between showing a statistics update (default 5)
-mp, -metrics-port int port to expose nuclei metrics on (default 9092)
CLOUD:
-auth configure projectdiscovery cloud (pdcp) api key (default true)
-tid, -team-id string upload scan results to given team id (optional) (default "none")
-cup, -cloud-upload upload scan results to pdcp dashboard [DEPRECATED use -dashboard]
-sid, -scan-id string upload scan results to existing scan id (optional)
-sname, -scan-name string scan name to set (optional)
-pd, -dashboard upload / view nuclei results in projectdiscovery cloud (pdcp) UI dashboard
-pdu, -dashboard-upload string upload / view nuclei results file (jsonl) in projectdiscovery cloud (pdcp) UI dashboard
AUTHENTICATION:
-sf, -secret-file string[] path to config file containing secrets for nuclei authenticated scan
-ps, -prefetch-secrets prefetch secrets from the secrets file
EXAMPLES:
Run nuclei on single host:
$ nuclei -target example.com
Run nuclei with specific template directories:
$ nuclei -target example.com -t http/cves/ -t ssl
Run nuclei against a list of hosts:
$ nuclei -list hosts.txt
Run nuclei with a JSON output:
$ nuclei -target example.com -json-export output.json
Run nuclei with sorted Markdown outputs (with environment variables):
$ MARKDOWN_EXPORT_SORT_MODE=template nuclei -target example.com -markdown-export nuclei_report/
Additional documentation is available at: https://docs.nuclei.sh/getting-started/running
Additional documentation is available at: docs.nuclei.sh/getting-started/running
Single target scan
To perform a quick scan on web-application:
nuclei -target https://example.com
Scanning multiple targets
Nuclei can handle bulk scanning by providing a list of targets. You can use a file containing multiple URLs.
nuclei -targets urls.txt
Network scan
This will scan the entire subnet for network-related issues, such as open ports or misconfigured services.
nuclei -target 192.168.1.0/24
Scanning with your custom template
To write and use your own template, create a .yaml file with specific rules, then use it as follows.
nuclei -u https://example.com -t /path/to/your-template.yaml
Connect Nuclei to ProjectDiscovery
You can run the scans on your machine and upload the results to the cloud platform for further analysis and remediation.
nuclei -target https://example.com -dashboard
[!NOTE] This feature is absolutely free and does not require any subscription. For a detailed guide, refer to the
documentation.
Nuclei Templates, Community and Rewards ð
Nuclei templates are based on the concepts of YAML based template files that define how the requests will be sent and processed. This allows easy extensibility capabilities to nuclei. The templates are written in YAML which specifies a simple human-readable format to quickly define the execution process.
Try it online with our free AI powered Nuclei Templates Editor by clicking here.
Nuclei Templates offer a streamlined way to identify and communicate vulnerabilities, combining essential details like severity ratings and detection methods. This open-source, community-developed tool accelerates threat response and is widely recognized in the cybersecurity world. Nuclei templates are actively contributed by thousands of security researchers globally. We run two programs for our contributors: Pioneers and ð bounties.
Examples
Visit our documentation for use cases and ideas.
| Use case | Nuclei template |
|---|---|
| Detect known CVEs | CVE-2021-44228 (Log4Shell) |
| Identify Out-of-Band vulnerabilities | Blind SQL Injection via OOB |
| SQL Injection detection | Generic SQL Injection |
| Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) | Reflected XSS Detection |
| Default or weak passwords | Default Credentials Check |
| Secret files or data exposure | Sensitive File Disclosure |
| Identify open redirects | Open Redirect Detection |
| Detect subdomain takeovers | Subdomain Takeover Templates |
| Security misconfigurations | Unprotected Jenkins Console |
| Weak SSL/TLS configurations | SSL Certificate Expiry |
| Misconfigured cloud services | Open S3 Bucket Detection |
| Remote code execution vulnerabilities | RCE Detection Templates |
| Directory traversal attacks | Path Traversal Detection |
| File inclusion vulnerabilities | Local/Remote File Inclusion |
Our Mission
Traditional vulnerability scanners were built decades ago. They are closed-source, incredibly slow, and vendor-driven. Today's attackers are mass exploiting newly released CVEs across the internet within days, unlike the years it used to take. This shift requires a completely different approach to tackling trending exploits on the internet.
We built Nuclei to solve this challenge. We made the entire scanning engine framework open and customizableâallowing the global security community to collaborate and tackle the trending attack vectors and vulnerabilities on the internet. Nuclei is now used and contributed by Fortune 500 enterprises, government agencies, universities.
You can participate by contributing to our code, templates library, or joining our team.
Contributors :heart:
Thanks to all the amazing community contributors for sending PRs and keeping this project updated. :heart:
nuclei is distributed under MIT License
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Convert designs to code with AI
Introducing Visual Copilot: A new AI model to turn Figma designs to high quality code using your components.
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