> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.codeant.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Black Box Testing

> Test your application from an external attacker's perspective with zero internal knowledge.

## Overview

Black box testing examines your application **without any knowledge of its internal systems** -
simulating an external attacker's perspective. CodeAnt's black-box pentest is **zero-traffic**: it
discovers your public internet surface through passive intelligence (certificate transparency logs,
DNS, and infrastructure fingerprinting) rather than sending active attack traffic, then reports the
exposure an outside adversary would find.

## Key Features

* **External attacker simulation:** No credentials, no source code - only what's reachable from the
  public internet.
* **Zero-traffic reconnaissance:** Passive intelligence gathering keeps the scan non-intrusive.
* **Domain-scoped:** Runs only against domains your organization owns and has verified.
* **Attack surface mapping:** Surfaces subdomains, exposed services, technologies, and cloud
  infrastructure.
* **Severity-ranked findings:** Each finding is classified critical / high / medium / low with
  reproduction detail and a live status.

## How It Works

**1. Start a request**

Open the **Pentesting** page and provide your contact details (name, email, organization), then
choose **Black Box Testing** as the testing type.

**2. Add and verify domains**

Add each domain you want tested. Every domain must be verified so CodeAnt knows you have
permission to scan it (see below). You can add specific areas of concern - for example
authentication, data encryption, or API security - in the **Specific Security Concerns** field.

**3. Submit and wait**

Submit the request. The pentest runs in the background - usually a few hours, up to 48 hours.
You can leave the page; the report will be waiting when you return.

**4. Review the report**

Open the completed report to walk through discovery, attack surface, infrastructure, and the
detailed findings.

## Domain verification

Because a pentest targets live systems, CodeAnt only scans domains your organization has proven it
owns. Verify each domain using one of:

* **DNS record** - add the provided CNAME or TXT record to your DNS.
* **File hosting** - host the provided verification file on the domain.

Domains that match your login email address are **auto-verified**. Verifying an apex domain also
covers its subdomains.

## Reading the report

A completed black-box report is organized into sections:

| Section | What it covers |
| - | - |
| **Discovery** | Reconnaissance phases - certificate-transparency log mining, DNS resolution, and infrastructure fingerprinting - all gathered passively. |
| **Attack Surface** | Categorized, severity-ranked exposure discovered from the outside. |
| **Infrastructure** | Detected technology stack and cloud providers. |
| **Email Security** | Your email security posture and grade. |
| **Findings** | Detailed vulnerabilities with severity, live status (open / reopened / fixed / unverified), reproduction steps, evidence, and impact. |

After remediating, you can **reverify** findings to confirm the fix; CodeAnt tracks the verification
history for each one.

## Credits

> [!NOTE]
>
> Your **first pentest is free**. Additional runs cost **1 credit** each. In a locked report, critical
> and high findings have their evidence, targets, and impact hidden - spend **1 credit to unlock every
> locked finding permanently**. Medium and low findings are always visible.

## When to use black box testing

Black box testing is the fastest way to answer *"what can an attacker find and reach with no inside
knowledge?"* - with no setup beyond verifying your domains. For deeper, source-aware coverage, pair
it with [White Box Testing (AI Exploitation)](https://docs.codeant.ai/pentesting/white_box.md), or guide the scan with inside
context using the [Gray Box](https://docs.codeant.ai/pentesting/gray_box.md) approach.


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