phani-aura-inspector 0.3.1

Swiss Army knife for auditing Salesforce Experience Cloud (Aura) misconfigurations.

aura-inspector

Not an officially supported Google product. This project is not eligible for the Google Open Source Software Vulnerability Rewards Program.

aura-inspector is a security auditing toolkit for Salesforce Experience Cloud (Aura). It automates the discovery of misconfigured endpoints, over-privileged guest access, IDOR vulnerabilities, and Apex controller weaknesses. It ships as four integrated surfaces: a command-line scanner, a web dashboard, a Gradio desktop UI, and a FastMCP server for AI assistant integration.

For background, see the Mandiant blog post: Auditing Salesforce Aura Data Exposure.

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Table of Contents

1. Features
2. Architecture
3. Requirements
4. API Keys and Secrets
5. Installation
6. CLI Usage
7. Web Dashboard
8. Gradio UI
9. MCP Server
10. Docker Compose
11. Testing
12. Licenses

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Features

• Guest & authenticated scanning — discovers accessible records from both Guest and Authenticated Salesforce contexts
• Three scanner engines running in sequence:
  • AuraFuzzer — endpoint fuzzing for over-privileged guest controller access
  • IDORScanner — insecure direct object reference detection across Salesforce object prefixes
  • ApexScanner — custom controller system-mode execution pattern detection
• GraphQL probe — uses the undocumented Aura GraphQL method to count exposed records (skippable with --no-gql)
• AI-powered analysis — optional GPT-4o enrichment: risk scoring, critical pattern detection, and priority remediation actions; gracefully degrades to rule-based analysis when no API key is present
• Remediation advisor — maps each finding to OWASP API Security 2023 refs, Salesforce Setup steps, and Apex code examples
• Web dashboard — FastAPI app with SQLite persistence, JWT auth, scan history, and printable HTML reports
• MCP server — FastMCP server exposing all scanner capabilities as tools consumable by Claude Desktop, VS Code Copilot, and any MCP-compatible AI assistant

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Architecture

aura-inspector/
├── src/
│   ├── aura_cli.py            # CLI entry point
│   ├── aura_helper.py         # Aura HTTP client, endpoint discovery
│   ├── colored_logger.py      # Terminal colour / logger config
│   ├── scanners/
│   │   ├── base_scanner.py    # Severity enum, ScanFinding dataclass, BaseScanner
│   │   ├── aura_fuzzer.py     # Guest controller fuzzer
│   │   ├── idor_scanner.py    # IDOR probe across SF object prefixes
│   │   └── apex_scanner.py    # Apex system-mode pattern detector
│   ├── ai_agents/
│   │   ├── scan_agent.py      # SecurityScanAgent — orchestrates all three scanners + GPT-4o
│   │   └── remediation_advisor.py  # OWASP → Salesforce remediation lookup
│   ├── mcp/
│   │   └── server.py          # FastMCP server (4 tools, 2 resources)
│   ├── web/
│   │   ├── main.py            # FastAPI routes (port 8080)
│   │   ├── auth.py            # JWT + bcrypt password hashing
│   │   ├── database.py        # SQLAlchemy models (User, ScanJob, Finding, AiAnalysis)
│   │   ├── scan_runner.py     # Background scan daemon thread
│   │   └── templates/         # Jinja2 templates (Bootstrap 5.3 dark theme)
│   └── ui/
│       └── app.py             # Gradio desktop UI (port 7860)
├── requirements.txt           # Core: requests only
├── requirements-ai.txt        # openai, tenacity
├── requirements-mcp.txt       # fastmcp, structlog
├── requirements-web.txt       # fastapi, uvicorn, sqlalchemy, jinja2, passlib, python-jose
├── Dockerfile                 # Gradio UI image
├── Dockerfile.web             # Web dashboard image
├── Dockerfile.mcp             # MCP server image
└── docker-compose.yml         # All three services

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Requirements

• Python 3.11+
• Windows: .venv\Scripts\python.exe | Linux/macOS: .venv/bin/python

Surface	Extra requirements
CLI only	requests (base install)
AI analysis	requirements-ai.txt (openai>=1.0.0, tenacity>=8.2.0)
Gradio UI	requirements-ai.txt + gradio>=4.0.0
MCP server	requirements-mcp.txt (fastmcp>=2.0.0, structlog>=24.1.0) + AI deps
Web dashboard	requirements-web.txt

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API Keys and Secrets

Variable	Required for	Where to set
OPENAI_API_KEY	AI-powered scan analysis and explain_finding MCP tool	Environment variable or .env file
OPENAI_MODEL	Override GPT model (default: gpt-4o)	Environment variable
SECRET_KEY	JWT signing for the web dashboard	Environment variable — must be changed in production
Salesforce session cookie (sid=...)	Authenticated scans	Passed via -c flag or cookies tool parameter
SF_INSTANCE_URL	Gradio OAuth flow (optional)	Environment variable
SF_CLIENT_ID	Gradio OAuth flow (optional)	Environment variable

Security note: Never commit OPENAI_API_KEY or SECRET_KEY to source control. Use a .env file (excluded from git) or your OS keychain.

Create a .env file at the repo root for local development:

OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
SECRET_KEY=some-long-random-string

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Installation

Clone and set up a virtual environment

# Windows
git clone https://github.com/phanimca/aura-inspector
cd aura-inspector
python -m venv .venv
.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

# Linux / macOS
git clone https://github.com/phanimca/aura-inspector
cd aura-inspector
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

Install dependencies

# CLI only (minimal)
pip install -r requirements.txt

# CLI + AI analysis
pip install -r requirements.txt -r requirements-ai.txt

# MCP server
pip install -r requirements.txt -r requirements-ai.txt -r requirements-mcp.txt

# Web dashboard
pip install -r requirements.txt -r requirements-web.txt

# Everything
pip install -r requirements.txt -r requirements-ai.txt -r requirements-mcp.txt -r requirements-web.txt

Install as a package (optional)

pip install -e ".[ai,mcp,web]"

This registers the console scripts: aura-inspector, aura-inspector-web, aura-inspector-mcp.

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CLI Usage

Smoke test

python src/aura_cli.py -h

Guest scan (unauthenticated)

python src/aura_cli.py -U phani -u https://yoursite.my.salesforce.com

Guest scan — save output, skip GraphQL, ignore TLS errors

python src/aura_cli.py -U phani -u https://yoursite.my.salesforce.com -k --no-gql -o ./results

Authenticated scan with session cookie

python src/aura_cli.py -U phani -u https://yoursite.my.salesforce.com \
  -c "sid=XXXXXXX; other_cookie=..."

Authenticated scan from a captured Aura request file

python src/aura_cli.py -U phani -r /path/to/aura_request.txt

Explicit app and aura paths (for custom site prefixes)

# Site hosted at /s with Aura endpoint at /s/sfsites/aura
python src/aura_cli.py -U phani -u https://yoursite.my.salesforce.com \
  --app /s --aura /s/sfsites/aura -k -o ./results

Proxy through Burp Suite

python src/aura_cli.py -U phani -u https://yoursite.my.salesforce.com \
  -p http://127.0.0.1:8080 -k

Full option reference

Flag	Description
-U / --username	Required. Username to attribute the scan to. Looked up in the web DB; a new CLI-only account is created automatically if not found
-u / --url	Root URL of the Salesforce Experience Cloud site
-c / --cookies	Session cookies for authenticated scans
-r / --aura-request-file	Path to a captured request file (auto-parses cookies/token)
-o / --output-dir	Directory to save JSON results
-l / --object-list	Comma-separated list to limit object probing
-p / --proxy	HTTP proxy (e.g. http://127.0.0.1:8080)
-k / --insecure	Ignore TLS certificate errors
--app	Explicit app path override (e.g. /s, /myApp)
--aura	Explicit Aura endpoint path override (e.g. /s/sfsites/aura)
--context	Custom aura.context value for POST requests
--token	Custom aura.token value for POST requests
--no-gql	Skip GraphQL record-count probes
--no-banner	Suppress the ASCII banner
-d / --debug	Print debug-level output
-v / --verbose	Print verbose output

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Web Dashboard

The web dashboard provides a persistent scan history with authentication, a live scan status page, a severity chart dashboard, and printable HTML reports.

Start

pip install -r requirements-web.txt
python src/web/main.py
# Open http://localhost:8080

First-time setup

1. Open http://localhost:8080/register and create an account.
2. Log in at http://localhost:8080/login.
3. Go to New Scan → enter a target URL, choose guest or authenticated mode → Start Scan.
4. The dashboard polls the scan status every 2 seconds and shows findings as they arrive.
5. From a completed scan, click View Report for a printable summary.

Environment variables

Variable	Default	Description
SECRET_KEY	aura-inspector-dev-key-REPLACE-IN-PRODUCTION	JWT signing key — must be changed in production
OPENAI_API_KEY	(none)	Enables AI analysis on scan results
WEB_PORT	8080	Listening port

Routes summary

Method	Path	Description
GET/POST	/login	Login form
GET/POST	/register	Registration form
GET	/logout	Clears session cookie
GET	/dashboard	Scan history + charts
GET	/scans/new	New scan form
POST	/scans	Submit and start a scan
GET	/scans/{id}	Scan detail + live status
GET	/scans/{id}/status	JSON polling endpoint
GET	/reports/{id}	Printable HTML report
GET	/api/stats	JSON stats for dashboard charts

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Gradio UI

The Gradio UI is a desktop-style browser interface on port 7860.

pip install -r requirements.txt gradio
python src/ui/app.py
# Open http://localhost:7860

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MCP Server

The FastMCP server exposes all scanner capabilities as tools that any MCP-compatible AI assistant (Claude Desktop, VS Code Copilot, etc.) can call directly.

Tools

Tool	Description
run_guest_scan	Full unauthenticated Aura scan (AuraFuzzer + IDORScanner + ApexScanner + AI analysis)
run_auth_scan	Same as above but authenticated via a Salesforce session cookie
get_remediation	Return Salesforce Setup steps and Apex code examples for an OWASP API Security ref (API1–API10)
explain_finding	Ask GPT-4o to explain a single finding in plain language (degrades to rule-based without an API key)

Resources

URI	Description
scan://schema	JSON Schema describing the full scan result object
scan://owasp	Supported OWASP API Security 2023 references and their titles

Transport modes

Mode	Use case	How to start
stdio	Claude Desktop, VS Code Copilot (default)	python src/mcp/server.py
sse	Network-accessible / Docker deployments	MCP_TRANSPORT=sse MCP_PORT=8765 python src/mcp/server.py

Start the server

# Install MCP dependencies
pip install -r requirements-mcp.txt

# stdio (default — for VS Code / Claude Desktop)
python src/mcp/server.py

# SSE network mode
$env:MCP_TRANSPORT="sse"; $env:MCP_PORT="8765"
python src/mcp/server.py

VS Code Copilot integration

The repo ships a pre-configured .vscode/mcp.json. After installing MCP dependencies:

1. Restart VS Code (the MCP config is loaded on startup).
2. Open the Command Palette → MCP: List Servers → confirm aura-inspector is listed.
3. In a Copilot chat, type #aura-inspector to attach the server context.

Example prompts:

Run a guest scan on https://yoursite.my.salesforce.com

Get the Salesforce remediation steps for API1

Explain this finding: "Guest user can access Account records via LightningRecordList"

Claude Desktop integration

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "aura-inspector": {
      "command": "C:/path/to/aura-inspector/.venv/Scripts/python.exe",
      "args": ["C:/path/to/aura-inspector/src/mcp/server.py"],
      "env": {
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "sk-..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Testing MCP tools without an AI client

Since the tools are plain Python functions, you can call them directly:

python -c "
import sys; sys.path.insert(0, 'src')
from mcp.server import get_remediation, owasp_references
print(get_remediation('API1'))
print(owasp_references())
"

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Docker Compose

The docker-compose.yml starts all three services:

Service	Image	Port	Description
aura-inspector-gradio	Dockerfile	7860	Gradio desktop UI
aura-inspector-web	Dockerfile.web	8080	FastAPI web dashboard
aura-inspector-mcp	Dockerfile.mcp	8765	MCP server (SSE mode)

Start all services

# Create a .env file with your secrets first (see API Keys section)
docker compose up --build

Start a single service

docker compose up --build aura-inspector-web

Environment variables for Docker

Create a .env file at the repo root (Docker Compose picks it up automatically):

OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
SECRET_KEY=your-long-random-production-key
SF_INSTANCE_URL=https://yourinstance.my.salesforce.com
SF_CLIENT_ID=your-connected-app-client-id

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Testing

CLI smoke test

python src/aura_cli.py -h

Compile health check

python -m py_compile \
  src/scanners/aura_fuzzer.py \
  src/scanners/idor_scanner.py \
  src/scanners/apex_scanner.py \
  src/ai_agents/scan_agent.py \
  src/mcp/server.py

Run pytest unit tests

pip install pytest pytest-mock
python -m pytest tests/ -v

Integration scan against a live target

# Non-interactive guest scan, results saved to ./results
python src/aura_cli.py -U phani -u https://yoursite.my.salesforce.com -k --no-gql -o ./results

Web app health check

# Start the web app, then:
curl http://localhost:8080/api/stats

MCP server health check (SSE mode)

# Start with MCP_TRANSPORT=sse, then:
curl http://localhost:8765/tools

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Licenses

Component	License
aura-inspector core	Apache License 2.0
requests	Apache License 2.0
openai Python SDK	Apache License 2.0
tenacity	Apache License 2.0
fastmcp	Apache License 2.0
structlog	Apache License 2.0 / MIT
fastapi	MIT
uvicorn	BSD-3-Clause
sqlalchemy	MIT
jinja2	BSD-3-Clause
passlib	BSD
python-jose	MIT
gradio	Apache License 2.0
Bootstrap 5.3 (web templates)	MIT
Chart.js (web templates)	MIT

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Developed By

• Amine Ismail
• Anirudha Kanodia
• Phani