Burp Suite Tutorial for Beginners: Step-by-Step Guide to Master Web App Hacking

🔰 Introduction: Why Learn Burp Suite?

If you're getting into ethical hacking, penetration testing, or bug bounty hunting, one tool you'll use more than anything is Burp Suite.

Burp Suite is the Swiss Army knife of web application hacking—packed with tools that help you intercept, analyze, modify, and exploit HTTP/S traffic. Whether you’re testing for XSS, SQL Injection, authentication flaws, or business logic bugs, Burp Suite is your best friend.

At Bugitrix, we make cybersecurity learning simple, actionable, and hands-on.

In this step-by-step tutorial, you’ll go from absolute beginner to confident Burp Suite user.

🧭 Table of Contents

1. What Is Burp Suite? (Simple Explanation)

2. Burp Suite Editions: Which One Should You Use?

3. Install & Set Up Burp Suite

4. Setting Up Browser Proxy Step-by-Step

5. Understanding Burp Suite Tools

6. Practical Example: Intercepting & Modifying Requests

7. Burp Suite Cheat Sheet Table

8. Tips to Master Burp Suite (Bugitrix Recommendations)

1. What Is Burp Suite?

Burp Suite is a web penetration testing platform used to:

• Intercept & modify HTTP/S requests

• Scan for vulnerabilities

• Perform manual security testing

• Replay & fuzz requests

• Test authentication & authorization

• Automate repetitive tests

It’s the most used tool in bug bounty, Pentesting, and web security assessments.

2. Burp Suite Editions Comparison

Here’s a clear comparison to help beginners:

Feature	Community Edition (Free)	Professional Edition
Intercept Proxy	✔️	✔️
Repeater	✔️	✔️
Intruder (Full)	❌ Limited	✔️ Full
Active Scanner	❌	✔️
Extensions Support	✔️	✔️
Speed	Slow	Fast
Best For	Learning, beginners	Professionals, bug hunters

👉 Bugitrix Tip: Start with the Community Edition, then upgrade when needed.

3. Install & Set Up Burp Suite

Step 1: Download Burp Suite

Go to: PortSwigger → Burp Suite Community Edition

Step 2: Launch Burp Suite

Select:

Temporary Project → Use Burp Defaults → Start Burp

Step 3: Set Up Your Browser

You can:

• Use Burp’s built-in browser

  OR

• Manually configure Firefox/Chrome proxy settings

4. Setting Up Browser Proxy (Beginner Friendly)

Proxy Settings

Burp Suite listens on:

127.0.0.1:8080

Manual Chrome Proxy Setup

1. Open Chrome

2. Go to chrome://settings

3. Search proxy

4. Set:

HTTP Proxy: 127.0.0.1
Port: 8080

Turn Intercept On

In Burp:

Proxy → Intercept → Intercept is ON

5. Understanding Burp Suite Tools (Simplified for Beginners)

Tool	What It Does	Example Use
Proxy	Intercept web traffic	Modify login parameters
Repeater	Replay & modify requests manually	Test SQLi, XSS payloads
Intruder	Automate payload attacks	Brute-force usernames
Scanner	Automated vulnerability scan	Find XSS, CSRF, etc.
Decoder	Encode/decode data	Base64 decode tokens
Comparer	Compare two requests	Difference in responses

6. Practical Example: Intercept & Modify a Request

This section makes beginners feel like real hackers 😎

Step 1: Visit a Login Page

Open:

http://testphp.vulnweb.com/login.php

Step 2: Burp Intercepts the Request

You will see something like:

POST /login.php HTTP/1.1
Host: testphp.vulnweb.com
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

username=admin&password=1234

Step 3: Modify the Request

Try tampering:

username=admin' OR '1'='1&password=anything

Step 4: Forward the Request

Press:

Forward → Forward → Forward

If the site is vulnerable, you may bypass login.

🔥 This is how real attackers test SQL injection manually.

7. Burp Suite Cheat Sheet (Save for Later)

Action	Shortcut / Steps
Send request to Repeater	Right-click → Send to Repeater
Send request to Intruder	Right-click → Send to Intruder
Intercept toggle	Proxy → Intercept → ON/OFF
Enable/disable Proxy listener	Proxy → Options → Add/Edit
Decode a string	Decoder → Paste → (Select type)
Compare two responses	Comparer → Paste 1 & Paste 2

8. Expert Tips to Master Burp Suite (By Bugitrix)

🔥 Tip 1: Learn Shortcuts First

It speeds up your workflow like magic.

🔥 Tip 2: Practice on Realistic Labs

Use platforms like:

• PortSwigger Academy

• DVWA

• WebGoat

🔥 Tip 3: Customize Burp for Speed

Disable unnecessary features in the Extensions → BApp Store.

🔥 Tip 4: Create a Testing Routine

Follow Bugitrix recommended steps:

1. Map the application

2. Intercept & observe

3. Replay with Repeater

4. Fuzz with Intruder

5. Document findings

🔥 Tip 5: Build Your Own Payload List

For XSS, SQLi, SSRF, etc.

🎯 Conclusion

Burp Suite is the foundation of every great web hacker.

With this step-by-step Bugitrix guide, you now understand:

✔ How Burp Suite works

✔ How to set up proxy & intercept traffic

✔ How to use key tools: Proxy, Repeater, Intruder

✔ How to manually test web vulnerabilities

✔ Professional cheat sheets & examples

This blog post is optimized for SEO, engagement, clarity, and learning conversion—perfect for Bugitrix branding.