Top 20 Useful Burp Suite Extensions for Web Application Pentesting

Burp Suite has become the de facto toolkit for security professionals assessing web applications. While the core product is powerful on its own, its real strength lies in its extensibility. The Burp BApp Store offers hundreds of custom extensions written in Java, Python (via Jython), and Ruby empowering testers to automate tasks, discover hidden vulnerabilities, and extract insights that would otherwise require manual effort.
Here’s a walkthrough of the 20 most valuable Burp extensions that can sharpen your testing workflow, whether you’re performing a full engagement or hunting for specific classes of vulnerabilities.

1. Param Miner:
Category: Parameter discovery
Purpose: Enumerates hidden and undocumented parameters via heuristics and intelligent guessing.
Use Case: Extra parameters often unlock hidden functionality or logic flaws.

2. JS Miner:
Category: Passive analysis
Purpose: Extracts JavaScript files referenced in target responses and analyzes them for API endpoints, parameters, and potential logic flaws.
Use Case: Modern apps rely heavily on client-side logic. JS Miner helps uncover hidden endpoints, parameters, and client behaviors that traditional scanners miss.

3. Active Scan ++:
Category: Active scanning
Purpose: Enhances Burp’s active scanner with additional payloads and checks.
Use Case: Adds depth to the built-in scanner, especially for edge-case injection vectors and non-standard patterns.

4. Secret Finder:
Category: Passive/active discovery
Purpose: Detects hardcoded secrets, API keys, credentials, tokens, and private endpoints in responses.
Use Case: Exposed secrets are one of the fastest ways for attackers to escalate access.

5. 403 Bypasser:
Category: Request manipulation
Purpose: Automates bypass techniques for HTTP 403 access controls, using header tweaks and alternate authentication tricks.
Use Case: Saves time over manual header manipulation and can uncover access control issues quickly.

6. Add Custom Header:
Category: Proxy helper
Purpose: Lets testers inject arbitrary headers into requests on the fly.
Use Case: Useful for testing CORS, cache behavior, API behavior under custom tokens, and header-driven logic.

7. Autorize:
Category: Authorization testing
Purpose: Automates brute-forcing parameter names, roles, and endpoints to validate authorization mechanisms.
Use Case: Authorization flaws are often business logic issues — hard to find, but critical to exploit.

8. Collaborator Everywhere:
Category: Out-of-band detection
Purpose: Extends payload coverage by injecting Burp Collaborator interactions across all parameters.
Use Case: Improves detection of blind SSRF, blind XSS, and other out-of-band vulnerabilities.

9. Turbo Intruder:
Category: High-speed Bruteforcer
Purpose: Performs massively parallelized requests for fuzzing, brute-forcing, and timing analysis.
Use Case: When working with large inputs or time-sensitive tests, Turbo Intruder outperforms standard Intruder.

10. JS Link Finder:
Category: Link enumeration
Purpose: Mines JavaScript for URLs, routes, and interaction points.
Use Case: Helps expand your target scope, especially for Single Page Applications (SPAs).

11. JSON Decoder:
Category: Encoder/decoder utility
Purpose: Converts JSON snippets between encoded formats (base64, URL encoded, compressed).
Use Case: Speeds up analysis of encoded or obfuscated JSON blobs often used in APIs.

12. JSON Web Tokens (JWT):
Category: Token analysis
Purpose: Inspects, decodes, and manipulates JWT tokens.
Use Case: JWT weaknesses (e.g., alg none, weak signing) are common in modern APIs.

13. IIS Tilde Enumeration Scanner:
Category: Discovery
Purpose: Checks for legacy Windows IIS directory tilde-based usernames (/~username/).
Use Case: Exposes user information and potential login paths on IIS servers.

14. GraphQL Raider:
Category: API assessment
Purpose: Automates discovery of GraphQL schema, queries, and endpoints.
Use Case: GraphQL has become mainstream, yet traditional scanners often miss its dynamic structure.

15. Nowafpls:
Category: Bypass/evade
Purpose: Helps bypass WAF/NGFW filters using alternate payload encodings and patterns.
Use Case: Useful when testing hardened environments.

16. AES Killer:
Category: Crypto testing
Purpose: Automates detection of weak AES implementation patterns or misconfiguration.
Use Case: Cryptographic misuses lead to predictable encryption and exposed data.

17. Retire.js:
Category: JavaScript library vulnerability scanning
Purpose: Detects outdated or vulnerable JS libraries based on a vulnerability database.
Use Case: Old JS libraries are a common source of known CVEs.

18. Java Deserialization Scanner:
Category: Vulnerability detection
Purpose: Automates detection of insecure Java deserialization during active scan.
Use Case: Java deserialization flaws can lead to full RCE if unchecked.

19. JSpector:
Category: JavaScript introspection
Purpose: Maps JS calls, XHR requests, and dynamic behavior to help build attack patterns.
Use Case: Great for complex front-ends where logic is hidden in client behavior.

20. IP Rotate:
Category: Request modulation
Purpose: Rotates source IPs or proxy identities to evade rate limits or access policies.
Use Case: Useful during large scanning campaigns or when testing rate limitations.

Burp Suite’s extensibility is one of its greatest strengths, and the right collection of extensions can transform it from a general web scanner into a custom vulnerability discovery engine tailored to the application you’re testing. From front-end JavaScript analysis to authorization fuzzing and API discovery, these 20 extensions cover a broad gamut of real-world pentesting needs. Although this isnt a exhaustive list and might subjective from one person to other based on their preference as well. However, using these extensions during your penetration testing activity will surely help in saving time and being efficient.