Faraday — Open-Source Vulnerability Management Platform

Introduction

Faraday centralizes vulnerability data from dozens of security scanning tools into a unified workspace. It allows security teams to collaborate on triage, track remediation, and generate reports without manually reconciling outputs from different scanners.

What Faraday Does

• Imports results from 80+ security tools (Nmap, Burp Suite, Nessus, etc.)
• Deduplicates and normalizes vulnerability findings into a common data model
• Provides a web dashboard for collaborative triage and status tracking
• Generates compliance and executive reports from aggregated findings
• Offers a REST API and CLI for automation and CI/CD integration

Architecture Overview

Faraday is a Python application with a PostgreSQL backend and a web-based frontend. The server exposes a REST API that plugins use to ingest scan data. Each supported tool has a plugin that parses its output format and maps findings to Faraday's internal vulnerability schema. Workspaces isolate data by project or engagement.

Self-Hosting & Configuration

• Requires Python 3 and PostgreSQL; install via pip or Docker
• Initialize the database with faraday-manage initdb
• Configure server settings in ~/.faraday/config/server.ini
• Set up LDAP or SAML for enterprise authentication
• Use Docker Compose for production deployments with Nginx reverse proxy

Key Features

• Plugin ecosystem supporting 80+ scanners and security tools
• Workspace-based data isolation for multi-project environments
• Real-time collaboration with shared triage and annotation
• Custom fields and tags for organization-specific classification
• REST API enabling integration with ticketing systems and CI pipelines

Comparison with Similar Tools

• DefectDojo — Similar vulnerability aggregation; Faraday emphasizes real-time collaboration and has broader plugin support
• ArcherySec — Lighter weight but fewer integrations; Faraday scales better for large teams
• Dradis — Focused on pentest reporting; Faraday covers ongoing vulnerability management
• Nucleus — Commercial platform; Faraday offers an open-source community edition

FAQ

Q: Is Faraday free? A: The community edition is open-source. A commercial edition adds features like advanced reporting, custom dashboards, and priority support.

Q: What output formats does Faraday accept? A: It supports XML, JSON, CSV, and tool-specific formats through its plugin system covering 80+ tools.

Q: Can Faraday integrate with Jira or other ticketing systems? A: Yes. The REST API and webhook support allow integration with Jira, ServiceNow, and custom workflows.

Q: Does Faraday run vulnerability scans itself? A: No. Faraday aggregates and manages results from external scanners; it does not perform scanning directly.

Sources

• https://github.com/infobyte/faraday
• https://docs.faradaysec.com/