Attack Surface Scoping & Asset Ingestion
Comprehensive guide to defining, categorizing, and bulk-importing engagement target assets with automated type detection.
Accurate scope management is foundational to professional penetration testing and red teaming. blackLen provides structured asset inventory tools to enforce strict Rules of Engagement (ROE) boundaries.
Supported Asset Types
blackLen natively classifies 13 distinct target asset types:
| Type Key | Asset Type | Example Format |
|---|---|---|
domain | Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) | target.com, admin.target.com |
wildcard | Wildcard Domain Range | *.target.com, *.internal.target.org |
ip | Single IP Address (IPv4 / IPv6) | 192.168.1.100, 2001:db8::1 |
cidr | Subnet / CIDR Block | 10.0.0.0/24, 172.16.0.0/16 |
url | Web Application URL | https://app.target.com/login |
api | API Endpoint / Documentation | https://api.target.com/v1/graphql, api.target.com |
android | Android Mobile Application | com.target.mobile.app (Play Store) |
ios | iOS Mobile Application | id1234567890 (App Store) |
cloud | Cloud Resource / Bucket / ARN | s3://target-assets-prod, arn:aws:... |
repo | Source Code Repository | https://github.com/target-org/backend-service |
thick_client | Desktop / Thick Client Application | TargetClient_v2.4.exe |
hardware | Hardware / IoT / Firmware | Target Gateway Hub Rev-3 |
other | Custom / Other Asset | Miscellaneous targets |
Scope Boundaries & Criticality
Every scoped asset includes operational governance metadata:
- Status:
In Scope(in-scope): Formally authorized for active security testing and vulnerability probing.Out of Scope(out-of-scope): Explicitly forbidden from testing (e.g., third-party payment gateways, production billing endpoints, shared hosting).
- Criticality:
Critical,High,Medium,Low: Helps prioritize testing focus based on business impact.
Bulk CSV Asset Ingestion
For engagements covering large external perimeters or extensive subnets, you can import assets in bulk via CSV.
CSV Format Example:
value,type,status,criticality,description
*.example.com,wildcard,in-scope,critical,Primary wildcard domain scope
192.168.10.0/24,cidr,in-scope,high,Corporate internal server subnet
https://api.example.com/v1,api,in-scope,critical,Production REST API
payment.example.com,domain,out-of-scope,critical,Third-party hosted payment portal - DO NOT TEST
Automatic Type Detection: When uploading a simple list of targets without explicit type columns, blackLen automatically classifies entries based on pattern recognition (e.g., CIDR masks, IP addresses, wildcard prefixes, and URL protocols).