Alternatives to 42Crunch on ASP.NET Core

middleBrick is a self-service API security scanner that operates without agents or code access. You submit a URL and receive a risk score from A to F with prioritized findings. The scanner uses read-only methods (GET and HEAD) and text-only POST for LLM probes, completing most scans in under a minute.

For ASP.NET Core endpoints, this approach avoids requiring build artifacts or runtime instrumentation. The tool parses OpenAPI 3.0, 3.1, and Swagger 2.0 specs with recursive $ref resolution and cross-references spec definitions against runtime behavior to identify mismatches such as undefined security schemes or deprecated operations.

The scanner evaluates 12 security categories mapped to the OWASP API Top 10 (2023). Relevant findings for ASP.NET Core deployments include authentication bypass attempts, including multi-method bypass and JWT misconfigurations such as alg=none, HS256, expired tokens, missing claims, and sensitive data in claims.

• Authentication and security headers validation
• BOLA / IDOR via sequential ID enumeration and active adjacent-ID probing
• BFLA / Privilege Escalation through admin endpoint probing and role/permission field leakage
• Property Authorization over-exposure and mass-assignment surface
• Input Validation checks for CORS wildcard usage and dangerous HTTP methods
• LLM / AI Security probes including prompt injection, data exfiltration, and token smuggling

When authenticated scanning is enabled at Starter tier and above, the tool supports Bearer tokens, API keys, Basic auth, and cookies. Before credentials are accepted, a domain verification gate checks a DNS TXT record or an HTTP well-known file to ensure only the domain owner can scan with credentials.

Header forwarding is limited to Authorization, X-API-Key, Cookie, and X-Custom-* headers. This controlled allowlist reduces noise and keeps scans predictable for ASP.NET Core services behind gateways or API management layers.

middlebrick scan https://api.example.com --auth-type bearer --token YOUR_TOKEN

middleBrick maps findings directly to PCI-DSS 4.0, SOC 2 Type II, and OWASP API Top 10 (2023). For other frameworks, the scanner helps you prepare for audit evidence and aligns with security controls described in relevant standards.

The platform provides multiple integration options including a Web Dashboard for trend tracking and branded compliance PDFs, a CLI via the middlebrick npm package, a GitHub Action that can fail builds based on score thresholds, and an MCP Server for AI coding assistants. Custom integrations are supported through a programmable API client.

Pro tier enables scheduled rescans at intervals of 6 hours, daily, weekly, or monthly, with diff detection to surface new findings, resolved findings, and score drift. Alerts are rate-limited to 1 per hour per API and delivered by email or through Slack or Teams channels when configured.

Safety controls include blocking destructive payloads, private IPs, localhost, and cloud metadata endpoints at multiple layers. Customer scan data can be deleted on demand and is purged within 30 days of cancellation. The scanner does not fix, patch, or block issues; it reports findings with remediation guidance and explicitly does not perform active SQL injection or command injection testing.