OpenVAS, or the Open Vulnerability Assessment System, is a scanner designed to detect security issues in servers and network devices. It is a framework of tools, most licensed under the GNU General Public License. The tools in OpenVAS scan for possible vulnerabilities and help provide a management software such as word-processing programs, spreadsheets, or databases as well as games, audio-editing software, or other pieces of software that add functionality to the computer.
OpenVAS provides an open-source suite of tools and services to support vulnerability scanning, detection , and management for networks. The central tool in this SSL-secured, service-oriented architecture is its OpenVAS scanner that executes the network vulnerability tests.
The OpenVAS framework includes the scanner, the OpenVAS Manager (provides central service controls and user management), the Greenbone Security Assistant (GSA) (provides web service interface), and the OpenVAS CLI (provides command line tool)