Authentication

The scan starts after the login, not at it

A scripted sign-in through an encrypted credential store yields session cookies and a bearer token, so the scanner works the application as a real signed-in user.

Overview

Authenticated scanning

A scan that has not logged in is testing your marketing shell. Everything that carries business logic — the roles, the forms, the state transitions, the APIs — lives behind the sign-in form, and that is where findings worth acting on come from. Argus Pentest performs a deterministic scripted login using credentials held in the same encrypted store the QA engine uses, and passes the resulting session on to the scanner.

What it does

Coverage where the logic lives

A scripted login collects session cookies and a bearer token before the scan begins.

Credentials resolve from an encrypted secret store, never from a scan config.

The scanner operates as a real signed-in user, not an anonymous visitor.

The same credential store already used by the regression engine.

A scanner that cannot authenticate reports an environment failure, not a finding.

How it works

How authentication is handled

1The target names the role it should scan as
2A scripted login runs deterministically against it
3Session cookies and a bearer token are captured
4The scan proceeds with that session attached
FAQ

Common questions

Where are the credentials kept?

In an encrypted secret store on your own infrastructure — the same one the QA engine resolves roles through. A target references a role, never a password.

Does a model perform the login?

No. Login is scripted and deterministic, so no model call is spent on a form that never changes.

What happens if the login fails?

The scan reports an environment failure rather than a security finding. A scanner that cannot get in has not proved anything about the application.

Explore more

More of what Argus Pentest does

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See an authenticated scan of your own application

Request a demo to watch a scan log in to an approved target and work the surface behind the sign-in form.