Burp Suite Project Parser

When to Use

• Parsing Burp Suite XML export files for findings
• Analyzing HTTP request/response history from Burp
• Extracting and deduplicating vulnerability findings
• Correlating Burp scan results with source code locations
• Converting Burp output to other formats (CSV, JSON, SARIF)

When NOT to Use

• Running active Burp scans (use Burp Suite directly)
• Configuring Burp extensions
• General web application testing without Burp data

Burp XML Export Format

Burp Suite exports data in XML format with these key elements:

<items>
  <item>
    <time>...</time>
    <url>https://example.com/api/user</url>
    <host ip="1.2.3.4">example.com</host>
    <port>443</port>
    <protocol>https</protocol>
    <method>POST</method>
    <path>/api/user</path>
    <request base64="true">...</request>
    <response base64="true">...</response>
    <status>200</status>
    <responselength>1234</responselength>
    <mimetype>JSON</mimetype>
  </item>
</items>

Parsing Commands

# Extract all unique URLs from Burp export
xmllint --xpath '//item/url/text()' burp_export.xml 2>/dev/null | sort -u

# Extract URLs with response status
python3 -c "
import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
tree = ET.parse('burp_export.xml')
for item in tree.findall('.//item'):
    url = item.findtext('url', '')
    status = item.findtext('status', '')
    method = item.findtext('method', '')
    print(f'{method} {status} {url}')
"

# Decode base64 request/response bodies
python3 -c "
import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET, base64
tree = ET.parse('burp_export.xml')
for item in tree.findall('.//item'):
    req = item.find('request')
    if req is not None and req.get('base64') == 'true':
        print(base64.b64decode(req.text).decode('utf-8', errors='replace'))
        print('---')
"

Analysis Workflow

1. Export Burp project data as XML (HTTP history or scan results)
2. Parse XML to extract requests, responses, and findings
3. Deduplicate findings by URL pattern and vulnerability type
4. Correlate with source code (map endpoints to handlers)
5. Prioritize by severity, exploitability, and business impact
6. Report findings with request/response evidence

Common Findings to Extract