Gray Box Testing Techniques

What is Gray Box Testing?

Gray box testing (a.k.a grey box testing) is a method you can use to debug software and evaluate vulnerabilities. In this method, the tester has limited knowledge of the workings of the component being tested. This is in contrast to black box testing, where the tester has no internal knowledge, and white box testing, where the tester has full internal knowledge.

You can implement gray box testing as a form of penetration testing that is unbiased and non-obtrusive. In these tests, the tester typically knows what the internal components of an application are but not how those components interact. This ensures that testing reflects the experiences of potential attackers and users.

Gray box testing is most effective for evaluating web applications, integration testing, distributed environments, business domain testing, and performing security assessments. When performing this testing, you should create clear distinctions between testers and developers to ensure test results aren’t biased by internal knowledge.

The Gray Box Testing Process

In gray box testing, the tester is not required to design test cases. Instead, test cases are created based on algorithms that evaluate internal states, program behavior, and application architecture knowledge. The tester then carries out and interprets the results of these tests.

When performing gray box testing, you take the following steps:

Identify and select Inputs from white and black box testing methods.
Identify probable outputs from these inputs.
Identify key paths for the testing phase.
Identify sub-functions for deep-level testing.
Identify inputs for sub-functions.
Identify probable outputs from sub-functions.
Execute sub-function test cases.
Assess and verify outcomes.
Repeat steps 4-8.
Repeat steps 7 and 8.

Gray Box, Black Box, and White Box Testing

Gray box testing is a middle ground between white box and black box testing.

White box testing is an approach that involves testing an application based on knowledge of its inner workings, code, and architecture. It can help discover security issues, data flow errors, and bugs in seldomly-used paths.

Black box testing evaluates a product from the user’s perspective, with no knowledge of its inner workings. Therefore it is an end-to-end approach that tests all systems that impact the end-user, including UI/UX, web servers, database, and integrated systems.

Grey box testing combines the benefits of the black box and white box testing. On the one hand, tests are performed from the user’s perspective. On the other hand, testers do use some inside information to focus on the most important issues and identify the weaknesses of the system.

Differences between white box, black box, and gray box testing

Gray box testing techniques are designed to enable you to perform penetration testing on your applications. These techniques enable you to test for insider threats, such as employees attempting to manipulate applications, and external users, such as attackers attempting to exploit vulnerabilities.

With gray box testing, you can ensure that applications work as expected for authenticated users. You can also verify that malicious users cannot access data or functionality you don’t want them to.

When performing gray box testing, there are several techniques you can choose from. Depending on which testing phase you are in and how the application operates, you may want to combine multiple techniques to ensure all potential issues are identified.

Matrix Testing

Matrix testing is a technique that examines all variables in an application. In this technique, technical and business risks are defined by the developers and a list of all application variables are provided. Each variable is then assessed according to the risks it presents. You can use this technique to identify unused or un-optimized variables.

Regression Testing

Regression testing is a technique that enables you to verify whether application changes or bug fixes have caused errors to appear in existing components. You can use it to ensure that modifications to your application are only improving the product, not relocating faults. When performing regression testing, you need to recreate your tests since inputs, outputs, and dependencies may have changed.

Pattern Testing

Pattern testing is a technique that evaluates past defects to identify patterns that lead to defects. Ideally, these evaluations can highlight which details contributed to defects, how the defects were found, and how effective fixes were. You can then apply this information to identifying and preventing similar defects in new versions of an application or new applications with similar structures.

Orthogonal Array Testing

Orthogonal array testing is a technique you can use when your application has only a few inputs that are too complex or large for extensive testing. This technique enables you to perform test case optimization, where the quality and number of tests performed balance test coverage with effort. This technique is systematic and uses statistics to test pair-based interactions.

Gray Box Testing Pros and Cons

When determining whether or not to use gray box testing, you should consider the following pros and cons. These can help you determine if gray box testing is appropriate for your testing situation and how much value it may provide.

Pros

Pros of gray box testing include:

Clear testing goals are established, making it easier for testers and developers
Testing accounts for a user perspective, improving the overall quality of products
Testers do not need to have a programming expertise
Testing methods create more time for developers to fix defects
It can provide the benefits of both black and white box testing
It can eliminate conflicts between developers and testers
It is cheaper than integration testing

Cons

Cons of gray box testing include:

It can be difficult to associate defects with root causes in distributed systems
Code path traversals are limited due to restricted access to internal application structure
It does not allow for full white box testing benefits since not all internals are accessible
It cannot be used for algorithm testing
Test cases can be difficult to design

Imperva Runtime Application Self Protection

Imperva Runtime Application Self Protection (RASP) complements black box and gray box testing by adding an extra layer of protection once the application is already in production or in a realistic staging environment.

RASP has the following benefits:

It helps test applications in-depth during fast, agile development cycles.
It tests for unanticipated inputs, inspects, and controls the system’s response.
It provides analysis and detailed information on weaknesses and vulnerabilities, helping you quickly respond to attacks.

Imperva RASP provides these benefits, keeping your applications protected and giving you essential feedback for eliminating any additional risks. It requires no changes to code and integrates easily with existing applications and DevOps processes, protecting you from both known and zero-day attacks.

In addition, Imperva provides multi-layered protection to make sure websites and applications are available, easily accessible and safe. The Imperva application security solution includes:

DDoS Protection—maintain uptime in all situations. Prevent any type of DDoS attack, of any size, from preventing access to your website and network infrastructure.
CDN—enhance website performance and reduce bandwidth costs with a CDN designed for developers. Cache static resources at the edge while accelerating APIs and dynamic websites.
Cloud WAF—permit legitimate traffic and prevent bad traffic. Safeguard your applications at the edge with an enterprise‑class cloud WAF.
Gateway WAF—keep applications and APIs inside your network safe with Imperva Gateway WAF.
Attack Analytics—mitigate and respond to real security threats efficiently and accurately with actionable intelligence across all your layers of defense.
Account Takeover Protection—uses an intent-based detection process to identify and defends against attempts to take over users’ accounts for malicious purposes.
API Security—protects APIs by ensuring only desired traffic can access your API endpoint, as well as detecting and blocking exploits of vulnerabilities.
Advanced Bot Protection—analyzes your bot traffic to pinpoint anomalies, identifies bad bot behavior, and validates it via challenge mechanisms that do not impact user traffic.