When traditional reconnaissance methods are blocked, scanning code repositories is an effective method to gather information. Here's why:
Code Repository Scanning:
Leaked Information: Code repositories (e.g., GitHub, GitLab) often contain sensitive information, including API keys, configuration files, and even credentials that developers might inadvertently commit.
Accessible: These repositories can often be accessed publicly, bypassing traditional defenses like WAFs.
Comparison with Other Methods:
HTML Scraping: Limited to the data present on web pages and can still be blocked by WAF.
Directory Enumeration: Likely to be blocked by WAF as well and might not yield significant internal information.
Port Scanning: Also likely to be blocked or trigger alerts on WAF or IDS/IPS systems.
Scanning code repositories allows gathering a wide range of information that can be critical for further penetration testing effort