Wordlist Selection Guide
Choose wordlists based on the target stack and engagement scope. All paths are relative to your SecLists installation directory.
By Scenario
Directory and File Discovery
| Scope | Wordlist | Entries | When to use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quick scan | Discovery/Web-Content/common.txt |
~4.6k | Initial recon, time-limited engagements |
| Standard | Discovery/Web-Content/directory-list-2.3-medium.txt |
~220k | Default for most engagements |
| Thorough | Discovery/Web-Content/directory-list-2.3-big.txt |
~1.2M | High-value targets, long engagements |
| Raft (dirs) | Discovery/Web-Content/raft-large-directories.txt |
- | Alternative to directory-list, good coverage |
| Raft (files) | Discovery/Web-Content/raft-large-files.txt |
- | Focused on file discovery |
API Testing
| Wordlist | When to use |
|---|---|
Discovery/Web-Content/api/api-endpoints.txt |
REST API endpoint discovery |
Discovery/Web-Content/common-api-endpoints-mazen160.txt |
Broader API path fuzzing |
Discovery/Web-Content/swagger-parameters.txt |
Finding Swagger/OpenAPI docs |
Subdomain Discovery
| Wordlist | Entries | When to use |
|---|---|---|
Discovery/DNS/subdomains-top1million-5000.txt |
5k | Quick subdomain check |
Discovery/DNS/subdomains-top1million-20000.txt |
20k | Standard engagement |
Discovery/DNS/subdomains-top1million-110000.txt |
110k | Thorough enumeration |
Discovery/DNS/namelist.txt |
- | Combined/alternative list |
Parameter Names
| Wordlist | When to use |
|---|---|
Discovery/Web-Content/burp-parameter-names.txt |
GET/POST parameter discovery |
Discovery/Web-Content/raft-large-words.txt |
Broader parameter fuzzing |
Backup and Config Files
| Wordlist | When to use |
|---|---|
Discovery/Web-Content/backup-files-only.txt |
Finding .bak, .old, .save files |
Discovery/Web-Content/Common-DB-Backups.txt |
Database dump discovery |
Technology-Specific
| Wordlist | Stack |
|---|---|
Discovery/Web-Content/PHP.fuzz.txt |
PHP applications |
Discovery/Web-Content/IIS.fuzz.txt |
ASP/ASP.NET on IIS |
Discovery/Web-Content/Apache.fuzz.txt |
Apache web servers |
Discovery/Web-Content/git-head-potential-file-exposure.txt |
Git repo exposure |
File Extensions by Technology
Add with -e flag. Match extensions to the target stack.
| Stack | Extensions |
|---|---|
| PHP | .php .php3 .php4 .php5 .phtml .phps |
| ASP/ASP.NET | .asp .aspx .ashx .asmx .axd |
| JSP/Java | .jsp .jspx .jsw .jsv .jspf |
| Python | .py .pyc .pyo |
| Ruby | .rb .rhtml |
| Node.js | .js .json |
| Backup/Interesting | .bak .backup .old .save .tmp .swp .git .env .config .conf .log .sql .db .sqlite |