Deploying Invicti Shark for Node.js

Invicti Shark enables you to carry out interactive security testing (IAST) in your web application in order to confirm more vulnerabilities and further minimize false positives. 

• Node.js is an open-source server environment designed to build scalable network applications, as it is capable of handling a vast number of simultaneous connections with high throughput. Depending on the specific frameworks and libraries, debugging a Node.js application can be tricky though. 
• You can take advantage of Invicti’s unique DAST-induced IAST approach to get an inside view into how security checks and test payloads are processed within these environments. These additional insights will let you isolate the location and root cause of security defects quickly.

For further information, see Invicti adds IAST support for Node.js.

For Invicti Shark to operate, you need to download an agent and deploy it on your server. Please note that this agent is generated uniquely for each target website for security reasons.

To deploy Invicti Shark, you should keep in mind that the mechanism we need to use is to invoke the sensor when launching the Node application.

Node.js versions tested are:

• V14, V12, V10 on Windows
• V14, V12, V10 on Linux

Deploying Invicti Shark in Node.js consists of 3 steps:

Step 1. Downloading the Shark agent

You can find the required instructions to download the Shark agent in Deploying Invicti Shark.

Step 2. Copying the Shark agent

You need to create a dedicated folder inside the root folder of your operating system to hold the Shark agent.

• For Windows:

1. Create a file in C: and name it Shark
2. Copy the Shark(IAST).tar file into C:\Shark\

• For Linux:

1. Run mkdir/shark
2. Locate the folder that contains the Shark agent file by using cd
3. Run cp Shark(IAST).tar /shark/

Step 3. Launching your Node.js web application invoking the Shark

• For Windows:
  • Use “cd” to navigate to the folder which contains your web application (where the “app.js” file resides) and run the following command: npx \Shark\Shark(IAST).tar app.js
• For Linux:
  • Use “cd” to navigate to the folder which contains your web application (where the “app.js” file resides) and run the following command: npx /Shark/Shark(IAST).tar app.js

Uninstall Shark

You may choose to uninstall the Shark files from your server. You can follow the steps below in order to uninstall.

• For Windows, remove the “C:\Shark\Shark(IAST).tar” file and then remove the “C:\Shark” folder
• For Linux, run the following command: rm -rf /shark

Although the Invicti Shark agent is secured with a unique strong built-in password, it is recommended that the Shark client files are uninstalled and removed from the web application if they are no longer in use.