indexAttack Surface Mapping#cybersecurity#attack-surface-mapping#index

Attack Surface Mapping Index

Purpose

This index is the root entry point for the attack-surface-mapping branch of the cybersecurity vault.

Use it to: - map what is actually exposed, reachable, and discoverable - connect networking, web-security, API-security, and recon into one operational view - reason about exposure drift, forgotten assets, and undocumented entry points - turn architecture assumptions into observable attack surface

Use Reference Registry — Attack Surface Mapping as the source of truth for references in this branch. Return to Cybersecurity Index for root navigation across branches.

Before this branch: - Foundations (Phase 0). - Networking — you cannot map what you cannot reason about.


Phase 1 — Core mental model

  1. attack-surface-mapping
  2. external-attack-surface
  3. internal-attack-surface

Phase 2 — Discovery and enumeration

  1. Exposed Service Triage
  2. endpoint-discovery
  3. admin-interface-discovery

Phase 3 — Asset drift and exposure mistakes

  1. Subdomain Takeover
  2. exposed-storage
  3. deprecated-api-versions
  4. third-party-exposure

Core attack-surface cluster

Branch maturity

This branch is depth-mature as of 2026-04-29.

All 10 atomic notes follow the canonical 11-section template, include practical labs, and now carry worked examples that turn raw discovery into exposure decisions.

Foundations

Discovery

Exposure drift


Networking

Web security

API security

Cloud security

Offensive / recon


Suggested future notes

  • health-check-endpoints
  • staging-environments
  • shadow-it-exposure
  • asset-ownership-model
  • schema-exposure
  • internet-exposure-reduction
  • hidden-parameter-discovery
  • cloud-asset-inventory
  • direct-origin-exposure
  • source-map-exposure
  • oauth-redirect-uri-inventory
  • public-object-storage-review

Possible future playbooks


Branch maintenance notes

  • Use reference-registry-attack-surface-mapping before adding references.
  • Keep attack-surface notes focused on exposure, discoverability, ownership, lifecycle drift, and reachability.
  • Do not duplicate pure recon workflow notes from index; link to them.
  • zSecurity-derived cloud target-domain topics now live in Cloud Security. Keep this branch focused on observable exposure and link to cloud notes for provider-specific controls.
  • Maintain the worked-example pattern: every note should show how a raw clue becomes a scoped exposure decision, not just a discovery artifact.

References

  • Foundational: OWASP WSTG latest — https://owasp.org/www-project-web-security-testing-guide/latest/
  • Foundational: OWASP API9:2023 Improper Inventory Management — https://owasp.org/API-Security/editions/2023/en/0xa9-improper-inventory-management/
  • Research / Deep Dive: ProjectDiscovery ASM article — https://projectdiscovery.io/blog/asm-platform-using-projectdiscovery-tools