Web Vulnerability Mastery is a guided, beginner-level course for learning how insecure input handling becomes an exploitable web application flaw. Across eight hands-on labs, you will run deliberately vulnerable PHP applications in Docker, inspect their behavior and source snippets, and test them from Firefox or the terminal.
The curriculum follows several distinct attack paths: SQL injection against database queries, local and remote file inclusion, reflected cross-site scripting, unsafe file upload, operating-system command injection, and PHP code injection. Each exercise connects a vulnerable coding pattern to an observable result such as authentication bypass, data extraction, script execution, file access, or a web shell.
What You Will Learn
After completing this course, you will be able to:
- Launch intentionally vulnerable applications with Docker and interact with them through Firefox, URL parameters, forms, and Hackbar
- Detect SQL injection with error and true-or-false tests, distinguish numeric from string contexts, and determine query column counts
- Use
UNION SELECTandinformation_schemato identify a MySQL database structure, retrieve data, and bypass an unsafe login query - Distinguish static from user-controlled PHP file inclusion and confirm local or remote inclusion with controlled payloads
- Craft reflected XSS payloads and bypass simple case-sensitive filters with alternate element and event-handler forms
- Inspect file-upload validation, upload a PHP test page or command shell, and explore optional extension-based bypasses
- Exploit unsafe input passed to operating-system commands, execute additional commands, and establish a lab-only reverse shell
- Break out of a PHP
eval()string to call functions, read server files, write new files, and create a simple web shell
Who This Course Is For
This course is for aspiring web security testers, developers, CTF learners, and cybersecurity beginners who want guided practice connecting vulnerable PHP code to working proof-of-concept payloads. It is a good fit if you prefer browser-based experimentation and direct URL manipulation before moving to a full interception-proxy workflow.
Prerequisites: Basic Linux terminal use and familiarity with URLs, query parameters, HTML forms, and simple web requests are recommended. Introductory PHP and SQL knowledge will make the source-code explanations easier to follow, but the labs explain the relevant syntax as it appears.
Learning environment: The labs use isolated LabEx graphical Linux environments with Firefox, a terminal, Docker, local vulnerable web applications, and a provided Hackbar extension file. Several exercises pull public Docker images, and one remote file inclusion demonstration requests a public PentesterLab payload; no third-party account is specified by the course.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need Burp Suite or another interception proxy?
No. The exercises use Firefox, direct URL and form input, browser developer tools, Hackbar, and terminal commands. Intercepting and modifying raw HTTP traffic with Burp Suite is not part of this course.
Are all vulnerable applications hosted locally?
The applications themselves run locally in Docker containers inside the lab. Setup commands pull public images from container registries, and the remote file inclusion exercise loads one publicly hosted demonstration payload, so that lesson is not entirely offline.
What is the difference between command injection and code injection here?
The command-injection lab places untrusted input into a system command and demonstrates additional operating-system command execution. The code-injection lab places input inside a PHP string passed to eval(), allowing injected PHP functions to read or write files and create a web shell.
Does the course teach how to fix every vulnerability?
It explains unsafe patterns and introduces checks such as file extension, MIME type, and size validation, but the hands-on work is primarily exploitation-focused. Secure query parameterization, systematic output encoding, production upload architecture, and complete remediation testing require further study.
