Firewall and VPN Penetration Testing
Edge appliances have become the favourite way into UK organisations, because they are internet-facing by design and patched on somebody else schedule. We test yours from outside and review the rules from inside. CREST-certified testers, fixed price from £2,470, scoped in 24 hours.
- Unlimited retesting
- No rescheduling or cancellation fees
- Fixed quote within 24 hours
“I would highly recommend EJN Labs to any organisation seeking reliable, detailed, and well-managed penetration testing services, particularly for government or enterprise-level projects.”
Imran SaghirProject Lead, SquareOne“There wasn’t another company we could find that could deliver what we needed in the timeframe we needed. The client loved it, and we got instant ROI from the engagement.”
Dan WilcocksonCo-Founder, CelloriRemote access appliances sit on the internet, terminate trusted sessions and run vendor code you cannot inspect. That combination has produced a steady run of unauthenticated flaws, and attackers reach them within days of disclosure. The first question is always what you are running and how far behind it is.
The device protecting the perimeter is now the way through it
The second is the rule base. Rules accumulate, temporary exceptions become permanent, any-any entries appear at the bottom of a policy for a project that finished, and nobody wants to be the person who removes one. We read the rules and then prove which ones matter.
Third, the management plane. Web interfaces reachable from the internet, SNMP and SSH with defaults, single-factor administrator access and backups of the configuration in places they should not be.
ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI DSS and Cyber Essentials Plus audits accept manual penetration test evidence. Scan-only evidence is generally insufficient.
EDGE DEVICE SPECIFICS
What We Actually Test on Firewalls and VPN Appliances
Ten areas that apply to the devices at your perimeter, on top of the standard external checks. Every finding is verified, reproducible and mapped to CIS benchmarks, CWE and CVSS 3.1.
Version and exposure
What the appliance is, what version it runs, and which known unauthenticated issues apply to it today.
Management plane
Administrative interfaces reachable from untrusted networks, default credentials, and authentication strength.
Remote access authentication
VPN authentication methods, multi-factor coverage, certificate handling and account lockout.
Rule base review
Overly broad rules, shadowed and unused rules, temporary exceptions and any-any entries.
Segmentation enforcement
Whether the rules actually separate the zones they claim to, tested rather than read.
Split tunnelling and client posture
Client configuration, posture checks, and what a compromised remote device reaches.
Certificate and cryptography
Certificate validity and issuance, protocol and cipher support on the tunnels.
Logging and alerting
What the device logs, where it sends it, and whether an authentication attack would be visible.
High availability and backups
Configuration backups and their protection, failover behaviour and credentials shared between peers.
Supporting services
SNMP, NTP, DNS and syslog configuration on the device, and what they disclose or accept.
METHODOLOGY
What a firewall and VPN finding looks like
Written the way a finding appears in our reports. The example below is reconstructed from publicly documented research, with hosts, paths and identifiers redacted. We do not republish client findings, named or anonymised.
Pre-authentication overflow on the internet facing SSL VPN portal
- Affected
- The SSL VPN portal at [redacted], firmware two maintenance releases behind, published to the whole internet.
- What we found
- The portal was reachable on an affected firmware build. At your request we confirmed the condition with a safe version check rather than running the exploit. The same device was missing multi-factor authentication on three break glass accounts.
- Why it matters
- Remote code execution on the perimeter device without credentials. That device terminates every tunnel and holds the directory binding, so it is the one host where a compromise reaches everything.
- Fix
- Apply the vendor firmware, restrict the portal to the countries and address ranges your users actually connect from, enforce multi-factor authentication on every account including break glass, and subscribe the device to the vendor advisory feed.
Reconstructed from public research: CVE-2023-27997, known as XORtigate, a heap based buffer overflow in the FortiOS and FortiProxy SSL-VPN.
Edge Device Penetration Testing: From Scope to Attestation
CREST-aligned methodology built on OWASP Web Security Testing Guide, OWASP ASVS, NIST SP 800-115, and PTES. Each finding maps to all four standards plus your specific compliance regime.
Reconnaissance
Application mapping, technology fingerprinting, content discovery, parameter enumeration, authentication-flow analysis, role-matrix construction.
Vulnerability Assessment
Authenticated and unauthenticated automated scanning across every user role, plus targeted manual checks for known weakness patterns.
Manual Exploitation
Hands-on testing by a CREST-certified pentester. Business-logic exploitation, chained vulnerabilities, privilege escalation, impact validation.
Reporting + Retest
Executive summary, technical report with CVSS scores and reproduction steps, walkthrough call, free retest after remediation, attestation letter.
CREDENTIALS
Verified Accreditations Auditors Accept
Every credential below is independently verifiable. UK procurement teams, FCA supervisors, ISO 27001 / SOC 2 auditors, and cyber insurance underwriters all recognise these standards.
GET YOUR QUOTE
Get a CREST Edge Device assessment pen test quote in 24 hours
A fixed-price quote back in one business day, from a named CREST assessor. No sales pipeline, no chasing.
- CREST and IASME accredited. Testing your auditors and clients already recognise.
- Fast-track testing within 24 hours where required. Free retest of every fix included.
- Live findings via your client portal, not a four-week PDF.
- Fixed price from £2,470 for a small, single-scope engagement, agreed up front. Most engagements run £3,690 and up. No day-rate surprises.
Dan WilcocksonCo-Founder, CelloriUnder NDA Further named references available on a scoping call.
- We reply within one business day with a fixed-price quote from a named CREST assessor.
- You approve the scope and we book a start date, usually within 24 hours.
- Live findings land in your client portal as we test, with a free retest of every fix.
Get your fixed pen test quote in 24 hours
Quote request received
We will reply within one business day with your fixed-price quote from a named CREST assessor.
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or book a 20-min scoping call first
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COMPLIANCE READY
Reports Mapped to Every Framework
Findings are explicitly tagged to the relevant control reference. Your audit team submits the report directly without translation work.
ISO 27001:2022
Annex A.8.8 management of technical vulnerabilities plus A.5.15-5.18 and A.8.2-8.5 access control validation.
SOC 2 Type I & II
CC6 logical access, CC7 system operations, CC8 change management evidence.
PCI DSS
Requirement 11.4 application penetration testing across cardholder data environments, including ecommerce penetration testing for online retail platforms.
FCA SYSC
SYSC 4.1.1R, 6.1.1R, 13 mapped to each finding for FCA-regulated firms.
UK GDPR
Article 32 effectiveness testing, customer-data security controls, ICO-acceptable evidence.
Cyber Essentials Plus
Direct certification through our IASME body status, single-vendor delivery.
PRICING
Transparent Edge Device Penetration Testing Pricing
Pricing depends on the number of devices, rule sets and published applications in scope, and how many entry points are exposed to the internet. The day count flexes; the included deliverables stay the same across all engagements.
2 to 3 days
Single user role, basic CRUD application, marketing website with auth. Typically 5-day engagement.
Get a fixed quote3 to 4 days
Multi-role SaaS, business application with payment integration. Typically 8-12 day engagement.
Get a fixed quote4 to 6 days
Multi-tenant platform, complex authorisation matrix, integration-heavy applications. 15-20 day engagement.
Get a fixed quotePart of Technologies We Pen Test. These are examples of the stacks we publish pages for, not a complete list. If yours is not here we still test it. Related pages:
BY SECTOR
Edge Device Penetration Testing for Your Sector
Sector-specialist scoping for UK businesses with sector-specific compliance regimes and threat models.
Fintech & FCA-Regulated
FCA SYSC, Open Banking FAPI 1.0, PSD2 SCA, payment-flow scrutiny, KYC/AML testing.
Fintech sector pageSaaS Companies
SOC 2 Type I & II evidence, multi-tenant boundaries, role escalation, customer-tenant isolation.
SaaS sector pageLaw Firms
SRA Cyber Standard, privileged data, conveyancing fraud defence, partner-tier procurement.
Law firm sector pageHealthcare
NHS DTAC, DSP Toolkit v6, UK GDPR Article 32, EHR systems, telehealth platforms.
Healthcare sector pageInsurance
FCA / PRA Operational Resilience, cyber underwriting, claims data, broker portals.
Insurance sector pagePublic Sector
CCS / G-Cloud framework, NCSC-aligned, citizen-facing services, PSN-compliance scrutiny.
Public sector pageWHY EJN LABS
What You Get From Edge Device Penetration Testing
Six concrete differentiators competitors don’t all match.
CREST-Certified Testers, Verifiable
Every test by a CREST-certified pen tester (CRT, CCT APP, CCT INF where applicable). Verify our company status at crest-approved.org.
24-Hour Startup, Where Required
From signed scope to active testing in a single business day for incident response, audit deadlines, or regulator-driven timelines.
Live Findings, Not 4-Week PDFs
Critical issues reported during testing through your client portal. Your team remediates while testing continues.
Audit-Ready Reports
Executive summary plus full technical report with CVSS scores and explicit framework mappings (ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI DSS, FCA SYSC).
Free Retests, Standard
Verify remediation of every finding before close-out. Letter of attestation for audit submission included. Most competitors charge £1,500-£3,000 per retest.
UK-Based CREST Testers
Every engagement performed by vetted, UK-based CREST-certified testers, matched to your needs, security clearance, and compliance scope.
FAQ
Frequently Asked
Which vendors do you cover?
Fortinet, Palo Alto, Cisco, SonicWALL, Sophos, WatchGuard, pfSense and others. The methodology does not change with the badge.
Do you need access to the device?
External testing needs nothing. The rule base review needs a read-only export or a read-only login.
Is this part of the external test?
It overlaps with it. Many clients scope the external infrastructure test and add this for the appliances specifically.
Will testing knock the VPN over?
No. Anything with a denial of service risk is agreed first and usually excluded or run in a maintenance window.
Can you test segmentation between sites?
Yes. That needs a position on each side, which we agree during scoping.
Do you test the remote workers themselves?
Client posture is in scope. Testing staff behaviour is the phishing and social engineering service.
What is included in the price?
Scoping, testing, the executive summary, the technical report, a walkthrough call and free retests until the finding is closed. One scope, one number, no follow-up invoices.
How fast can you start?
Scope to active testing in 24 hours once the scope is agreed, subject to tester availability in your window.
Are your testers CREST certified?
Yes. EJN Labs is a CREST member company and testing is delivered by CREST-qualified testers. The membership is verifiable on the CREST marketplace.
20+ CREST-accredited testing services in one place
Web, mobile, API, cloud, AI, infrastructure, red team. Pick the test that fits your environment.
Get your perimeter devices tested
Tell us what is at the edge and how many sites. You will have a fixed scope and a number within 24 hours.
