How to bruteforce CMSs and e-commerce apps with Hydra and the Password Auditor
This guide provides real-world testing methodologies for WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, PrestaShop, and Magento, helping you correctly identify weak login endpoints, analyze error messages, and work around security mechanisms for efficient pentests and security assessments.
You’ll find detailed Hydra commands for precise, high-efficiency bruteforcing, along with insights on using our Password Auditor to automate credential testing. This comparison makes it easier to choose which tool can help you brute-forcing faster and more effectively by capturing screenshots of logged-in sessions and generating detailed proof of valid credentials.
How to check Magento for weak credentials
Deployment method: Vultr marketplace
1. Find the web app login endpoint for Magento
The default admin login page for Magento is typically located on the /admin endpoint on port 443.
2. Discover the Magento login parameters
Use the Network tab in Web Developer Tools to identify the parameters.
In Magento, the form_key parameter is a critical security feature used to prevent Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) attacks. It ensures the form submission is coming from the same site and session, protecting the website and its users from malicious actions.
3. Identify error messages and protection mechanisms
After one invalid attempt, Magento returns the following message:
The application has a basic anti-brute-force mechanism: the CAPTCHA gets activated after several failed login attempts, and the account can be temporarily disabled.
Hydra commands and output
In the first 1 set of valid and 1 set of invalid credentials scenario, we used the following Hydra commands to bruteforce Magento:
hydra -l user -p bad-password magento.pentest-ground.com http-post-form "/admin/:form_key=7sqshgljTsjOGZtB&login%5Busername%5D=^USER^&login%5Bpassword%5D=^PASS^:The account sign-in was incorrect" -Vhydra -l user -p 5CIaEBMqlcwN magento.pentest-ground.com http-post-form "/admin/:form_key=7sqshgljTsjOGZtB&login%5Busername%5D=^USER^&login%5Bpassword%5D=^PASS^:The account sign-in was incorrect" -V
As explained in the section about discovering Magento parameters, the `form_key` is used as a CSRF token and is dynamically set. Hydra cannot use a session to automatically set this parameter, so it incorrectly marks both invalid and valid credentials as valid.
Since the first scenario didn't work, we did not proceed with testing the second one.
Password Auditor commands and results
For the first scenario, these are the parameters we adjusted to perform a more focused scan:
Ports: Use port from target URL
Services: HTTP
Wordlists: pa-benchmark
The pa-benchmark wordlist includes valid credentials, so the process involves making four attempts to the target: 3 with invalid credentials and 1 with valid credentials.
The screenshots below show that the Pentest-Tools.com Password Auditor successfully identified the valid credentials.
The Password Auditor also provides a screenshot of the logged-in session to verify the validity of the provided credentials.
For the second scenario, we adjusted the wordlist to include 2 users (1 invalid and 1 valid) and 13 passwords (12 invalid and 1 valid).
Because Magento activated the CAPTCHA mechanism, the Password Auditor on Pentest-Tools.com reported with an informational finding that the bruteforce stopped because of this.
Bruteforce commands and settings for Hydra and the Password Auditor
Since every CMS and e-commerce platform handles authentication differently, with varying levels of protection like rate limiting, CAPTCHAs, and account lockouts, you need a tool as flexible and capable as your workflows.
Whether you’re testing a single admin account or running large-scale credential audits, this guide gives you the practical techniques and automation strategies to improve your credential auditing workflow while avoiding unnecessary detection.