Overview
OpenVAS is a security scanner from Greenbone / OpenVAS used for security scanning, malware checks, vulnerability assessment, certificate review, and site-safety analysis.
Its primary user-agent pattern is OpenVAS.
OpenVAS is Unverified at the identity-evidence level. The listed identity remains useful for detection, but this record does not currently contain authoritative evidence sufficient to authenticate the identity claim.
Robots.txt behavior is not currently confirmed.
OpenVAS should be monitored first, then rate-limited or blocked if the crawl rate, paths, or behavior are unwanted.
Identity
- User-Agent Pattern
-
OpenVAS - HTTP Agent Examples
-
OpenVAS - Robots Token
- OpenVAS
- Identity Type
- Observed
- Evidence Method
- Treat `OpenVAS` as an identity signal only. Confirm it with current operator documentation, cryptographic verification, forward-confirmed reverse DNS, source-network ownership, or other authoritative evidence before trusting the claimed identity.
Classification
- Type
- Vulnerability scanner
- Kind
- Vulnerability scanner
- Family
- Greenbone / OpenVAS
- Purpose
- Vulnerability scanning
Behavior and handling
- Common Use
- OpenVAS is used for security scanning, malware checks, vulnerability assessment, certificate review, and site-safety analysis.
- Detection Notes
- OpenVAS traffic is primarily detected by the `OpenVAS` user-agent pattern. Compare source IPs, reverse DNS, request paths, and crawl cadence with Greenbone / OpenVAS infrastructure before trusting the traffic.
- Respects robots.txt
- Unknown
- Spoofing Risk
- OpenVAS has medium spoofing risk because user-agent strings can be copied; pair the match with DNS, IP, behavior, or operator evidence.
- Risk
- Caution
- Recommended Handling
- Monitor
Rules and controls
- Robots.txt Snippet
-
# robots.txt behavior is unconfirmed. Do not rely on this rule without verification.
Relationships
- Operator
- Greenbone / OpenVAS Checked 2026-08-07
Relationships without an Evidence link are normalized from the canonical directory record. They should not be interpreted as independent proof of physical presence or request origin.