owasp-asvs

Choose an ASVS level from the application's own risk profile and user expectations, starting at L1 and moving up. L1 is a minimal baseline for any application, L2 suits most applications handling meaningful data, and L3 targets high-assurance systems like banking.

Cite ASVS requirements using the versioned format v<version>-<chapter>.<section>.<requirement>, such as v5.0.0-1.2.5. Requirement numbers shift between major releases, so an unversioned ID is read as referring to the latest ASVS and is unsafe for durable references.

No, OWASP does not certify vendors, verifiers, or software, so any OWASP ASVS-certified badge is not an official endorsement. A legitimate assessment reports scope, every requirement checked including not-applicable ones with justification, and remediation guidance.

Automated tools alone cannot verify ASVS compliance because they cannot evaluate business-logic, access-control, or documentation requirements. They cover mechanical checks like output encoding, but application-specific tests and hybrid source-informed review are needed for higher levels.

Documentation requirements appear in the first section of a chapter and require the organization to document its own decisions, such as allowed file types or validation rules. Missing documentation counts as a failure independently of whether the implementation looks reasonable.

Exclude chapters that do not match the application's functionality, such as skipping V3 for machine-to-machine APIs or V17 without WebRTC. Record each exclusion with a stated reason in the report rather than silently omitting or failing those requirements.