Nuclei: YAML-based vulnerability scanner
Template-based multi-protocol security scanner for CI/CD pipelines.
Learn more about Nuclei
Nuclei is a command-line vulnerability scanner written in Go that executes security checks defined in YAML template files. The tool processes templates through a DSL that supports multiple protocols including HTTP, TCP, DNS, SSL, WHOIS, and JavaScript execution. It performs parallel scanning with request clustering to process multiple targets efficiently. Common deployment contexts include security assessments, CI/CD pipeline integration, and regression testing workflows.
YAML-based template system
Vulnerabilities are defined as declarative YAML templates rather than compiled code, allowing security researchers to contribute detection logic without programming expertise. Templates can simulate multi-step attack scenarios to reduce false positives.
Multi-protocol support
The scanner handles HTTP, TCP, DNS, SSL, WHOIS, JavaScript, and code-based checks within a single framework. This breadth allows detection across different attack surfaces including web applications, network services, and DNS configurations.
Community-driven template library
Nuclei maintains a separate repository of templates contributed by security professionals. This distributed model enables rapid response to emerging vulnerabilities without requiring core tool updates.
Added cdp-endpoint option for WebSocket control in headless mode, RSYNC module, and fixed resume file path and race conditions.
- –Added cdp-endpoint option to allow users to specify a WebSocket endpoint for control in headless mode
- –Added RSYNC module
- –Fixed resume file path condition
- –Fixed race condition regression
- –Fixed duplicate log spam for permanent errors
Enabled TLS session caching, improved Jira and GitLab integration, and restored JavaScript template execution.
- –Enabled TLS session caching in the client pool to improve connection reuse and reduce handshake overhead
- –Added support for providing a custom Jira server URL (site-url) when using OAuth authentication
- –Improved duplicate issue detection by properly paginating Gitea issue searches
- –Restored JavaScript template execution when the Port argument is not provided
- –Added pagination support when searching for duplicate issues in GitLab
Fixed template exclusion logic, HTTP request body handling, and compilation issues on loong64 architecture.
- –fix(config): template exclusion logic for paths with reserved names
- –fix(http): lost request body on retries & redirects
- –fix(http): pass dynamicValues to EvaluateWithInteractsh
- –fix(lib): segfault when initializing the engine with EnableHeadlessWithOpts
- –build: fix compilation on loong64 architecture
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