LaunchDarkly Detection Scanner

LaunchDarkly is a feature management platform used by software teams to control the release of new features in their applications. It is typically used to gradually roll out features to specific groups of users, allowing for testing and feedback before full deployment. This platform is heavily utilized in continuous delivery pipelines to decouple feature releases from deployment schedules. By using feature flags, developers can activate or deactivate features with a toggle switch. Companies use LaunchDarkly to improve the agility and speed of software releases. It serves numerous industries, from finance to healthcare, by offering a robust solution for managing feature flags at scale.

This scanner identifies the presence of LaunchDarkly on web assets. It is particularly useful for organizations wanting to track the usage of LaunchDarkly in their applications. Detecting the usage of such platforms is crucial to maintain proper inventory in situations where license compliance or service dependency tracking is required. LaunchDarkly often integrates client-side SDKs, which are detected by scanning for unique initialization scripts within client-side assets. The scanner is also valuable for security assessments to determine the potential exposure of internal feature management tools. This detection capability helps in auditing the usage of LaunchDarkly across various projects.

The detection process involves scanning web pages for identifiable markers associated with LaunchDarkly. These markers could include specific initialization scripts, such as "LDClient.initialize," or particular SDK references like "launchdarkly-js-client-sdk." The scanner utilizes HTTP GET requests to parse site content and look for these unique keywords. The scan targets the page body, matching any existence of these defined keywords using a logical OR condition. This approach ensures thorough coverage in identifying the usage of LaunchDarkly instances.

Exploitation of detected instances may lead to exposure of feature management capabilities to unauthorized parties. If a malicious actor understands that LaunchDarkly is in use, they might attempt further analysis to exploit potential misconfigurations. It could lead to unauthorized modification of feature flags, enabling or disabling application functionalities unexpectedly. Consequently, the exploitation could impact application behavior, user experience, and operational stability. Therefore, detecting such platforms is a pro-active step in maintaining security hygiene.

REFERENCES

• https://launchdarkly.com/
• https://launchdarkly.com/docs/sdk/client-side/javascript