Quick Start

What You’ll Learn

By the end of this tutorial, you’ll be able to:

• Install Gobuster on Linux and macOS
• Perform basic directory and file brute-forcing
• Use essential Gobuster flags for web enumeration
• Run simple DNS subdomain discovery
• Interpret basic scan results

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have:

• A Linux or macOS system (Windows users can use WSL2)
• Basic command-line knowledge
• Go 1.19+ installed (for compilation method)
• Permission to scan target systems (own test environment or authorized targets only)

What is Gobuster?

Gobuster is a high-performance brute-forcing tool written in Go. It helps security professionals discover hidden directories, files, DNS subdomains, and virtual hosts by testing against wordlists.

Why Use Gobuster?

• Fast Performance - Written in Go with concurrent processing for rapid enumeration
• Multiple Modes - Supports directory/file brute-forcing, DNS enumeration, and virtual host discovery
• Simple Interface - Clean command-line interface with straightforward options

Learning Path

  %% Color Palette: Blue #0173B2, Orange #DE8F05, Teal #029E73, Purple #CC78BC, Brown #CA9161
flowchart TD
    A[Installation] --> B[Basic Directory Scan]
    B --> C[Understanding Output]
    C --> D[Using Wordlists]
    D --> E[DNS Enumeration]
    E --> F[Next: Beginner Tutorial]

    style A fill:#0173B2,stroke:#000,color:#fff
    style B fill:#DE8F05,stroke:#000,color:#000
    style C fill:#029E73,stroke:#000,color:#fff
    style D fill:#CC78BC,stroke:#000,color:#000
    style E fill:#CA9161,stroke:#000,color:#000
    style F fill:#0173B2,stroke:#000,color:#fff

Installing Gobuster

sudo apt update
sudo apt install gobuster

brew install gobuster

go install github.com/OJ/gobuster/v3@latest

gobuster version

Gobuster v3.x.x
              by OJ Reeves (@TheColonial) & Christian Mehlmauer (@firefart)

mkdir -p ~/wordlists

curl -o ~/wordlists/common.txt \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/danielmiessler/SecLists/master/Discovery/Web-Content/common.txt

Your First Directory Scan

Let’s perform a basic directory brute-force scan against a test target.

Basic Directory Enumeration

Run Gobuster in directory mode:

gobuster dir -u http://testphp.vulnweb.com -w ~/wordlists/common.txt

Command Breakdown:

• gobuster dir - Use directory/file brute-forcing mode
• -u http://testphp.vulnweb.com - Target URL
• -w ~/wordlists/common.txt - Wordlist file path

Sample Output:

===============================================================
Gobuster v3.6.0
by OJ Reeves (@TheColonial) & Christian Mehlmauer (@firefart)
===============================================================
[+] Url:                     http://testphp.vulnweb.com
[+] Method:                  GET
[+] Threads:                 10
[+] Wordlist:                /home/user/wordlists/common.txt
[+] Negative Status codes:   404
[+] User Agent:              gobuster/3.6.0
[+] Timeout:                 10s
===============================================================
Starting gobuster in directory enumeration mode
===============================================================
/admin                (Status: 301) [Size: 185] [--> http://testphp.vulnweb.com/admin/]
/images               (Status: 301) [Size: 186] [--> http://testphp.vulnweb.com/images/]
/index                (Status: 200) [Size: 4958]
/login                (Status: 200) [Size: 3267]
===============================================================
Finished
===============================================================

Understanding the Output

  %% Color Palette: Blue #0173B2, Orange #DE8F05, Teal #029E73, Purple #CC78BC, Brown #CA9161
flowchart LR
    A["Path: /admin"] --> B["Status: 301"]
    B --> C["Redirect to /admin/"]

    D["Path: /images"] --> E["Status: 301"]
    E --> F["Redirect to /images/"]

    G["Path: /login"] --> H["Status: 200"]
    H --> I["Page Found"]

    style A fill:#0173B2,stroke:#000,color:#fff
    style B fill:#DE8F05,stroke:#000,color:#000
    style C fill:#029E73,stroke:#000,color:#fff
    style D fill:#0173B2,stroke:#000,color:#fff
    style E fill:#DE8F05,stroke:#000,color:#000
    style F fill:#029E73,stroke:#000,color:#fff
    style G fill:#0173B2,stroke:#000,color:#fff
    style H fill:#DE8F05,stroke:#000,color:#000
    style I fill:#029E73,stroke:#000,color:#fff

Key Status Codes:

• 200 OK - Resource exists and is accessible
• 301 Moved Permanently - Redirect (directory/file exists)
• 302 Found - Temporary redirect
• 403 Forbidden - Resource exists but access is denied
• 401 Unauthorized - Authentication required

Essential Gobuster Flags

Customize your scans with these common flags:

Thread Control

Speed up scans by increasing concurrent threads:

gobuster dir -u http://testphp.vulnweb.com -w ~/wordlists/common.txt -t 50

• -t 50 - Use 50 concurrent threads (default: 10)
• Higher threads = faster scans, but may trigger rate limiting

File Extensions

Search for specific file types:

gobuster dir -u http://testphp.vulnweb.com -w ~/wordlists/common.txt -x php,html,txt

• -x php,html,txt - Append these extensions to each wordlist entry
• Example: “admin” becomes “admin.php”, “admin.html”, “admin.txt”

Status Code Filtering

Show only specific status codes:

gobuster dir -u http://testphp.vulnweb.com -w ~/wordlists/common.txt -s 200,301,302

• -s 200,301,302 - Only display results with these status codes
• Useful for filtering out noise from 403/401 responses

DNS Subdomain Enumeration

Gobuster can also discover DNS subdomains.

Basic DNS Enumeration

gobuster dns -d example.com -w ~/wordlists/common.txt

Command Breakdown:

• gobuster dns - Use DNS enumeration mode
• -d example.com - Target domain
• -w ~/wordlists/common.txt - Wordlist with potential subdomain names

Sample Output:

===============================================================
Gobuster v3.6.0
by OJ Reeves (@TheColonial) & Christian Mehlmauer (@firefart)
===============================================================
[+] Domain:     example.com
[+] Threads:    10
[+] Wordlist:   /home/user/wordlists/common.txt
===============================================================
Starting gobuster in DNS enumeration mode
===============================================================
Found: www.example.com
Found: mail.example.com
Found: ftp.example.com
Found: admin.example.com
===============================================================
Finished
===============================================================

Recommended DNS Wordlist

For DNS enumeration, use subdomain-specific wordlists:

curl -o ~/wordlists/subdomains.txt \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/danielmiessler/SecLists/master/Discovery/DNS/subdomains-top1million-5000.txt

gobuster dns -d example.com -w ~/wordlists/subdomains.txt

Practical Example: Web Application Enumeration

Let’s combine what we’ve learned to enumerate a web application thoroughly.

gobuster dir -u http://testphp.vulnweb.com \
  -w ~/wordlists/common.txt \
  -x php,html,txt,zip \
  -t 30 \
  -s 200,301,302

gobuster dir -u http://testphp.vulnweb.com/admin \
  -w ~/wordlists/common.txt \
  -x php,html \
  -t 30

Analysis Workflow:

1. Run initial scan with extensions
2. Identify interesting directories (admin, login, config, etc.)
3. Enumerate subdirectories recursively
4. Document findings for further investigation

Common Issues and Solutions

Issue: “Error: the server returns a status code that matches the provided options”

Cause: The server returns wildcard responses (same status code for all requests).

Solution: Use -b flag to exclude specific status codes:

gobuster dir -u http://example.com -w ~/wordlists/common.txt -b 404

Issue: Scan is too slow

Solutions:

1. Increase threads: -t 50
2. Use a smaller wordlist
3. Reduce timeout: --timeout 5s

Issue: Getting rate-limited or blocked

Solutions:

1. Reduce threads: -t 5
2. Add delay between requests: --delay 100ms
3. Use custom User-Agent: -a "Mozilla/5.0"

Next Steps

Now that you understand Gobuster basics, continue learning:

• Gobuster Beginner Tutorial - Learn all three modes (dir, dns, vhost), advanced options, output formats, and real-world scenarios
• Practice on legal testing platforms like DVWA, HackTheBox, or TryHackMe
• Explore other reconnaissance tools like Nmap, Nikto, and Wappalyzer

Summary

In this tutorial, you learned:

• How to install Gobuster via package managers or from source
• Running basic directory brute-force scans with essential flags
• Understanding HTTP status codes in scan results
• Using -t, -w, and -x flags for customization
• Performing simple DNS subdomain enumeration
• Troubleshooting common scanning issues

Gobuster is a powerful tool for web application reconnaissance. Use it responsibly and always ensure you have proper authorization before scanning any systems.