Hey Security Community! 👋 Let me share a fun story about how I turned a frustrating session timeout problem into an opportunity for some creative problem-solving.
Picture this: You're deep into testing multiple APIs, and boom - your session expires every 3 minutes. Not cool, right? That's exactly what pushed me to create what I'm now calling the Session Time Analyzer. Let me walk you through this journey of automation and clever workarounds!
🎯 The Problem That Started It All
Imagine being told you have to work with a system that kicks you out every 3 minutes of inactivity. Yes, you read that right - THREE minutes! As a security tester, this was like being asked to complete a marathon while stopping to tie your shoelaces every 100 meters. Not happening!
🛠️ The Solution: A Python-Powered Session Maestro Instead of accepting defeat, I built a tool that turned this limitation into a non-issue. Here's what makes it special:
First, the Basics:
- Takes your Burp Suite requests (just copy and paste!)
- Runs them automatically with customizable timing
- Extracts and saves tokens for later use
- Shows pretty colored outputs (because who doesn't love a good UI?)
But here's where it gets interesting...
🌟 My Real-World Battle Story
Remember those 7 different APIs I mentioned? Each with its own authentication? Here's how I tackled it:
- The Token Dance: Set up the script to request fresh JWT tokens every minute
- The Orchestration: Managed 7 different authentication flows simultaneously
- The Integration: Used mitmproxy as the maestro, conducting this entire token symphony
- The Result: Smooth, uninterrupted testing for hours!
🎮 How to Join the Fun:
- Copy your request from Burp Suite → Save it (request.txt)
- Configure the batch wrapper file (just comment out what you don't need with '::' or 'REM')
- Set up your patterns.txt with your search criteria
- Drag & Drop → Watch the magic happen!
🎯 The Cool Use Cases:
• Session Keepalive: Never see that timeout message again!
• Token Validity Testing: Find exact timeout durations
• Response Monitoring: With regex, string matching, and pretty colors
• Token Extraction: Perfect for feeding into other tools
🔥 The Ultimate Workflow
Here's my favorite part - how I combined everything into a super-workflow:
- Used the script to maintain active sessions
- Generated fresh tokens every minute
- Integrated with mitmproxy to automatically update authorization headers
- Ran sqlmap through this setup for continuous testing
Think of it as a security testing assembly line, where each component handles its part perfectly!
💡 Pro Tips From the Trenches:
- Use different colors for different response patterns
- Set up separate token files for each API
- Let the batch wrapper handle the complexity
- Remember: Automation is your friend!
Want to know more about handling tricky session timeouts or building similar automation workflows? Drop me a DM! I love chatting about creative security solutions.
#InfoSec #SecurityAutomation #PenTesting #Python #Hacking #AppSec #APITesting #SecurityTesting #AutomatedTesting #CyberSecurity
P.S.: Yes, I automated my way around a 3-minute timeout. Some might call it stubborn, I call it "creatively persistent" 😉
P.P.S.: Remember, the best solutions often come from the most annoying problems. Keep hacking, keep automating! 🚀