chore: bump version v3.6.1

Signed-off-by: Dwi Siswanto <[email protected]>

.claude/settings.local.json

@@ -1,35 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "permissions": {
-    "allow": [
-      "Bash(find:*)",
-      "Bash(mkdir:*)",
-      "Bash(cp:*)",
-      "Bash(ls:*)",
-      "Bash(make:*)",
-      "Bash(go:*)",
-      "Bash(golangci-lint:*)",
-      "Bash(git merge:*)",
-      "Bash(git add:*)",
-      "Bash(git commit:*)",
-      "Bash(git push:*)",
-      "Bash(git pull:*)",
-      "Bash(git fetch:*)",
-      "Bash(git checkout:*)",
-      "WebFetch(*)",
-      "Write(*)",
-      "WebSearch(*)",
-      "MultiEdit(*)",
-      "Edit(*)",
-      "Bash(gh:*)",
-      "Bash(grep:*)",
-      "Bash(tree:*)",
-      "Bash(./nuclei:*)",
-      "WebFetch(domain:github.com)"
-    ],
-    "deny": [
-      "Bash(make run:*)",
-      "Bash(./bin/nuclei:*)"
-    ],
-    "defaultMode": "acceptEdits"
-  }
-}

.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/config.yml

@@ -2,10 +2,6 @@ blank_issues_enabled: false
 
 contact_links:
 
-  - name: 🐛 Report a Bug (Start with Discussion)
-    url: https://github.com/orgs/projectdiscovery/discussions/new?category=q-a
-    about: Start by reporting your issue in discussions for proper triage. Issues will be created after review to avoid duplicate/invalid reports.
-
   - name: 💡 Request a Feature (Start with Discussion)
     url: https://github.com/orgs/projectdiscovery/discussions/new?category=ideas
     about: Share your feature idea in discussions first. This helps validate and refine the request before creating an issue.

.github/auto_assign.yml

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ addReviewers: true
 reviewers:
   - dogancanbakir
   - dwisiswant0
+  - mzack9999
 
 numberOfReviewers: 1
 skipKeywords:

.github/workflows/auto-merge.yaml

@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     if: github.actor == 'dependabot[bot]'
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
         with:
           token: ${{ secrets.DEPENDABOT_PAT }}
 

.github/workflows/compat-checks.yaml

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ jobs:
     permissions:
       contents: write
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
       - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/setup/go/compat-checks@v1
         with:
           release-test: true

.github/workflows/generate-docs.yaml

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ jobs:
     if: "${{ !endsWith(github.actor, '[bot]') }}"
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
       - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/setup/go@v1
       - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/setup/git@v1
       - run: make syntax-docs

.github/workflows/generate-pgo.yaml

@@ -28,9 +28,10 @@ jobs:
       LIST_FILE: "/tmp/targets-${{ matrix.targets }}.txt"
       PROFILE_MEM: "/tmp/nuclei-profile-${{ matrix.targets }}-targets"
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
       - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/setup/git@v1
       - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/setup/go@v1
+      - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/cache/nuclei@v1
       - name: Generate list
         run: for i in {1..${{ matrix.targets }}}; do echo "https://honey.scanme.sh/?_=${i}" >> "${LIST_FILE}"; done
       # NOTE(dwisiswant0): use `-no-mhe` flag to get better samples.
@@ -49,7 +50,7 @@ jobs:
           files: "${PGO_FILE}"
           message: "build: update PGO profile :robot:"
       - run: git push origin $GITHUB_REF
-      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v6
         with:
           name: "pgo"
           path: "${{ env.PGO_FILE }}"

.github/workflows/govulncheck.yaml

@@ -16,11 +16,11 @@ jobs:
     env:
       OUTPUT: "/tmp/results.sarif"
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
       - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/setup/go@v1
       - run: go install golang.org/x/vuln/cmd/govulncheck@latest
       - run: govulncheck -scan package -format sarif ./... > $OUTPUT
-      - uses: github/codeql-action/upload-sarif@v3
+      - uses: github/codeql-action/upload-sarif@v4
         with:
           sarif_file: "${{ env.OUTPUT }}"
           category: "govulncheck"

.github/workflows/perf-regression.yaml

@@ -11,13 +11,15 @@ jobs:
     env:
       BENCH_OUT: "/tmp/bench.out"
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
       - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/setup/go@v1
+      - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/cache/go-rod-browser@v1
+      - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/cache/nuclei@v1
       - run: make build-test
       - run: ./bin/nuclei.test -test.run - -test.bench=. -test.benchmem ./cmd/nuclei/ | tee $BENCH_OUT
         env:
           DISABLE_STDOUT: "1"
-      - uses: actions/cache/restore@v4
+      - uses: actions/cache/restore@v5
         with:
           path: ./cache
           key: ${{ runner.os }}-benchmark
@@ -31,7 +33,7 @@ jobs:
           github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           comment-on-alert: true
           summary-always: true
-      - uses: actions/cache/save@v4
+      - uses: actions/cache/save@v5
         if: github.event_name == 'push'
         with:
           path: ./cache

.github/workflows/perf-test.yaml

@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ jobs:
       LIST_FILE: "/tmp/targets-${{ matrix.count }}.txt"
       PROFILE_MEM: "/tmp/nuclei-perf-test-${{ matrix.count }}"
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
       - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/setup/go@v1
       - run: make verify
       - name: Generate list

.github/workflows/release.yaml

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ jobs:
   release: 
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest-16-cores
     steps: 
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
         with: 
           fetch-depth: 0
       - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/setup/go@v1

.github/workflows/stale.yaml

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ jobs:
       issues: write
       pull-requests: write
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/stale@v9
+      - uses: actions/stale@v10
         with:
           days-before-stale: 90
           days-before-close: 7
@@ -37,5 +37,4 @@ jobs:
             it, please comment or feel free to reopen it.
           close-issue-label: "Status: Abandoned"
           close-pr-label: "Status: Abandoned"
-          exempt-issue-labels: "Status: Abandoned"
-          exempt-pr-labels: "Status: Abandoned"
+          exempt-issue-labels: "Type: Enhancement"

.github/workflows/tests.yaml

@@ -22,8 +22,9 @@ jobs:
     if: "${{ !endsWith(github.actor, '[bot]') }}"
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
       - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/setup/go@v1
+      - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/cache/go-rod-browser@v1
       - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/golangci-lint/v2@v1
 
   tests:
@@ -35,8 +36,19 @@ jobs:
         os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest, macOS-latest]
     runs-on: "${{ matrix.os }}"
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
       - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/setup/go@v1
+      - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/cache/go-rod-browser@v1
+      - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/cache/nuclei@v1
+      - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/free-disk-space@v1
+        with:
+          llvm: 'false'
+          php: 'false'
+          mongodb: 'false'
+          mysql: 'false'
+          misc-packages: 'false'
+          docker-images: 'false'
+          tools-cache: 'false'
       - run: make vet
       - run: make build
       - run: make test
@@ -52,8 +64,10 @@ jobs:
     needs: ["tests"]
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
       - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/setup/go@v1
+      - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/cache/go-rod-browser@v1
+      - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/cache/nuclei@v1
       - name: "Simple"
         run: go run .
         working-directory: examples/simple/
@@ -74,9 +88,11 @@ jobs:
         os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest, macOS-latest]
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
       - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/setup/go@v1
+      - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/cache/nuclei@v1
       - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/setup/python@v1
+      - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/cache/go-rod-browser@v1
       - run: bash run.sh "${{ matrix.os }}"
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: "${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}"
@@ -93,9 +109,11 @@ jobs:
         os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest, macOS-latest]
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
       - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/setup/go@v1
+      - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/cache/nuclei@v1
       - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/setup/python@v1
+      - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/cache/go-rod-browser@v1
       - run: bash run.sh
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: "${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}"
@@ -106,8 +124,9 @@ jobs:
     needs: ["tests"]
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
       - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/setup/go@v1
+      - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/cache/go-rod-browser@v1
       - run: make template-validate
 
   codeql:
@@ -119,19 +138,19 @@ jobs:
       contents: read
       security-events: write
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - uses: github/codeql-action/init@v3
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+      - uses: github/codeql-action/init@v4
         with:
           languages: 'go'
-      - uses: github/codeql-action/autobuild@v3
-      - uses: github/codeql-action/analyze@v3
+      - uses: github/codeql-action/autobuild@v4
+      - uses: github/codeql-action/analyze@v4
 
   release:
     name: "Release test"
     needs: ["tests"]
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
       - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/setup/go@v1
       - uses: projectdiscovery/actions/goreleaser@v1
 
@@ -143,7 +162,7 @@ jobs:
       TARGET_URL: "http://scanme.sh/a/?b=c"
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
       - run: make build
       - name: "Setup environment (push)"
         if: ${{ github.event_name == 'push' }}

.gitignore

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 .gitignore
 .idea
 .vscode
-
+.claude/settings.local.json
 # Binaries
 /bin/*
 /bindgen

CLAUDE.md

@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ Each protocol (HTTP, DNS, Network, etc.) implements:
 ### Template System
 - Templates are YAML files defining vulnerability detection logic
 - Compiled into executable requests with operators (matchers/extractors)
-- Support for workflows (multi-step template execution)
+- Support for workflows (multistep template execution)
 - Template clustering optimizes identical requests across multiple templates
 
 ### Key Execution Flow

DEBUG.md

@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ When this flag is provided, nuclei will print the list of all helper functions a
 
 - `-svd` flag
 
-When this flag is provided, nuclei will print all `variables` pre and post execution of a request for a template. This is useful to understand what variables are available for a template and what values they have.
+When this flag is provided, nuclei will print all `variables` pre- and post-execution of a request for a template. This is useful to understand what variables are available for a template and what values they have.
 
 - `-elog = errors.txt` flag
 
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ Nuclei was built with some environment variables in mind to help with debugging.
 | `SHOW_DSL_ERRORS=true`           | Enables Printing DSL Errors (that are hidden by default) |
 | `HIDE_TEMPLATE_SIG_WARNING=true` | Hides Template Signature Verification Warnings           |
 | `NUCLEI_LOG_ALL=true`            | Log All Events that were skipped in verbose mode         |
+| `NUCLEI_CONFIG_DIR`              | Sets custom configuration directory path                 |
+| `NUCLEI_TEMPLATES_DIR`           | Sets custom nuclei templates directory path              |
 
 
 

DESIGN.md

@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ type Exporter interface {
 }
 ```
 
-Exporters include `Elasticsearch`, `markdown`, `sarif` . Trackers include `GitHub` , `GitLab` and `Jira`.
+Exporters include `Elasticsearch`, `markdown`, `sarif` . Trackers include `GitHub`, `GitLab` and `Jira`.
 
 Each exporter and trackers implement their own configuration in YAML format and are very modular in nature, so adding new ones is easy.
 

Makefile

@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ syntax-docs: docgen
 syntax-docs:
 	./bin/docgen SYNTAX-REFERENCE.md nuclei-jsonschema.json
 
-test: GOFLAGS = -race -v
+test: GOFLAGS = -race -v -timeout 30m -count 1
 test:
 	$(GOTEST) $(GOFLAGS) ./...
 
@@ -147,8 +147,6 @@ template-validate: build
 template-validate:
 	./bin/nuclei -ut
 	./bin/nuclei -validate \
-		-et .github/ \
-		-et helpers/payloads/ \
 		-et http/technologies \
 		-t dns \
 		-t ssl \
@@ -157,7 +155,5 @@ template-validate:
 		-ept code
 	./bin/nuclei -validate \
 		-w workflows \
-		-et .github/ \
-		-et helpers/payloads/ \
 		-et http/technologies \
 		-ept code

README.md

@@ -14,8 +14,6 @@
 
 <p align="center">
 
-<img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/go-1.22-%2300ADD8.svg?style=for-the-badge&logo=go&logoColor=white">
-&nbsp;&nbsp;
 <a href="https://docs.projectdiscovery.io/tools/nuclei/overview?utm_source=github&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=nuclei_readme"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Documentation-%23000000.svg?style=for-the-badge&logo=data:image/svg+xml;base64,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&logoColor=white"></a>
 &nbsp;&nbsp;
 <a href="https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Templates Library-%23000000.svg?style=for-the-badge&logo=data:image/svg+xml;base64,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&logoColor=white"></a>
@@ -35,7 +33,7 @@
 - Reduce false positives by simulating real-world steps to verify a vulnerability.
 - Ultra-fast parallel scan processing and request clustering.
 - Integrate into CI/CD pipelines for vulnerability detection and regression testing.
-- Supports multiple protocols like TCP, DNS, HTTP, SSL, WHOIS JavaScript, Code and more.
+- Supports multiple protocols like TCP, DNS, HTTP, SSL, WHOIS, JavaScript, Code and more.
 - Integrate with Jira, Splunk, GitHub, Elastic, GitLab.
 
 <br>
@@ -85,7 +83,7 @@ _For security teams and enterprises, we provide a cloud-hosted service built on
 
 - 50x faster scans
 - Large scale scanning with high accuracy
-- Integrations with cloud services (AWS, GCP, Azure, CloudFlare, Fastly, Terraform, Kubernetes)
+- Integrations with cloud services (AWS, GCP, Azure, Cloudflare, Fastly, Terraform, Kubernetes)
 - Jira, Slack, Linear, APIs and Webhooks
 - Executive and compliance reporting
 - Plus: Real-time scanning, SAML SSO, SOC 2 compliant platform (with EU and US hosting options), shared team workspaces, and more
@@ -99,7 +97,7 @@ _For security teams and enterprises, we provide a cloud-hosted service built on
 
 ## Documentation
 
-Browse the full Nuclei [**`documentation here`**](https://docs.projectdiscovery.io/tools/nuclei/running). If you’re new to Nuclei, check out our [**`foundational Youtube series`**](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZRbR9aMzTTpItEdeNSulo8bYsvil80Rl).
+Browse the full Nuclei [**`documentation here`**](https://docs.projectdiscovery.io/tools/nuclei/running). If you’re new to Nuclei, check out our [**`foundational YouTube series`**](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZRbR9aMzTTpItEdeNSulo8bYsvil80Rl).
 
 <div align="center">
 
@@ -111,7 +109,7 @@ Browse the full Nuclei [**`documentation here`**](https://docs.projectdiscovery.
 
 ### Installation
 
-`nuclei` requires **go1.23** to install successfully. Run the following command to get the repo:
+`nuclei` requires **go >= 1.24.2** to install successfully. Run the following command to get the repo:
 
 ```sh
 go install -v github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/cmd/nuclei@latest
@@ -142,7 +140,7 @@ TARGET:
    -u, -target string[]          target URLs/hosts to scan
    -l, -list string              path to file containing a list of target URLs/hosts to scan (one per line)
    -eh, -exclude-hosts string[]  hosts to exclude to scan from the input list (ip, cidr, hostname)
-   -resume string                resume scan using resume.cfg (clustering will be disabled)
+   -resume string                resume scan from and save to specified file (clustering will be disabled)
    -sa, -scan-all-ips            scan all the IP's associated with dns record
    -iv, -ip-version string[]     IP version to scan of hostname (4,6) - (default 4)
 
@@ -163,7 +161,7 @@ TEMPLATES:
    -validate                              validate the passed templates to nuclei
    -nss, -no-strict-syntax                disable strict syntax check on templates
    -td, -template-display                 displays the templates content
-   -tl                                    list all available templates
+   -tl                                    list all templates matching current filters
    -tgl                                   list all available tags
    -sign                                  signs the templates with the private key defined in NUCLEI_SIGNATURE_PRIVATE_KEY env variable
    -code                                  enable loading code protocol-based templates
@@ -286,6 +284,7 @@ RATE-LIMIT:
    -jsc, -js-concurrency int          maximum number of javascript runtimes to be executed in parallel (default 120)
    -pc, -payload-concurrency int      max payload concurrency for each template (default 25)
    -prc, -probe-concurrency int       http probe concurrency with httpx (default 50)
+   -tlc, -template-loading-concurrency int  maximum number of concurrent template loading operations (default 50)
 
 OPTIMIZATIONS:
    -timeout int                     time to wait in seconds before timeout (default 10)
@@ -356,6 +355,7 @@ CLOUD:
 AUTHENTICATION:
    -sf, -secret-file string[]  path to config file containing secrets for nuclei authenticated scan
    -ps, -prefetch-secrets      prefetch secrets from the secrets file
+   # NOTE: Headers in secrets files preserve exact casing (useful for case-sensitive APIs)
 
 
 EXAMPLES:

README_CN.md

@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ Nuclei使用零误报的定制模板向目标发送请求，同时可以对主
 
 # 安装Nuclei
 
-Nuclei需要 **go1.22** 才能安装成功。执行下列命令安装最新版本的Nuclei
+Nuclei需要 **go1.24.2** 才能安装成功。执行下列命令安装最新版本的Nuclei
 
 ```sh
 go install -v github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/cmd/nuclei@latest
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ Nuclei是一款注重于可配置性、可扩展性和易用性的基于模板
 目标：
    -u, -target string[]                  指定扫描的目标URL/主机（多个目标则指定多个-u参数）
    -l, -list string                      指定包含要扫描的目标URL/主机列表的文件路径（一行一个）
-   -resume string                        使用指定的resume.cfg文件恢复扫描（将禁用请求聚类）
+   -resume string                        从指定文件恢复扫描并保存到指定文件（将禁用请求聚类）
    -sa, -scan-all-ips                    扫描由目标解析出来的所有IP（针对域名对应多个IP的情况）
    -iv, -ip-version string[]             要扫描的主机名的IP版本（4,6）-（默认为4）
 
@@ -238,6 +238,7 @@ UNCOVER引擎:
    -c, -concurrency int                  并行执行的最大模板数量（默认：25）
    -hbs, -headless-bulk-size int         每个模板并行运行的无头主机最大数量（默认：10）
    -headc, -headless-concurrency int     并行指定无头主机最大数量（默认：10）
+   -tlc, -template-loading-concurrency int  最大并发模板加载操作数（默认：50）
 
 
 优化：
@@ -370,7 +371,7 @@ Nuclei允许您定制自己的测试方法，可以轻松的运行您的程序
 - 可以在几分钟处理上千台主机
 - 使用YAML语法定制自动化测试
 
-欢迎查看我们其他的开源项目，可能有适合您的赏金猎人工作流：[github.com/projectdiscovery](http://github.com/projectdiscovery)，我们还使用[Chaos绘制了每日的DNS数据](http://chaos.projectdiscovery.io)。
+欢迎查看我们其他的开源项目，可能有适合您的赏金猎人工作流：[github.com/projectdiscovery](https://github.com/projectdiscovery)，我们还使用[Chaos绘制了每日的DNS数据](https://chaos.projectdiscovery.io)。
 
 </td>
 </tr>

README_ES.md

@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ Tenemos un [repositorio dedicado](https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-tem
 
 # Instalación de Nuclei
 
-Nuclei requiere **go1.22** para instalarse correctamente. Ejecute el siguiente comando para instalar la última versión -
+Nuclei requiere **go1.24.2** para instalarse correctamente. Ejecute el siguiente comando para instalar la última versión -
 
 ```sh
 go install -v github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/cmd/nuclei@latest
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ TARGET:
    -u, -target string[]          URLs/hosts a escanear
    -l, -list string              ruta al archivo que contiene la lista de URLs/hosts a escanear (uno por línea)
    -eh, -exclude-hosts string[]  hosts a excluir para escanear de la lista de entrada (ip, cidr, hostname)
-   -resume string                reanudar el escaneo usando resume.cfg (la clusterización quedará inhabilitada)
+   -resume string                reanudar el escaneo desde y guardar en el archivo especificado (la clusterización quedará inhabilitada)
    -sa, -scan-all-ips            escanear todas las IP asociadas al registro dns
    -iv, -ip-version string[]     versión IP a escanear del nombre de host (4,6) - (por defecto 4)
 
@@ -244,6 +244,7 @@ RATE-LIMIT:
    -headc, -headless-concurrency int  número máximo de plantillas headless a ejecutar en paralelo (por defecto 10)
    -jsc, -js-concurrency int          número máximo de entornos de ejecución de JavaScript a ejecutar en paralelo (por defecto 120)
    -pc, -payload-concurrency int      concurrencia máxima de carga útil para cada plantilla (por defecto 25)
+   -tlc, -template-loading-concurrency int  número máximo de operaciones de carga de plantillas concurrentes (por defecto 50)
 
 OPTIMIZATIONS:
    -timeout int                     tiempo de espera en segundos (por defecto 10)

README_ID.md

@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ Kami memiliki [repositori khusus](https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-tem
 
 # Instalasi Nuclei
 
-Nuclei membutuhkan **go1.22** agar dapat diinstall. Jalankan perintah berikut untuk menginstal versi terbaru -
+Nuclei membutuhkan **go1.24.2** agar dapat diinstall. Jalankan perintah berikut untuk menginstal versi terbaru -
 
 ```sh
 go install -v github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/cmd/nuclei@latest
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ Flags:
 TARGET:
    -u, -target string[]       target URLs/hosts to scan
    -l, -list string           path to file containing a list of target URLs/hosts to scan (one per line)
-   -resume string             resume scan using resume.cfg (clustering will be disabled)
+   -resume string             resume scan from and save to specified file (clustering will be disabled)
    -sa, -scan-all-ips         scan all the IP's associated with dns record
    -iv, -ip-version string[]  IP version to scan of hostname (4,6) - (default 4)
 
@@ -211,6 +211,7 @@ RATE-LIMIT:
    -c, -concurrency int               maximum number of templates to be executed in parallel (default 25)
    -hbs, -headless-bulk-size int      maximum number of headless hosts to be analyzed in parallel per template (default 10)
    -headc, -headless-concurrency int  maximum number of headless templates to be executed in parallel (default 10)
+   -tlc, -template-loading-concurrency int  maximum number of concurrent template loading operations (default 50)
 
 OPTIMIZATIONS:
    -timeout int                        time to wait in seconds before timeout (default 10)
@@ -341,7 +342,7 @@ Nuclei memungkinkan Anda untuk menyesuaikan pendekatan pengujian Anda dengan ran
 - Dapat memproses ribuan host hanya dalam beberapa menit.
 - Mudah mengotomatiskan pendekatan pengujian khusus Anda dengan sintaks DSL berbasis YAML sederhana kami.
 
-Silakan periksa proyek sumber terbuka kami yang lain yang mungkin cocok dengan alur kerja celah berhadiah Anda: [github.com/projectdiscovery](http://github.com/projectdiscovery), kami juga menyediakan [penyegaran data DNS di Chaos setiap hari](http://chaos.projectdiscovery.io).
+Silakan periksa proyek sumber terbuka kami yang lain yang mungkin cocok dengan alur kerja celah berhadiah Anda: [github.com/projectdiscovery](https://github.com/projectdiscovery), kami juga menyediakan [penyegaran data DNS di Chaos setiap hari](https://chaos.projectdiscovery.io).
 
 </td>
 </tr>

README_JP.md

@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ Nucleiは、テンプレートに基づいてターゲット間でリクエス
 
 # Nucleiのインストール
 
-Nucleiを正常にインストールするには、**go1.22**が必要です。以下のコマンドを実行して最新バージョンをインストールしてください -
+Nucleiを正常にインストールするには、**go1.24.2**が必要です。以下のコマンドを実行して最新バージョンをインストールしてください -
 
 ```sh
 go install -v github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/cmd/nuclei@latest
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ Nucleiは、広範な設定可能性、大規模な拡張性、および使い
 ターゲット:
    -u, -target string[]          スキャンする対象のURL/ホスト
    -l, -list string              スキャンする対象のURL/ホストのリストが含まれているファイルへのパス（1行に1つ）
-   -resume string                resume.cfgを使用してスキャンを再開（クラスタリングは無効になります）
+   -resume string                指定されたファイルからスキャンを再開し、指定されたファイルに保存（クラスタリングは無効になります）
    -sa, -scan-all-ips            DNSレコードに関連付けられているすべてのIPをスキャン
    -iv, -ip-version string[]     ホスト名のスキャンするIPバージョン（4,6）-（デフォルトは4）
 

README_KR.md

@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ Nuclei는 템플릿을 기반으로 대상 간에 요청을 보내기 위해 사
 
 # 설치
 
-Nuclei를 성공적으로 설치하기 위해서 **go1.22**가 필요합니다. 다음 명령을 실행하여 최신 버전을 설치합니다.
+Nuclei를 성공적으로 설치하기 위해서 **go1.24.2**가 필요합니다. 다음 명령을 실행하여 최신 버전을 설치합니다.
 
 ```sh
 go install -v github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/cmd/nuclei@latest
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ Nuclei는 빠르고, 템플릿 기반의 취약점 스캐너로
 TARGET:
    -u, -target string[]       스캔할 대상 URL/호스트
    -l, -list string           스캔할 대상 URL/호스트 목록이 있는 파일 경로 (한 줄에 하나씩)
-   -resume string             resume.cfg를 사용하여 스캔 재개 (클러스터링은 비활성화됨)
+   -resume string             지정된 파일에서 스캔을 재개하고 지정된 파일에 저장 (클러스터링은 비활성화됨)
    -sa, -scan-all-ips         dns 레코드와 관련된 모든 IP 스캔
    -iv, -ip-version string[]  스캔할 호스트의 IP 버전 (4,6) - (기본값 4)
 
@@ -209,6 +209,7 @@ RATE-LIMIT:
    -c, -concurrency int               병렬로 실행할 최대 템플릿 수 (기본값 25)
    -hbs, -headless-bulk-size int      템플릿당 병렬로 분석할 최대 headless 호스트 수 (기본값 10)
    -headc, -headless-concurrency int  병렬로 실행할 최대 headless 템플릿 수 (기본값 10)
+   -tlc, -template-loading-concurrency int  최대 동시 템플릿 로딩 작업 수 (기본값 50)
 
 OPTIMIZATIONS:
    -timeout int                     타임아웃 전에 기다릴 초 수 (기본값 10)
@@ -341,7 +342,7 @@ Nuclei를 사용하면 자체 검사 모음으로 테스트 접근 방식을 사
 - 몇 분 안에 수천 개의 호스트를 처리할 수 있음.
 - 간단한 YAML DSL로 사용자 지정 테스트 접근 방식을 쉽게 자동화할 수 있음.
 
-버그 바운티 워크플로에 맞는 다른 오픈 소스 프로젝트를 확인할 수 있습니다.: [github.com/projectdiscovery](http://github.com/projectdiscovery), 또한, 우리는 매일 [Chaos에서 DNS 데이터를 갱신해 호스팅합니다](http://chaos.projectdiscovery.io).
+버그 바운티 워크플로에 맞는 다른 오픈 소스 프로젝트를 확인할 수 있습니다.: [github.com/projectdiscovery](https://github.com/projectdiscovery), 또한, 우리는 매일 [Chaos에서 DNS 데이터를 갱신해 호스팅합니다](https://chaos.projectdiscovery.io).
 
 </td>
 </tr>

README_PT-BR.md

@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ Temos um [repositório dedicado](https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-temp
 
 # Instalação do Nuclei
 
-O Nuclei requer **go1.22** para ser instalado corretamente. Execute o seguinte comando para instalar a versão mais recente:
+O Nuclei requer **go1.24.2** para ser instalado corretamente. Execute o seguinte comando para instalar a versão mais recente:
 
 ```sh
 go install -v github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/cmd/nuclei@latest
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ TARGET:
    -u, -target string[]          URLs/hosts a serem escaneados
    -l, -list string              caminho do arquivo contendo a lista de URLs/hosts a serem escaneados (um por linha)
    -eh, -exclude-hosts string[]  hosts a serem excluídos do escaneamento na lista de entrada (ip, cidr, hostname)
-   -resume string                retomar o escaneamento usando resume.cfg (a clusterização será desabilitada)
+   -resume string                retomar o escaneamento a partir de e salvar no arquivo especificado (a clusterização será desabilitada)
    -sa, -scan-all-ips            escanear todos os IPs associados ao registro DNS
    -iv, -ip-version string[]     versão de IP a escanear do nome do host (4,6) - (padrão 4)
 
@@ -244,6 +244,7 @@ RATE-LIMIT:
    -headc, -headless-concurrency int  número máximo de templates headless a serem executados em paralelo (padrão 10)
    -jsc, -js-concurrency int          número máximo de ambientes de execução de JavaScript a serem executados em paralelo (padrão 120)
    -pc, -payload-concurrency int      concorrência máxima de payload para cada template (padrão 25)
+   -tlc, -template-loading-concurrency int  número máximo de operações de carregamento de templates concorrentes (padrão 50)
 
 OPTIMIZATIONS:
    -timeout int                     tempo limite em segundos (padrão 10)

SYNTAX-REFERENCE.md

@@ -3218,7 +3218,7 @@ Inputs contains inputs for the network socket
 <div class="dt">
 
 description: |
-   Port is the port to send network requests to. this acts as default port but is overriden if target/input contains
+   Port is the port to send network requests to. this acts as default port but is overridden if target/input contains
  non-http(s) ports like 80,8080,8081 etc
 
 </div>
@@ -4512,7 +4512,7 @@ permutations and combinations for all payloads.
 </div>
 <div class="dt">
 
-Payload concurreny i.e threads for sending requests.
+Payload concurrency i.e threads for sending requests.
 
 
 

cmd/functional-test/testcases.txt

@@ -36,24 +36,24 @@
 {{binary}} -tags cve,dos,fuzz
 {{binary}} -tags cve -include-tags dos,fuzz
 {{binary}} -tags cve -exclude-tags cve2020
-{{binary}} -tags cve -exclude-templates cves/2020/
-{{binary}} -tags cve -exclude-templates cves/2020/CVE-2020-9757.yaml
-{{binary}} -tags cve -exclude-templates cves/2020/CVE-2020-9757.yaml -exclude-templates cves/2021/
-{{binary}} -t cves/
-{{binary}} -t cves/ -t exposures/
-{{binary}} -t cves/ -t exposures/ -tags config
-{{binary}} -t cves/ -t exposures/ -tags config,ssrf
-{{binary}} -t cves/ -t exposures/ -tags config -severity high,critical
-{{binary}} -t cves/ -t exposures/ -tags config -severity high,critical -author geeknik,pdteam
-{{binary}} -t cves/ -t exposures/ -tags config -severity high,critical -author geeknik,pdteam -etags sqli
-{{binary}} -t cves/ -t exposures/ -tags config -severity high,critical -author geeknik,pdteam -etags sqli -exclude-templates cves/2021/
-{{binary}} -t cves/ -t exposures/ -tags config -severity high,critical -author geeknik,pdteam -etags sqli -exclude-templates cves/2017/CVE-2017-7269.yaml
-{{binary}} -t cves/ -t exposures/ -tags config -severity high,critical -author geeknik,pdteam -etags sqli -include-templates cves/2017/CVE-2017-7269.yaml
+{{binary}} -tags cve -exclude-templates http/cves/2020/
+{{binary}} -tags cve -exclude-templates http/cves/2020/CVE-2020-9757.yaml
+{{binary}} -tags cve -exclude-templates http/cves/2020/CVE-2020-9757.yaml -exclude-templates http/cves/2021/
+{{binary}} -t http/cves/
+{{binary}} -t http/cves/ -t http/exposures/
+{{binary}} -t http/cves/ -t http/exposures/ -tags config
+{{binary}} -t http/cves/ -t http/exposures/ -tags config,ssrf
+{{binary}} -t http/cves/ -t http/exposures/ -tags config -severity high,critical
+{{binary}} -t http/cves/ -t http/exposures/ -tags config -severity high,critical -author geeknik,pdteam
+{{binary}} -t http/cves/ -t http/exposures/ -tags config -severity high,critical -author geeknik,pdteam -etags sqli
+{{binary}} -t http/cves/ -t http/exposures/ -tags config -severity high,critical -author geeknik,pdteam -etags sqli -exclude-templates http/cves/2021/
+{{binary}} -t http/cves/ -t http/exposures/ -tags config -severity high,critical -author geeknik,pdteam -etags sqli -exclude-templates http/cves/2017/CVE-2017-7269.yaml
+{{binary}} -t http/cves/ -t http/exposures/ -tags config -severity high,critical -author geeknik,pdteam -etags sqli -include-templates http/cves/2017/CVE-2017-7269.yaml
 
 # Advanced Filtering
 {{binary}} -tags cve -author geeknik,pdteam  -tc severity=='high'
 {{binary}} -tc contains(authors,'pdteam')
-{{binary}} -t cves/ -t exposures/ -tc contains(tags,'cve') -exclude-templates cves/2020/CVE-2020-9757.yaml
+{{binary}} -t http/cves/ -t http/exposures/ -tc contains(tags,'cve') -exclude-templates http/cves/2020/CVE-2020-9757.yaml
 {{binary}} -tc protocol=='dns'
 {{binary}} -tc contains(http_method,'GET')
 {{binary}} -tc len(body)>0
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
 {{binary}} -w workflows
 {{binary}} -w workflows -author geeknik,pdteam
 {{binary}} -w workflows -severity high,critical
-{{binary}} -w workflows -author geeknik,pdteam  -severity high,critical
+{{binary}} -w workflows -author geeknik,pdteam -severity high,critical
 
 # Input Types
 # http protocol

cmd/integration-test/code.go

@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ var codeTestCases = []TestCaseInfo{
 	{Path: "protocols/code/py-interactsh.yaml", TestCase: &codeSnippet{}, DisableOn: isCodeDisabled},
 	{Path: "protocols/code/ps1-snippet.yaml", TestCase: &codeSnippet{}, DisableOn: func() bool { return !osutils.IsWindows() || isCodeDisabled() }},
 	{Path: "protocols/code/pre-condition.yaml", TestCase: &codePreCondition{}, DisableOn: isCodeDisabled},
+	{Path: "protocols/code/sh-virtual.yaml", TestCase: &codeSnippet{}, DisableOn: func() bool { return !osutils.IsLinux() || isCodeDisabled() }},
+	{Path: "protocols/code/py-virtual.yaml", TestCase: &codeSnippet{}, DisableOn: func() bool { return !osutils.IsLinux() || isCodeDisabled() }},
 }
 
 const (

cmd/integration-test/http.go

@@ -62,9 +62,11 @@ var httpTestcases = []TestCaseInfo{
 	{Path: "protocols/http/dsl-functions.yaml", TestCase: &httpDSLFunctions{}},
 	{Path: "protocols/http/race-simple.yaml", TestCase: &httpRaceSimple{}},
 	{Path: "protocols/http/race-multiple.yaml", TestCase: &httpRaceMultiple{}},
+	{Path: "protocols/http/race-with-variables.yaml", TestCase: &httpRaceWithVariables{}},
 	{Path: "protocols/http/stop-at-first-match.yaml", TestCase: &httpStopAtFirstMatch{}},
 	{Path: "protocols/http/stop-at-first-match-with-extractors.yaml", TestCase: &httpStopAtFirstMatchWithExtractors{}},
 	{Path: "protocols/http/variables.yaml", TestCase: &httpVariables{}},
+	{Path: "protocols/http/variables-threads-previous.yaml", TestCase: &httpVariablesThreadsPrevious{}},
 	{Path: "protocols/http/variable-dsl-function.yaml", TestCase: &httpVariableDSLFunction{}},
 	{Path: "protocols/http/get-override-sni.yaml", TestCase: &httpSniAnnotation{}},
 	{Path: "protocols/http/get-sni.yaml", TestCase: &customCLISNI{}},
@@ -77,6 +79,7 @@ var httpTestcases = []TestCaseInfo{
 	{Path: "protocols/http/cl-body-without-header.yaml", TestCase: &httpCLBodyWithoutHeader{}},
 	{Path: "protocols/http/cl-body-with-header.yaml", TestCase: &httpCLBodyWithHeader{}},
 	{Path: "protocols/http/cli-with-constants.yaml", TestCase: &ConstantWithCliVar{}},
+	{Path: "protocols/http/constants-with-threads.yaml", TestCase: &constantsWithThreads{}},
 	{Path: "protocols/http/matcher-status.yaml", TestCase: &matcherStatusTest{}},
 	{Path: "protocols/http/disable-path-automerge.yaml", TestCase: &httpDisablePathAutomerge{}},
 	{Path: "protocols/http/http-preprocessor.yaml", TestCase: &httpPreprocessor{}},
@@ -1153,6 +1156,26 @@ func (h *httpRaceMultiple) Execute(filePath string) error {
 	return expectResultsCount(results, 5)
 }
 
+type httpRaceWithVariables struct{}
+
+// Execute tests that variables and constants are properly resolved in race mode.
+func (h *httpRaceWithVariables) Execute(filePath string) error {
+	router := httprouter.New()
+	router.GET("/race", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, _ httprouter.Params) {
+		// Echo back the API key header so we can match on it
+		_, _ = fmt.Fprint(w, r.Header.Get("X-API-Key"))
+	})
+	ts := httptest.NewServer(router)
+	defer ts.Close()
+
+	results, err := testutils.RunNucleiTemplateAndGetResults(filePath, ts.URL, debug)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return expectResultsCount(results, 3)
+}
+
 type httpStopAtFirstMatch struct{}
 
 // Execute executes a test case and returns an error if occurred
@@ -1220,6 +1243,30 @@ func (h *httpVariables) Execute(filePath string) error {
 	return expectResultsCount(results, 0)
 }
 
+type httpVariablesThreadsPrevious struct{}
+
+// Execute tests that variables can reference data extracted from previous requests
+// when using threads mode (parallel execution).
+func (h *httpVariablesThreadsPrevious) Execute(filePath string) error {
+	router := httprouter.New()
+	router.GET("/login", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, _ httprouter.Params) {
+		_, _ = fmt.Fprint(w, "token=secret123")
+	})
+	router.GET("/api", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, _ httprouter.Params) {
+		// Echo back the Authorization header so we can match on it
+		_, _ = fmt.Fprint(w, r.Header.Get("Authorization"))
+	})
+	ts := httptest.NewServer(router)
+	defer ts.Close()
+
+	results, err := testutils.RunNucleiTemplateAndGetResults(filePath, ts.URL, debug)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return expectResultsCount(results, 1)
+}
+
 type httpVariableDSLFunction struct{}
 
 // Execute executes a test case and returns an error if occurred
@@ -1466,6 +1513,26 @@ func (h *ConstantWithCliVar) Execute(filePath string) error {
 	return expectResultsCount(got, 1)
 }
 
+type constantsWithThreads struct{}
+
+// Execute tests that constants are properly resolved when using threads mode.
+func (h *constantsWithThreads) Execute(filePath string) error {
+	router := httprouter.New()
+	router.GET("/api/:version", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, p httprouter.Params) {
+		// Echo back the API key header and version so we can match on them
+		_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(w, "%s %s", r.Header.Get("X-API-Key"), p.ByName("version"))
+	})
+	ts := httptest.NewServer(router)
+	defer ts.Close()
+
+	results, err := testutils.RunNucleiTemplateAndGetResults(filePath, ts.URL, debug)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return expectResultsCount(results, 1)
+}
+
 type matcherStatusTest struct{}
 
 // Execute executes a test case and returns an error if occurred

cmd/integration-test/integration-test.go

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"regexp"
 	"runtime"
+	"slices"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/kitabisa/go-ci"
@@ -24,7 +25,7 @@ type TestCaseInfo struct {
 }
 
 var (
-	debug       = os.Getenv("DEBUG") == "true"
+	debug       = isDebugMode()
 	customTests = os.Getenv("TESTS")
 	protocol    = os.Getenv("PROTO")
 
@@ -46,6 +47,7 @@ var (
 		"library":         libraryTestcases,
 		"templatesPath":   templatesPathTestCases,
 		"templatesDir":    templatesDirTestCases,
+		"env_vars":        templatesDirEnvTestCases,
 		"file":            fileTestcases,
 		"offlineHttp":     offlineHttpTestcases,
 		"customConfigDir": customConfigDirTestCases,
@@ -59,6 +61,7 @@ var (
 		"matcher-status":  matcherStatusTestcases,
 		"exporters":       exportersTestCases,
 	}
+
 	// flakyTests are run with a retry count of 3
 	flakyTests = map[string]bool{
 		"protocols/http/self-contained-file-input.yaml": true,
@@ -89,11 +92,12 @@ func main() {
 	}
 
 	// start fuzz playground server
-	defer fuzzplayground.Cleanup()
 	server := fuzzplayground.GetPlaygroundServer()
 	defer func() {
+		fuzzplayground.Cleanup()
 		_ = server.Close()
 	}()
+
 	go func() {
 		if err := server.Start("localhost:8082"); err != nil {
 			if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "Server closed") {
@@ -103,7 +107,6 @@ func main() {
 	}()
 
 	customTestsList := normalizeSplit(customTests)
-
 	failedTestTemplatePaths := runTests(customTestsList)
 
 	if len(failedTestTemplatePaths) > 0 {
@@ -130,6 +133,27 @@ func main() {
 	}
 }
 
+// isDebugMode checks if debug mode is enabled via any of the supported debug
+// environment variables.
+func isDebugMode() bool {
+	debugEnvVars := []string{
+		"DEBUG",
+		"ACTIONS_RUNNER_DEBUG", // GitHub Actions runner debug
+		// Add more debug environment variables here as needed
+	}
+
+	truthyValues := []string{"true", "1", "yes", "on", "enabled"}
+
+	for _, envVar := range debugEnvVars {
+		envValue := strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(os.Getenv(envVar)))
+		if slices.Contains(truthyValues, envValue) {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+
+	return false
+}
+
 // execute a testcase with retry and consider best of N
 // intended for flaky tests like interactsh
 func executeWithRetry(testCase testutils.TestCase, templatePath string, retryCount int) (string, error) {

cmd/integration-test/javascript.go

@@ -15,13 +15,18 @@ var jsTestcases = []TestCaseInfo{
 	{Path: "protocols/javascript/ssh-server-fingerprint.yaml", TestCase: &javascriptSSHServerFingerprint{}, DisableOn: func() bool { return osutils.IsWindows() || osutils.IsOSX() }},
 	{Path: "protocols/javascript/net-multi-step.yaml", TestCase: &networkMultiStep{}},
 	{Path: "protocols/javascript/net-https.yaml", TestCase: &javascriptNetHttps{}},
+	{Path: "protocols/javascript/oracle-auth-test.yaml", TestCase: &javascriptOracleAuthTest{}, DisableOn: func() bool { return osutils.IsWindows() || osutils.IsOSX() }},
+	{Path: "protocols/javascript/vnc-pass-brute.yaml", TestCase: &javascriptVncPassBrute{}},
+	{Path: "protocols/javascript/multi-ports.yaml", TestCase: &javascriptMultiPortsSSH{}},
 }
 
 var (
-	redisResource *dockertest.Resource
-	sshResource   *dockertest.Resource
-	pool          *dockertest.Pool
-	defaultRetry  = 3
+	redisResource  *dockertest.Resource
+	sshResource    *dockertest.Resource
+	oracleResource *dockertest.Resource
+	vncResource    *dockertest.Resource
+	pool           *dockertest.Pool
+	defaultRetry   = 3
 )
 
 type javascriptNetHttps struct{}
@@ -98,6 +103,82 @@ func (j *javascriptSSHServerFingerprint) Execute(filePath string) error {
 	return multierr.Combine(errs...)
 }
 
+type javascriptOracleAuthTest struct{}
+
+func (j *javascriptOracleAuthTest) Execute(filePath string) error {
+	if oracleResource == nil || pool == nil {
+		// skip test as oracle is not running
+		return nil
+	}
+	tempPort := oracleResource.GetPort("1521/tcp")
+	finalURL := "localhost:" + tempPort
+	defer purge(oracleResource)
+
+	errs := []error{}
+	for i := 0; i < defaultRetry; i++ {
+		results := []string{}
+		var err error
+		_ = pool.Retry(func() error {
+			//let ssh server start
+			time.Sleep(3 * time.Second)
+			results, err = testutils.RunNucleiTemplateAndGetResults(filePath, finalURL, debug)
+			return nil
+		})
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if err := expectResultsCount(results, 1); err == nil {
+			return nil
+		} else {
+			errs = append(errs, err)
+		}
+	}
+	return multierr.Combine(errs...)
+}
+
+type javascriptVncPassBrute struct{}
+
+func (j *javascriptVncPassBrute) Execute(filePath string) error {
+	if vncResource == nil || pool == nil {
+		// skip test as vnc is not running
+		return nil
+	}
+	tempPort := vncResource.GetPort("5900/tcp")
+	finalURL := "localhost:" + tempPort
+	defer purge(vncResource)
+	errs := []error{}
+	for i := 0; i < defaultRetry; i++ {
+		results := []string{}
+		var err error
+		_ = pool.Retry(func() error {
+			//let ssh server start
+			time.Sleep(3 * time.Second)
+			results, err = testutils.RunNucleiTemplateAndGetResults(filePath, finalURL, debug)
+			return nil
+		})
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if err := expectResultsCount(results, 1); err == nil {
+			return nil
+		} else {
+			errs = append(errs, err)
+		}
+	}
+	return multierr.Combine(errs...)
+}
+
+type javascriptMultiPortsSSH struct{}
+
+func (j *javascriptMultiPortsSSH) Execute(filePath string) error {
+	// use scanme.sh as target to ensure we match on the 2nd default port 22
+	results, err := testutils.RunNucleiTemplateAndGetResults(filePath, "scanme.sh", debug)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return expectResultsCount(results, 1)
+}
+
 // purge any given resource if it is not nil
 func purge(resource *dockertest.Resource) {
 	if resource != nil && pool != nil {
@@ -163,4 +244,41 @@ func init() {
 	if err := sshResource.Expire(30); err != nil {
 		log.Printf("Could not expire resource: %s", err)
 	}
+
+	// setup a temporary oracle instance
+	oracleResource, err = pool.RunWithOptions(&dockertest.RunOptions{
+		Repository: "gvenzl/oracle-xe",
+		Tag:        "latest",
+		Env: []string{
+			"ORACLE_PASSWORD=mysecret",
+		},
+		Platform: "linux/amd64",
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Printf("Could not start Oracle resource: %s", err)
+		return
+	}
+
+	// by default expire after 30 sec
+	if err := oracleResource.Expire(30); err != nil {
+		log.Printf("Could not expire Oracle resource: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	// setup a temporary vnc server
+	vncResource, err = pool.RunWithOptions(&dockertest.RunOptions{
+		Repository: "dorowu/ubuntu-desktop-lxde-vnc",
+		Tag:        "latest",
+		Env: []string{
+			"VNC_PASSWORD=mysecret",
+		},
+		Platform: "linux/amd64",
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Printf("Could not start resource: %s", err)
+		return
+	}
+	// by default expire after 30 sec
+	if err := vncResource.Expire(30); err != nil {
+		log.Printf("Could not expire resource: %s", err)
+	}
 }

cmd/integration-test/library.go

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/logrusorgru/aurora"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/goflags"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/gologger"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/catalog/config"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/catalog/disk"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/catalog/loader"
@@ -70,6 +71,7 @@ func executeNucleiAsLibrary(templatePath, templateURL string) ([]string, error)
 
 	defaultOpts := types.DefaultOptions()
 	defaultOpts.ExecutionId = "test"
+	defaultOpts.Logger = gologger.DefaultLogger
 
 	mockProgress := &testutils.MockProgressClient{}
 	reportingClient, err := reporting.New(&reporting.Options{ExecutionId: defaultOpts.ExecutionId}, "", false)

cmd/integration-test/templates-dir-env.go

@@ -0,0 +1,217 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+
+	osutils "github.com/projectdiscovery/utils/os"
+
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/testutils"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/utils/errkit"
+)
+
+// isNotLinux returns true if not running on Linux (used to skip tests on non-Linux OS)
+var isNotLinux = func() bool { return !osutils.IsLinux() }
+
+var templatesDirEnvTestCases = []TestCaseInfo{
+	{Path: "protocols/dns/cname-fingerprint.yaml", TestCase: &templatesDirEnvBasicTest{}, DisableOn: isNotLinux},
+	{Path: "protocols/dns/cname-fingerprint.yaml", TestCase: &templatesDirEnvAbsolutePathTest{}, DisableOn: isNotLinux},
+	{Path: "protocols/dns/cname-fingerprint.yaml", TestCase: &templatesDirEnvRelativePathTest{}, DisableOn: isNotLinux},
+	{Path: "protocols/dns/cname-fingerprint.yaml", TestCase: &templatesDirEnvPrecedenceTest{}, DisableOn: isNotLinux},
+	{Path: "protocols/dns/cname-fingerprint.yaml", TestCase: &templatesDirEnvCustomTemplatesTest{}, DisableOn: isNotLinux},
+}
+
+// copyTemplateToDir copies a template file to a destination directory, preserving the directory structure
+func copyTemplateToDir(templatePath, destDir string) error {
+	// Read the template file
+	templateData, err := os.ReadFile(templatePath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return errkit.Wrap(err, "failed to read template file")
+	}
+
+	// Create the destination path preserving directory structure
+	destPath := filepath.Join(destDir, templatePath)
+	destDirPath := filepath.Dir(destPath)
+
+	// Create the destination directory if it doesn't exist
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(destDirPath, 0755); err != nil {
+		return errkit.Wrap(err, "failed to create destination directory")
+	}
+
+	// Write the template file
+	if err := os.WriteFile(destPath, templateData, 0644); err != nil {
+		return errkit.Wrap(err, "failed to write template file")
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// templatesDirEnvBasicTest tests basic functionality of NUCLEI_TEMPLATES_DIR
+type templatesDirEnvBasicTest struct{}
+
+// Execute executes a test case and returns an error if occurred
+func (h *templatesDirEnvBasicTest) Execute(filePath string) error {
+	tempdir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "nuclei-templates-dir-env-*")
+	if err != nil {
+		return errkit.Wrap(err, "failed to create temp dir")
+	}
+	defer func() {
+		_ = os.RemoveAll(tempdir)
+	}()
+
+	// Copy template to temp directory
+	if err := copyTemplateToDir(filePath, tempdir); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// Set NUCLEI_TEMPLATES_DIR and run nuclei
+	envVars := []string{"NUCLEI_TEMPLATES_DIR=" + tempdir}
+	results, err := testutils.RunNucleiBareArgsAndGetResults(debug, envVars, "-t", filePath, "-u", "8x8exch02.8x8.com")
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return expectResultsCount(results, 1)
+}
+
+// templatesDirEnvAbsolutePathTest tests that absolute paths work correctly
+type templatesDirEnvAbsolutePathTest struct{}
+
+// Execute executes a test case and returns an error if occurred
+func (h *templatesDirEnvAbsolutePathTest) Execute(filePath string) error {
+	tempdir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "nuclei-templates-dir-env-abs-*")
+	if err != nil {
+		return errkit.Wrap(err, "failed to create temp dir")
+	}
+	defer func() {
+		_ = os.RemoveAll(tempdir)
+	}()
+
+	// Get absolute path
+	absTempDir, err := filepath.Abs(tempdir)
+	if err != nil {
+		return errkit.Wrap(err, "failed to get absolute path")
+	}
+
+	// Copy template to temp directory
+	if err := copyTemplateToDir(filePath, absTempDir); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// Set NUCLEI_TEMPLATES_DIR with absolute path and run nuclei
+	envVars := []string{"NUCLEI_TEMPLATES_DIR=" + absTempDir}
+	results, err := testutils.RunNucleiBareArgsAndGetResults(debug, envVars, "-t", filePath, "-u", "8x8exch02.8x8.com")
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return expectResultsCount(results, 1)
+}
+
+// templatesDirEnvRelativePathTest tests that relative paths are resolved correctly
+type templatesDirEnvRelativePathTest struct{}
+
+// Execute executes a test case and returns an error if occurred
+func (h *templatesDirEnvRelativePathTest) Execute(filePath string) error {
+	// Create temp directory in current working directory
+	tempdir, err := os.MkdirTemp(".", "nuclei-templates-dir-env-rel-*")
+	if err != nil {
+		return errkit.Wrap(err, "failed to create temp dir")
+	}
+	defer func() {
+		_ = os.RemoveAll(tempdir)
+	}()
+
+	// Get relative path (just the directory name)
+	relPath := filepath.Base(tempdir)
+
+	// Copy template to temp directory
+	if err := copyTemplateToDir(filePath, tempdir); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// Set NUCLEI_TEMPLATES_DIR with relative path and run nuclei
+	// Note: The implementation should convert relative paths to absolute
+	envVars := []string{"NUCLEI_TEMPLATES_DIR=" + relPath}
+	results, err := testutils.RunNucleiBareArgsAndGetResults(debug, envVars, "-t", filePath, "-u", "8x8exch02.8x8.com")
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return expectResultsCount(results, 1)
+}
+
+// templatesDirEnvPrecedenceTest tests that -ud flag takes precedence over NUCLEI_TEMPLATES_DIR
+type templatesDirEnvPrecedenceTest struct{}
+
+// Execute executes a test case and returns an error if occurred
+func (h *templatesDirEnvPrecedenceTest) Execute(filePath string) error {
+	// Create two temp directories
+	envTempDir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "nuclei-templates-dir-env-*")
+	if err != nil {
+		return errkit.Wrap(err, "failed to create env temp dir")
+	}
+	defer func() {
+		_ = os.RemoveAll(envTempDir)
+	}()
+
+	flagTempDir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "nuclei-templates-dir-flag-*")
+	if err != nil {
+		return errkit.Wrap(err, "failed to create flag temp dir")
+	}
+	defer func() {
+		_ = os.RemoveAll(flagTempDir)
+	}()
+
+	// Copy template to flag temp directory (this should be used due to precedence)
+	if err := copyTemplateToDir(filePath, flagTempDir); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// Set NUCLEI_TEMPLATES_DIR to envTempDir (should be ignored due to -ud flag)
+	envVars := []string{"NUCLEI_TEMPLATES_DIR=" + envTempDir}
+	// Use -ud flag which should take precedence
+	results, err := testutils.RunNucleiBareArgsAndGetResults(debug, envVars, "-t", filePath, "-u", "8x8exch02.8x8.com", "-ud", flagTempDir)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return expectResultsCount(results, 1)
+}
+
+// templatesDirEnvCustomTemplatesTest tests that custom template subdirectories are correctly set
+type templatesDirEnvCustomTemplatesTest struct{}
+
+// Execute executes a test case and returns an error if occurred
+func (h *templatesDirEnvCustomTemplatesTest) Execute(filePath string) error {
+	tempdir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "nuclei-templates-dir-custom-*")
+	if err != nil {
+		return errkit.Wrap(err, "failed to create temp dir")
+	}
+	defer func() {
+		_ = os.RemoveAll(tempdir)
+	}()
+
+	// Create custom template subdirectories structure
+	customDirs := []string{"github", "s3", "gitlab", "azure"}
+	for _, dir := range customDirs {
+		customDirPath := filepath.Join(tempdir, dir)
+		if err := os.MkdirAll(customDirPath, 0755); err != nil {
+			return errkit.Wrap(err, "failed to create custom template directory")
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Copy template to temp directory
+	if err := copyTemplateToDir(filePath, tempdir); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// Set NUCLEI_TEMPLATES_DIR and run nuclei
+	envVars := []string{"NUCLEI_TEMPLATES_DIR=" + tempdir}
+	results, err := testutils.RunNucleiBareArgsAndGetResults(debug, envVars, "-t", filePath, "-u", "8x8exch02.8x8.com")
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return expectResultsCount(results, 1)
+}

cmd/nuclei/main.go

@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	_ "github.com/projectdiscovery/utils/pprof"
 	stringsutil "github.com/projectdiscovery/utils/strings"
 	"github.com/rs/xid"
+	"gopkg.in/yaml.v2"
 
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/goflags"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/gologger/levels"
@@ -193,8 +194,11 @@ func main() {
 		})
 	}
 
-	// Setup graceful exits
+	// Setup filename for graceful exits
 	resumeFileName := types.DefaultResumeFilePath()
+	if options.Resume == "" {
+		resumeFileName = options.Resume
+	}
 	c := make(chan os.Signal, 1)
 	signal.Notify(c, os.Interrupt)
 	go func() {
@@ -254,7 +258,7 @@ on extensive configurability, massive extensibility and ease of use.`)
 		flagSet.StringSliceVarP(&options.Targets, "target", "u", nil, "target URLs/hosts to scan", goflags.CommaSeparatedStringSliceOptions),
 		flagSet.StringVarP(&options.TargetsFilePath, "list", "l", "", "path to file containing a list of target URLs/hosts to scan (one per line)"),
 		flagSet.StringSliceVarP(&options.ExcludeTargets, "exclude-hosts", "eh", nil, "hosts to exclude to scan from the input list (ip, cidr, hostname)", goflags.FileCommaSeparatedStringSliceOptions),
-		flagSet.StringVar(&options.Resume, "resume", "", "resume scan using resume.cfg (clustering will be disabled)"),
+		flagSet.StringVar(&options.Resume, "resume", "", "resume scan from and save to specified file (clustering will be disabled)"),
 		flagSet.BoolVarP(&options.ScanAllIPs, "scan-all-ips", "sa", false, "scan all the IP's associated with dns record"),
 		flagSet.StringSliceVarP(&options.IPVersion, "ip-version", "iv", nil, "IP version to scan of hostname (4,6) - (default 4)", goflags.CommaSeparatedStringSliceOptions),
 	)
@@ -263,6 +267,8 @@ on extensive configurability, massive extensibility and ease of use.`)
 		flagSet.StringVarP(&options.InputFileMode, "input-mode", "im", "list", fmt.Sprintf("mode of input file (%v)", provider.SupportedInputFormats())),
 		flagSet.BoolVarP(&options.FormatUseRequiredOnly, "required-only", "ro", false, "use only required fields in input format when generating requests"),
 		flagSet.BoolVarP(&options.SkipFormatValidation, "skip-format-validation", "sfv", false, "skip format validation (like missing vars) when parsing input file"),
+		flagSet.BoolVarP(&options.VarsTextTemplating, "vars-text-templating", "vtt", false, "enable text templating for vars in input file (only for yaml input mode)"),
+		flagSet.StringSliceVarP(&options.VarsFilePaths, "var-file-paths", "vfp", nil, "list of yaml file contained vars to inject into yaml input", goflags.CommaSeparatedStringSliceOptions),
 	)
 
 	flagSet.CreateGroup("templates", "Templates",
@@ -277,7 +283,7 @@ on extensive configurability, massive extensibility and ease of use.`)
 		flagSet.BoolVar(&options.Validate, "validate", false, "validate the passed templates to nuclei"),
 		flagSet.BoolVarP(&options.NoStrictSyntax, "no-strict-syntax", "nss", false, "disable strict syntax check on templates"),
 		flagSet.BoolVarP(&options.TemplateDisplay, "template-display", "td", false, "displays the templates content"),
-		flagSet.BoolVar(&options.TemplateList, "tl", false, "list all available templates"),
+		flagSet.BoolVar(&options.TemplateList, "tl", false, "list all templates matching current filters"),
 		flagSet.BoolVar(&options.TagList, "tgl", false, "list all available tags"),
 		flagSet.StringSliceVarConfigOnly(&options.RemoteTemplateDomainList, "remote-template-domain", []string{"cloud.projectdiscovery.io"}, "allowed domain list to load remote templates from"),
 		flagSet.BoolVar(&options.SignTemplates, "sign", false, "signs the templates with the private key defined in NUCLEI_SIGNATURE_PRIVATE_KEY env variable"),
@@ -408,6 +414,7 @@ on extensive configurability, massive extensibility and ease of use.`)
 		flagSet.IntVarP(&options.JsConcurrency, "js-concurrency", "jsc", 120, "maximum number of javascript runtimes to be executed in parallel"),
 		flagSet.IntVarP(&options.PayloadConcurrency, "payload-concurrency", "pc", 25, "max payload concurrency for each template"),
 		flagSet.IntVarP(&options.ProbeConcurrency, "probe-concurrency", "prc", 50, "http probe concurrency with httpx"),
+		flagSet.IntVarP(&options.TemplateLoadingConcurrency, "template-loading-concurrency", "tlc", types.DefaultTemplateLoadingConcurrency, "maximum number of concurrent template loading operations"),
 	)
 	flagSet.CreateGroup("optimization", "Optimizations",
 		flagSet.IntVar(&options.Timeout, "timeout", 10, "time to wait in seconds before timeout"),
@@ -571,6 +578,7 @@ Additional documentation is available at: https://docs.nuclei.sh/getting-started
 		config.DefaultConfig.SetConfigDir(customConfigDir)
 		readFlagsConfig(flagSet)
 	}
+
 	if cfgFile != "" {
 		if !fileutil.FileExists(cfgFile) {
 			options.Logger.Fatal().Msgf("given config file '%s' does not exist", cfgFile)
@@ -579,9 +587,49 @@ Additional documentation is available at: https://docs.nuclei.sh/getting-started
 		if err := flagSet.MergeConfigFile(cfgFile); err != nil {
 			options.Logger.Fatal().Msgf("Could not read config: %s\n", err)
 		}
+
+		if !options.Vars.IsEmpty() {
+			// Maybe we should add vars to the config file as well even if they are set via flags?
+			file, err := os.Open(cfgFile)
+			if err != nil {
+				gologger.Fatal().Msgf("Could not open config file: %s\n", err)
+			}
+			defer func() {
+				_ = file.Close()
+			}()
+			data := make(map[string]interface{})
+			err = yaml.NewDecoder(file).Decode(&data)
+			if err != nil {
+				gologger.Fatal().Msgf("Could not decode config file: %s\n", err)
+			}
+
+			variables := data["var"]
+			if variables != nil {
+				if varSlice, ok := variables.([]interface{}); ok {
+					for _, value := range varSlice {
+						if strVal, ok := value.(string); ok {
+							err = options.Vars.Set(strVal)
+							if err != nil {
+								gologger.Warning().Msgf("Could not set variable from config file: %s\n", err)
+							}
+						} else {
+							gologger.Warning().Msgf("Skipping non-string variable in config: %#v", value)
+						}
+					}
+				} else {
+					gologger.Warning().Msgf("No 'var' section found in config file: %s", cfgFile)
+				}
+			}
+
+		}
 	}
-	if options.NewTemplatesDirectory != "" {
-		config.DefaultConfig.SetTemplatesDir(options.NewTemplatesDirectory)
+
+	templatesDir := options.NewTemplatesDirectory
+	if templatesDir == "" {
+		templatesDir = os.Getenv(config.NucleiTemplatesDirEnv)
+	}
+	if templatesDir != "" {
+		config.DefaultConfig.SetTemplatesDir(templatesDir)
 	}
 
 	defaultProfilesPath := filepath.Join(config.DefaultConfig.GetTemplateDir(), "profiles")

cmd/nuclei/main_benchmark_test.go

@@ -1,9 +1,13 @@
 package main_test
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
 	"os"
+	"runtime"
+	"runtime/pprof"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
@@ -48,6 +52,31 @@ func TestMain(m *testing.M) {
 	os.Exit(exitCode)
 }
 
+// getUniqFilename generates a unique filename by appending .N if file exists
+// Similar to wget's behavior: file.cpu.prof, file.cpu.1.prof, file.cpu.2.prof, etc.
+func getUniqFilename(basePath string) string {
+	if _, err := os.Stat(basePath); os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		return basePath
+	}
+
+	lastDot := strings.LastIndex(basePath, ".")
+	var name, ext string
+	if lastDot != -1 {
+		name = basePath[:lastDot]
+		ext = basePath[lastDot:]
+	} else {
+		name = basePath
+		ext = ""
+	}
+
+	for i := 1; ; i++ {
+		newPath := fmt.Sprintf("%s.%d%s", name, i, ext)
+		if _, err := os.Stat(newPath); os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			return newPath
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func getDefaultOptions() *types.Options {
 	return &types.Options{
 		RemoteTemplateDomainList:   []string{"cloud.projectdiscovery.io"},
@@ -106,24 +135,55 @@ func runEnumBenchmark(b *testing.B, options *types.Options) {
 	}
 	defer nucleiRunner.Close()
 
-	b.ResetTimer()
+	benchNameSlug := strings.ReplaceAll(b.Name(), "/", "-")
+
+	// Start CPU profiling
+	cpuProfileBase := fmt.Sprintf("%s.cpu.prof", benchNameSlug)
+	cpuProfilePath := getUniqFilename(cpuProfileBase)
+	cpuProfile, err := os.Create(cpuProfilePath)
+	if err != nil {
+		b.Fatalf("failed to create CPU profile: %s", err)
+	}
+	defer func() { _ = cpuProfile.Close() }()
+
+	if err := pprof.StartCPUProfile(cpuProfile); err != nil {
+		b.Fatalf("failed to start CPU profile: %s", err)
+	}
+	defer pprof.StopCPUProfile()
+
 	b.ReportAllocs()
 
-	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+	for b.Loop() {
 		if err := nucleiRunner.RunEnumeration(); err != nil {
 			b.Fatalf("%s failed: %s", b.Name(), err)
 		}
 	}
+
+	b.StopTimer()
+
+	// Write heap profile
+	heapProfileBase := fmt.Sprintf("%s.heap.prof", benchNameSlug)
+	heapProfilePath := getUniqFilename(heapProfileBase)
+	heapProfile, err := os.Create(heapProfilePath)
+	if err != nil {
+		b.Fatalf("failed to create heap profile: %s", err)
+	}
+	defer func() { _ = heapProfile.Close() }()
+
+	runtime.GC() // Force GC before heap profile
+	if err := pprof.WriteHeapProfile(heapProfile); err != nil {
+		b.Fatalf("failed to write heap profile: %s", err)
+	}
 }
 
 func BenchmarkRunEnumeration(b *testing.B) {
 	// Default case: run enumeration with default options == all nuclei-templates
-	// b.Run("Default", func(b *testing.B) {
-	// 	options := getDefaultOptions()
-	// 	options.Targets = []string{targetURL}
+	b.Run("Default", func(b *testing.B) {
+		options := getDefaultOptions()
+		options.Targets = []string{targetURL}
 
-	// 	runEnumBenchmark(b, options)
-	// })
+		runEnumBenchmark(b, options)
+	})
 
 	// Case: https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/pull/6258
 	b.Run("Multiproto", func(b *testing.B) {

cmd/nuclei/srv.yaml

@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
-id: basic-dns-a-example
-
-info:
-  name: Test DNS A Query Template
-  author: pdteam
-  severity: info
-
-dns:
-  - name: "{{FQDN}}"
-    type: SRV
-    class: inet
-    recursion: true
-    retries: 3
-    matchers:
-      - type: word
-        part: all
-        words:
-          - "SRV"

go.mod

@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 module github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3
 
-go 1.24.1
+go 1.24.2
+
+toolchain go1.24.4
 
 require (
 	github.com/Knetic/govaluate v3.0.1-0.20171022003610-9aa49832a739+incompatible
-	github.com/andygrunwald/go-jira v1.16.0
-	github.com/antchfx/htmlquery v1.3.4
+	github.com/andygrunwald/go-jira v1.16.1
+	github.com/antchfx/htmlquery v1.3.5
 	github.com/bluele/gcache v0.0.2
 	github.com/go-playground/validator/v10 v10.26.0
 	github.com/go-rod/rod v0.116.2
@@ -16,16 +18,16 @@ require (
 	github.com/json-iterator/go v1.1.12
 	github.com/julienschmidt/httprouter v1.3.0
 	github.com/logrusorgru/aurora v2.0.3+incompatible
-	github.com/miekg/dns v1.1.66
+	github.com/miekg/dns v1.1.68
 	github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter v1.0.8
 	github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1
 	github.com/projectdiscovery/clistats v0.1.1
-	github.com/projectdiscovery/fastdialer v0.4.7
-	github.com/projectdiscovery/hmap v0.0.93
+	github.com/projectdiscovery/fastdialer v0.4.20
+	github.com/projectdiscovery/hmap v0.0.98
 	github.com/projectdiscovery/interactsh v1.2.4
 	github.com/projectdiscovery/rawhttp v0.1.90
-	github.com/projectdiscovery/retryabledns v1.0.106
-	github.com/projectdiscovery/retryablehttp-go v1.0.121
+	github.com/projectdiscovery/retryabledns v1.0.111
+	github.com/projectdiscovery/retryablehttp-go v1.1.1
 	github.com/projectdiscovery/yamldoc-go v1.0.6
 	github.com/remeh/sizedwaitgroup v1.0.0
 	github.com/rs/xid v1.6.0
@@ -35,26 +37,28 @@ require (
 	github.com/spf13/cast v1.9.2
 	github.com/syndtr/goleveldb v1.0.0
 	github.com/valyala/fasttemplate v1.2.2
-	github.com/weppos/publicsuffix-go v0.50.0
+	github.com/weppos/publicsuffix-go v0.50.1
 	go.uber.org/multierr v1.11.0
-	golang.org/x/net v0.43.0
+	golang.org/x/net v0.47.0
 	golang.org/x/oauth2 v0.30.0
-	golang.org/x/text v0.28.0
+	golang.org/x/text v0.31.0
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v2 v2.4.0
 )
 
 require (
-	code.gitea.io/sdk/gitea v0.21.0
+	carvel.dev/ytt v0.52.0
+	code.gitea.io/sdk/gitea v0.17.0
 	github.com/Azure/azure-sdk-for-go/sdk/azidentity v1.10.1
-	github.com/Azure/azure-sdk-for-go/sdk/storage/azblob v1.6.1
+	github.com/Azure/azure-sdk-for-go/sdk/storage/azblob v1.1.0
 	github.com/DataDog/gostackparse v0.7.0
-	github.com/Masterminds/semver/v3 v3.4.0
+	github.com/Masterminds/semver/v3 v3.2.1
 	github.com/Mzack9999/gcache v0.0.0-20230410081825-519e28eab057
 	github.com/Mzack9999/goja v0.0.0-20250507184235-e46100e9c697
 	github.com/Mzack9999/goja_nodejs v0.0.0-20250507184139-66bcbf65c883
+	github.com/alexsnet/go-vnc v0.1.0
 	github.com/alitto/pond v1.9.2
 	github.com/antchfx/xmlquery v1.4.4
-	github.com/antchfx/xpath v1.3.4
+	github.com/antchfx/xpath v1.3.5
 	github.com/asaskevich/govalidator v0.0.0-20230301143203-a9d515a09cc2
 	github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2 v1.36.5
 	github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2/config v1.29.17
@@ -71,7 +75,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/getkin/kin-openapi v0.132.0
 	github.com/go-git/go-git/v5 v5.16.2
 	github.com/go-ldap/ldap/v3 v3.4.11
-	github.com/go-pg/pg v8.0.7+incompatible
+	github.com/go-pg/pg/v10 v10.15.0
 	github.com/go-sql-driver/mysql v1.9.3
 	github.com/goccy/go-json v0.10.5
 	github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0
@@ -83,34 +87,36 @@ require (
 	github.com/leslie-qiwa/flat v0.0.0-20230424180412-f9d1cf014baa
 	github.com/lib/pq v1.10.9
 	github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.28
-	github.com/mholt/archives v0.1.3
+	github.com/maypok86/otter/v2 v2.2.1
+	github.com/mholt/archives v0.1.5
 	github.com/microsoft/go-mssqldb v1.9.2
 	github.com/ory/dockertest/v3 v3.12.0
 	github.com/praetorian-inc/fingerprintx v1.1.15
-	github.com/projectdiscovery/dsl v0.5.1
+	github.com/projectdiscovery/dsl v0.8.8
 	github.com/projectdiscovery/fasttemplate v0.0.2
 	github.com/projectdiscovery/gcache v0.0.0-20241015120333-12546c6e3f4c
 	github.com/projectdiscovery/go-smb2 v0.0.0-20240129202741-052cc450c6cb
 	github.com/projectdiscovery/goflags v0.1.74
-	github.com/projectdiscovery/gologger v1.1.54
+	github.com/projectdiscovery/gologger v1.1.64
 	github.com/projectdiscovery/gostruct v0.0.2
-	github.com/projectdiscovery/gozero v0.1.0
-	github.com/projectdiscovery/httpx v1.7.1-0.20250901093029-3909667cbaa6
-	github.com/projectdiscovery/mapcidr v1.1.34
+	github.com/projectdiscovery/gozero v0.1.1-0.20251027191944-a4ea43320b81
+	github.com/projectdiscovery/httpx v1.7.4
+	github.com/projectdiscovery/mapcidr v1.1.97
 	github.com/projectdiscovery/n3iwf v0.0.0-20230523120440-b8cd232ff1f5
-	github.com/projectdiscovery/networkpolicy v0.1.21
+	github.com/projectdiscovery/networkpolicy v0.1.32
 	github.com/projectdiscovery/ratelimit v0.0.82
 	github.com/projectdiscovery/rdap v0.9.0
 	github.com/projectdiscovery/sarif v0.0.1
-	github.com/projectdiscovery/tlsx v1.2.1
-	github.com/projectdiscovery/uncover v1.1.0
-	github.com/projectdiscovery/useragent v0.0.101
-	github.com/projectdiscovery/utils v0.4.24-0.20250823123502-bd7f2849ddb4
-	github.com/projectdiscovery/wappalyzergo v0.2.43
+	github.com/projectdiscovery/tlsx v1.2.2
+	github.com/projectdiscovery/uncover v1.2.0
+	github.com/projectdiscovery/useragent v0.0.105
+	github.com/projectdiscovery/utils v0.7.3
+	github.com/projectdiscovery/wappalyzergo v0.2.59
 	github.com/redis/go-redis/v9 v9.11.0
 	github.com/seh-msft/burpxml v1.0.1
 	github.com/shurcooL/graphql v0.0.0-20230722043721-ed46e5a46466
-	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.11.0
+	github.com/sijms/go-ora/v2 v2.9.0
+	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.11.1
 	github.com/tarunKoyalwar/goleak v0.0.0-20240429141123-0efa90dbdcf9
 	github.com/testcontainers/testcontainers-go v0.38.0
 	github.com/testcontainers/testcontainers-go/modules/mongodb v0.37.0
@@ -118,7 +124,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/zmap/zgrab2 v0.1.8
 	gitlab.com/gitlab-org/api/client-go v0.130.1
 	go.mongodb.org/mongo-driver v1.17.4
-	golang.org/x/term v0.34.0
+	golang.org/x/term v0.37.0
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1
 	moul.io/http2curl v1.0.0
 )
@@ -128,25 +134,25 @@ require (
 	dario.cat/mergo v1.0.2 // indirect
 	filippo.io/edwards25519 v1.1.0 // indirect
 	git.mills.io/prologic/smtpd v0.0.0-20210710122116-a525b76c287a // indirect
-	github.com/42wim/httpsig v1.2.2 // indirect
 	github.com/Azure/azure-sdk-for-go/sdk/azcore v1.18.0 // indirect
 	github.com/Azure/azure-sdk-for-go/sdk/internal v1.11.1 // indirect
 	github.com/Azure/go-ansiterm v0.0.0-20250102033503-faa5f7b0171c // indirect
 	github.com/Azure/go-ntlmssp v0.0.0-20221128193559-754e69321358 // indirect
 	github.com/AzureAD/microsoft-authentication-library-for-go v1.4.2 // indirect
+	github.com/BurntSushi/toml v1.3.2 // indirect
 	github.com/Microsoft/go-winio v0.6.2 // indirect
 	github.com/Mzack9999/go-http-digest-auth-client v0.6.1-0.20220414142836-eb8883508809 // indirect
 	github.com/Nvveen/Gotty v0.0.0-20120604004816-cd527374f1e5 // indirect
 	github.com/ProtonMail/go-crypto v1.1.6 // indirect
-	github.com/PuerkitoBio/goquery v1.10.3 // indirect
-	github.com/STARRY-S/zip v0.2.1 // indirect
+	github.com/PuerkitoBio/goquery v1.11.0 // indirect
+	github.com/STARRY-S/zip v0.2.3 // indirect
 	github.com/VividCortex/ewma v1.2.0 // indirect
 	github.com/akrylysov/pogreb v0.10.2 // indirect
 	github.com/alecthomas/chroma/v2 v2.14.0 // indirect
 	github.com/alecthomas/kingpin/v2 v2.4.0 // indirect
 	github.com/alecthomas/template v0.0.0-20190718012654-fb15b899a751 // indirect
 	github.com/alecthomas/units v0.0.0-20211218093645-b94a6e3cc137 // indirect
-	github.com/andybalholm/brotli v1.1.2-0.20250424173009-453214e765f3 // indirect
+	github.com/andybalholm/brotli v1.2.0 // indirect
 	github.com/andybalholm/cascadia v1.3.3 // indirect
 	github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2/aws/protocol/eventstream v1.6.11 // indirect
 	github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2/feature/ec2/imds v1.16.32 // indirect
@@ -168,12 +174,15 @@ require (
 	github.com/bits-and-blooms/bitset v1.13.0 // indirect
 	github.com/bits-and-blooms/bloom/v3 v3.5.0 // indirect
 	github.com/bodgit/plumbing v1.3.0 // indirect
-	github.com/bodgit/sevenzip v1.6.0 // indirect
+	github.com/bodgit/sevenzip v1.6.1 // indirect
 	github.com/bodgit/windows v1.0.1 // indirect
+	github.com/brianvoe/gofakeit/v7 v7.2.1 // indirect
 	github.com/buger/jsonparser v1.1.1 // indirect
 	github.com/bytedance/sonic/loader v0.3.0 // indirect
 	github.com/caddyserver/certmagic v0.19.2 // indirect
 	github.com/cenkalti/backoff/v4 v4.3.0 // indirect
+	github.com/cenkalti/backoff/v5 v5.0.3 // indirect
+	github.com/censys/censys-sdk-go v0.19.1 // indirect
 	github.com/cespare/xxhash/v2 v2.3.0 // indirect
 	github.com/charmbracelet/colorprofile v0.2.3-0.20250311203215-f60798e515dc // indirect
 	github.com/charmbracelet/lipgloss v1.1.1-0.20250404203927-76690c660834 // indirect
@@ -185,14 +194,14 @@ require (
 	github.com/cloudflare/cfssl v1.6.4 // indirect
 	github.com/cloudflare/circl v1.6.1 // indirect
 	github.com/cloudwego/base64x v0.1.5 // indirect
-	github.com/cnf/structhash v0.0.0-20201127153200-e1b16c1ebc08 // indirect
+	github.com/cnf/structhash v0.0.0-20250313080605-df4c6cc74a9a // indirect
 	github.com/containerd/continuity v0.4.5 // indirect
 	github.com/containerd/errdefs v1.0.0 // indirect
 	github.com/containerd/errdefs/pkg v0.3.0 // indirect
 	github.com/containerd/log v0.1.0 // indirect
 	github.com/containerd/platforms v0.2.1 // indirect
 	github.com/cpuguy83/dockercfg v0.3.2 // indirect
-	github.com/cyphar/filepath-securejoin v0.4.1 // indirect
+	github.com/cyphar/filepath-securejoin v0.5.1 // indirect
 	github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.2-0.20180830191138-d8f796af33cc // indirect
 	github.com/davidmz/go-pageant v1.0.2 // indirect
 	github.com/dgryski/go-rendezvous v0.0.0-20200823014737-9f7001d12a5f // indirect
@@ -204,12 +213,13 @@ require (
 	github.com/dsnet/compress v0.0.2-0.20230904184137-39efe44ab707 // indirect
 	github.com/ebitengine/purego v0.8.4 // indirect
 	github.com/emirpasic/gods v1.18.1 // indirect
+	github.com/ericlagergren/decimal v0.0.0-20240411145413-00de7ca16731 // indirect
 	github.com/fatih/color v1.18.0 // indirect
 	github.com/felixge/fgprof v0.9.5 // indirect
 	github.com/felixge/httpsnoop v1.0.4 // indirect
 	github.com/free5gc/util v1.0.5-0.20230511064842-2e120956883b // indirect
 	github.com/gabriel-vasile/mimetype v1.4.8 // indirect
-	github.com/gaissmai/bart v0.24.0 // indirect
+	github.com/gaissmai/bart v0.26.0 // indirect
 	github.com/geoffgarside/ber v1.1.0 // indirect
 	github.com/gin-contrib/sse v0.1.0 // indirect
 	github.com/gin-gonic/gin v1.9.1 // indirect
@@ -222,6 +232,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/go-ole/go-ole v1.3.0 // indirect
 	github.com/go-openapi/jsonpointer v0.21.0 // indirect
 	github.com/go-openapi/swag v0.23.0 // indirect
+	github.com/go-pg/zerochecker v0.2.0 // indirect
 	github.com/go-playground/locales v0.14.1 // indirect
 	github.com/go-playground/universal-translator v0.18.1 // indirect
 	github.com/go-sourcemap/sourcemap v2.1.4+incompatible // indirect
@@ -237,15 +248,16 @@ require (
 	github.com/google/pprof v0.0.0-20240727154555-813a5fbdbec8 // indirect
 	github.com/google/shlex v0.0.0-20191202100458-e7afc7fbc510 // indirect
 	github.com/gorilla/css v1.0.1 // indirect
-	github.com/hashicorp/errwrap v1.1.0 // indirect
+	github.com/gosimple/slug v1.15.0 // indirect
+	github.com/gosimple/unidecode v1.0.1 // indirect
 	github.com/hashicorp/go-cleanhttp v0.5.2 // indirect
-	github.com/hashicorp/go-multierror v1.1.1 // indirect
 	github.com/hashicorp/go-retryablehttp v0.7.8 // indirect
 	github.com/hashicorp/go-uuid v1.0.3 // indirect
 	github.com/hashicorp/go-version v1.7.0 // indirect
 	github.com/hashicorp/golang-lru/v2 v2.0.7 // indirect
 	github.com/hbakhtiyor/strsim v0.0.0-20190107154042-4d2bbb273edf // indirect
 	github.com/hdm/jarm-go v0.0.7 // indirect
+	github.com/iangcarroll/cookiemonster v1.6.0 // indirect
 	github.com/imdario/mergo v0.3.16 // indirect
 	github.com/itchyny/timefmt-go v0.1.6 // indirect
 	github.com/jbenet/go-context v0.0.0-20150711004518-d14ea06fba99 // indirect
@@ -255,9 +267,10 @@ require (
 	github.com/jcmturner/rpc/v2 v2.0.3 // indirect
 	github.com/jinzhu/inflection v1.0.0 // indirect
 	github.com/josharian/intern v1.0.0 // indirect
+	github.com/k14s/starlark-go v0.0.0-20200720175618-3a5c849cc368 // indirect
 	github.com/kataras/jwt v0.1.10 // indirect
 	github.com/kevinburke/ssh_config v1.2.0 // indirect
-	github.com/klauspost/compress v1.18.0 // indirect
+	github.com/klauspost/compress v1.18.2 // indirect
 	github.com/klauspost/cpuid/v2 v2.2.5 // indirect
 	github.com/klauspost/pgzip v1.2.6 // indirect
 	github.com/kylelemons/godebug v1.1.0 // indirect
@@ -265,8 +278,8 @@ require (
 	github.com/leodido/go-urn v1.4.0 // indirect
 	github.com/libdns/libdns v0.2.1 // indirect
 	github.com/logrusorgru/aurora/v4 v4.0.0 // indirect
-	github.com/lor00x/goldap v0.0.0-20180618054307-a546dffdd1a3 // indirect
-	github.com/lucasb-eyer/go-colorful v1.2.0 // indirect
+	github.com/lor00x/goldap v0.0.0-20240304151906-8d785c64d1c8 // indirect
+	github.com/lucasb-eyer/go-colorful v1.3.0 // indirect
 	github.com/lufia/plan9stats v0.0.0-20250821153705-5981dea3221d // indirect
 	github.com/mackerelio/go-osstat v0.2.4 // indirect
 	github.com/magiconair/properties v1.8.10 // indirect
@@ -277,7 +290,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/mholt/acmez v1.2.0 // indirect
 	github.com/microcosm-cc/bluemonday v1.0.27 // indirect
 	github.com/mikelolasagasti/xz v1.0.1 // indirect
-	github.com/minio/minlz v1.0.0 // indirect
+	github.com/minio/minlz v1.0.1 // indirect
 	github.com/minio/selfupdate v0.6.1-0.20230907112617-f11e74f84ca7 // indirect
 	github.com/mitchellh/go-homedir v1.1.0 // indirect
 	github.com/moby/docker-image-spec v1.3.1 // indirect
@@ -294,25 +307,25 @@ require (
 	github.com/morikuni/aec v1.0.0 // indirect
 	github.com/muesli/reflow v0.3.0 // indirect
 	github.com/muesli/termenv v0.16.0 // indirect
-	github.com/nwaples/rardecode/v2 v2.1.0 // indirect
+	github.com/nwaples/rardecode/v2 v2.2.1 // indirect
 	github.com/oasdiff/yaml v0.0.0-20250309154309-f31be36b4037 // indirect
 	github.com/oasdiff/yaml3 v0.0.0-20250309153720-d2182401db90 // indirect
 	github.com/olekukonko/errors v1.1.0 // indirect
 	github.com/olekukonko/ll v0.0.9 // indirect
 	github.com/opencontainers/go-digest v1.0.0 // indirect
 	github.com/opencontainers/image-spec v1.1.1 // indirect
-	github.com/opencontainers/runc v1.2.3 // indirect
+	github.com/opencontainers/runc v1.2.8 // indirect
 	github.com/openrdap/rdap v0.9.1 // indirect
 	github.com/pelletier/go-toml/v2 v2.0.8 // indirect
 	github.com/perimeterx/marshmallow v1.1.5 // indirect
-	github.com/pierrec/lz4/v4 v4.1.21 // indirect
+	github.com/pierrec/lz4/v4 v4.1.22 // indirect
 	github.com/pjbgf/sha1cd v0.3.2 // indirect
 	github.com/pkg/browser v0.0.0-20240102092130-5ac0b6a4141c // indirect
 	github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.1-0.20181226105442-5d4384ee4fb2 // indirect
 	github.com/power-devops/perfstat v0.0.0-20240221224432-82ca36839d55 // indirect
 	github.com/projectdiscovery/asnmap v1.1.1 // indirect
 	github.com/projectdiscovery/blackrock v0.0.1 // indirect
-	github.com/projectdiscovery/cdncheck v1.1.33 // indirect
+	github.com/projectdiscovery/cdncheck v1.2.14 // indirect
 	github.com/projectdiscovery/freeport v0.0.7 // indirect
 	github.com/projectdiscovery/ldapserver v1.0.2-0.20240219154113-dcc758ebc0cb // indirect
 	github.com/projectdiscovery/machineid v0.0.0-20240226150047-2e2c51e35983 // indirect
@@ -324,22 +337,29 @@ require (
 	github.com/shoenig/go-m1cpu v0.1.6 // indirect
 	github.com/sirupsen/logrus v1.9.3 // indirect
 	github.com/skeema/knownhosts v1.3.1 // indirect
-	github.com/sorairolake/lzip-go v0.3.5 // indirect
+	github.com/sorairolake/lzip-go v0.3.8 // indirect
+	github.com/spf13/afero v1.15.0 // indirect
 	github.com/tidwall/btree v1.7.0 // indirect
 	github.com/tidwall/buntdb v1.3.1 // indirect
 	github.com/tidwall/gjson v1.18.0 // indirect
 	github.com/tidwall/grect v0.1.4 // indirect
-	github.com/tidwall/match v1.1.1 // indirect
+	github.com/tidwall/match v1.2.0 // indirect
 	github.com/tidwall/pretty v1.2.1 // indirect
 	github.com/tidwall/rtred v0.1.2 // indirect
 	github.com/tidwall/tinyqueue v0.1.1 // indirect
 	github.com/tim-ywliu/nested-logrus-formatter v1.3.2 // indirect
 	github.com/tklauser/go-sysconf v0.3.15 // indirect
 	github.com/tklauser/numcpus v0.10.0 // indirect
+	github.com/tmthrgd/go-hex v0.0.0-20190904060850-447a3041c3bc // indirect
 	github.com/twitchyliquid64/golang-asm v0.15.1 // indirect
 	github.com/ugorji/go/codec v1.2.11 // indirect
-	github.com/ulikunitz/xz v0.5.12 // indirect
+	github.com/ulikunitz/xz v0.5.15 // indirect
 	github.com/valyala/bytebufferpool v1.0.0 // indirect
+	github.com/vmihailenco/bufpool v0.1.11 // indirect
+	github.com/vmihailenco/msgpack/v5 v5.3.4 // indirect
+	github.com/vmihailenco/tagparser v0.1.2 // indirect
+	github.com/vmihailenco/tagparser/v2 v2.0.0 // indirect
+	github.com/vulncheck-oss/go-exploit v1.51.0 // indirect
 	github.com/wk8/go-ordered-map/v2 v2.1.8 // indirect
 	github.com/xanzy/ssh-agent v0.3.3 // indirect
 	github.com/xdg-go/pbkdf2 v1.0.0 // indirect
@@ -352,18 +372,18 @@ require (
 	github.com/youmark/pkcs8 v0.0.0-20240726163527-a2c0da244d78 // indirect
 	github.com/ysmood/fetchup v0.2.3 // indirect
 	github.com/ysmood/got v0.40.0 // indirect
-	github.com/yuin/goldmark v1.7.8 // indirect
+	github.com/yuin/goldmark v1.7.13 // indirect
 	github.com/yuin/goldmark-emoji v1.0.5 // indirect
 	github.com/zcalusic/sysinfo v1.0.2 // indirect
 	github.com/zeebo/blake3 v0.2.3 // indirect
 	go.opentelemetry.io/auto/sdk v1.1.0 // indirect
 	go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/net/http/otelhttp v0.62.0 // indirect
-	go.opentelemetry.io/otel v1.37.0 // indirect
-	go.opentelemetry.io/otel/metric v1.37.0 // indirect
-	go.opentelemetry.io/otel/trace v1.37.0 // indirect
+	go.opentelemetry.io/otel v1.38.0 // indirect
+	go.opentelemetry.io/otel/metric v1.38.0 // indirect
+	go.opentelemetry.io/otel/trace v1.38.0 // indirect
 	go4.org v0.0.0-20230225012048-214862532bf5 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/arch v0.3.0 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/sync v0.16.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/sync v0.18.0 // indirect
 	gopkg.in/djherbis/times.v1 v1.3.0 // indirect
 	mellium.im/sasl v0.3.2 // indirect
 )
@@ -387,12 +407,12 @@ require (
 	go.etcd.io/bbolt v1.4.0 // indirect
 	go.uber.org/zap v1.27.0 // indirect
 	goftp.io/server/v2 v2.0.1 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/crypto v0.41.0 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20250620022241-b7579e27df2b
-	golang.org/x/mod v0.26.0 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/sys v0.35.0 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/time v0.11.0 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/tools v0.35.0
+	golang.org/x/crypto v0.45.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20250911091902-df9299821621
+	golang.org/x/mod v0.29.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/sys v0.38.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/time v0.14.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/tools v0.38.0
 	google.golang.org/protobuf v1.36.6 // indirect
 	gopkg.in/alecthomas/kingpin.v2 v2.2.6 // indirect
 	gopkg.in/corvus-ch/zbase32.v1 v1.0.0 // indirect
@@ -406,10 +426,3 @@ require (
 
 // https://go.dev/ref/mod#go-mod-file-retract
 retract v3.2.0 // retract due to broken js protocol issue
-
-// Fix genproto version conflicts
-replace (
-	google.golang.org/genproto => google.golang.org/genproto v0.0.0-20240814211410-ddb44dafa142
-	google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/api => google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/api v0.0.0-20240814211410-ddb44dafa142
-	google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc => google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc v0.0.0-20240903143218-8af14fe29dc1
-)

integration_tests/fuzz/fuzz-body.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+id: fuzz-body
+
+info:
+  name: fuzzing error sqli payloads in http req body
+  author: pdteam
+  severity: info
+  description: |
+    This template attempts to find SQL injection vulnerabilities by fuzzing http body
+    It automatically handles and parses json,xml,multipart form and x-www-form-urlencoded data
+    and performs fuzzing on the value of every key
+
+http:
+  - pre-condition:
+      - type: dsl
+        dsl:
+          - method != "GET"
+          - method != "HEAD"
+        condition: and
+    
+    payloads:
+      injection:
+        - "'"
+        - "\""
+        - ";"
+    
+    fuzzing:
+      - part: body
+        type: postfix
+        mode: single
+        fuzz:
+          - '{{injection}}'
+  
+    stop-at-first-match: true
+    matchers:
+      - type: word
+        words:
+          - "unrecognized token:"
+          - "null"

integration_tests/protocols/code/py-virtual.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+id: signed-python-code-in-virtual-env
+
+info:
+  name: signed-python-code-in-virtual-env
+  author: pdteam
+  severity: info
+  tags: code
+  description: |
+    signed python code in virtual environment
+
+code:
+  - engine:
+      - sh
+      - bash
+    sandbox:
+      working-dir: /tmp
+      image: python:3.14
+    source: |
+      #!/usr/bin/env python3
+      
+      import sys
+      print("hello from python virtual code")
+    
+    matchers:
+      - type: word
+        words:
+          - "hello from python virtual code"

integration_tests/protocols/code/sh-virtual.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+id: signed-code-in-virtual-env
+
+info:
+  name: signed-code-in-virtual-env
+  author: pdteam
+  severity: info
+  tags: code
+  description: |
+    signed code in virtual environment
+
+code:
+  - engine:
+      - sh
+      - bash
+    sandbox:
+      working-dir: /tmp
+      image: ubuntu:latest
+    source: |
+      echo "hello from sh virtual code"
+    
+    matchers:
+      - type: word
+        words:
+          - "hello from sh virtual code"
+# digest: 4a0a00473045022100a2a71c423b72e600ac2d78209482b48591924157d49e2dfb7767445b0073e92b022009a6365e84247e268c7ffcb2f9ed424529dada6f087d5f21400ab0b2a822ca56:4a3eb6b4988d95847d4203be25ed1d46

integration_tests/protocols/http/constants-with-threads.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+id: constants-with-threads
+
+info:
+  name: Constants with Threads
+  author: pdteam
+  severity: info
+  description: |
+    Test that constants are properly resolved when using threads mode.
+
+constants:
+  api_key: "supersecretkey123"
+  api_version: "v2"
+
+http:
+  - method: GET
+    path:
+      - "{{BaseURL}}/api/{{api_version}}"
+    threads: 5
+    headers:
+      X-API-Key: "{{api_key}}"
+
+    matchers:
+      - type: word
+        words:
+          - "supersecretkey123"
+          - "v2"
+        condition: and

integration_tests/protocols/http/race-with-variables.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+id: race-with-variables
+
+info:
+  name: Race Condition with Variables
+  author: pdteam
+  severity: info
+  description: |
+    Test that variables and constants are properly resolved in race mode.
+
+variables:
+  random_id: "{{rand_base(8)}}"
+
+constants:
+  api_key: "racekey123"
+
+http:
+  - raw:
+      - |
+        GET /race HTTP/1.1
+        Host: {{Hostname}}
+        X-Request-Id: {{random_id}}
+        X-API-Key: {{api_key}}
+
+    race: true
+    race_count: 3
+
+    matchers:
+      - type: word
+        words:
+          - "racekey123"

integration_tests/protocols/http/variables-threads-previous.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+id: variables-threads-previous
+
+info:
+  name: Variables with Threads and Previous Request Data
+  author: pdteam
+  severity: info
+  description: |
+    Test that variables can reference data extracted from previous requests
+    when using threads mode (parallel execution).
+
+variables:
+  auth_header: "Bearer {{extracted_token}}"
+
+http:
+  - method: GET
+    path:
+      - "{{BaseURL}}/login"
+
+    extractors:
+      - type: regex
+        name: extracted_token
+        part: body
+        regex:
+          - 'token=([a-z0-9]+)'
+        group: 1
+        internal: true
+
+  - method: GET
+    path:
+      - "{{BaseURL}}/api"
+    threads: 5
+    headers:
+      Authorization: "{{auth_header}}"
+
+    matchers:
+      - type: word
+        words:
+          - "Bearer secret123"

integration_tests/protocols/javascript/multi-ports.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+id: multi-ports
+
+info:
+  name: Multi Ports - Detection
+  author: pdteam
+  severity: info
+  description: |
+    Multi Ports template for testing
+  metadata:
+    max-request: 1
+  tags: js,detect,multi-ports,enum,network
+
+javascript:
+  - pre-condition: |
+      isPortOpen(Host,Port);
+    code: |
+      var m = require("nuclei/ssh");
+      var c = m.SSHClient();
+      var response = c.ConnectSSHInfoMode(Host, Port);
+      Export(response);
+    args:
+      Host: "{{Host}}"
+      Port: "2222,22" # Port 22 should match
+
+    extractors:
+      - type: json
+        json:
+          - '.UserAuth'

integration_tests/protocols/javascript/vnc-pass-brute.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+id: vnc-password-test
+
+info:
+  name: VNC Password Authentication Test
+  author: pdteam
+  severity: high
+  description: |
+    Tests VNC authentication with correct and incorrect passwords.
+  metadata:
+    shodan-query: product:"vnc"
+  tags: js,network,vnc,authentication
+
+javascript:
+  - pre-condition: |
+      isPortOpen(Host,Port)
+
+    code: |
+      let vnc = require('nuclei/vnc');
+      let client = new vnc.VNCClient();
+      client.Connect(Host, Port, Password);
+
+    args:
+      Host: "{{Host}}"
+      Port: "5900"
+      Password: "{{passwords}}"
+    payloads:
+      passwords:
+        - ""
+        - root
+        - password
+        - admin
+        - mysecret
+    stop-at-first-match: true
+      
+    matchers:
+      - type: dsl
+        dsl:
+          - "success == true"

integration_tests/protocols/keys/README.md

@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 ## keys
 
-the keys stored here especially `ci-private-key.pem` and `ci.crt` are used in integration tests to test template signing and verfication functionality introduced in nuclei v3
+the keys stored here especially `ci-private-key.pem` and `ci.crt` are used in integration tests to test template signing and verification functionality introduced in nuclei v3

internal/pdcp/writer.go

@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ func NewUploadWriter(ctx context.Context, logger *gologger.Logger, creds *pdcpau
 // SetScanID sets the scan id for the upload writer
 func (u *UploadWriter) SetScanID(id string) error {
 	if !xidRegex.MatchString(id) {
-		return fmt.Errorf("invalid scan id provided")
+		gologger.Warning().Msgf("invalid asset id provided (unknown xid format): %s", id)
 	}
 	u.scanID = id
 	return nil

internal/runner/lazy.go

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/authprovider/authx"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/catalog"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/catalog/disk"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/catalog/loader"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/output"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/protocols"
@@ -68,7 +69,7 @@ func GetLazyAuthFetchCallback(opts *AuthLazyFetchOptions) authx.LazyFetchSecret
 	return func(d *authx.Dynamic) error {
 		tmpls := opts.TemplateStore.LoadTemplates([]string{d.TemplatePath})
 		if len(tmpls) == 0 {
-			return fmt.Errorf("no templates found for path: %s", d.TemplatePath)
+			return fmt.Errorf("%w for path: %s", disk.ErrNoTemplatesFound, d.TemplatePath)
 		}
 		if len(tmpls) > 1 {
 			return fmt.Errorf("multiple templates found for path: %s", d.TemplatePath)

internal/runner/runner.go

@@ -125,14 +125,6 @@ func New(options *types.Options) (*Runner, error) {
 			}
 		}
 
-		// if template list or template display is enabled, enable all templates
-		if options.TemplateList || options.TemplateDisplay {
-			options.EnableCodeTemplates = true
-			options.EnableFileTemplates = true
-			options.EnableSelfContainedTemplates = true
-			options.EnableGlobalMatchersTemplates = true
-		}
-
 		// check for custom template updates and update if available
 		ctm, err := customtemplates.NewCustomTemplatesManager(options)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -254,8 +246,23 @@ func New(options *types.Options) (*Runner, error) {
 		os.Exit(0)
 	}
 
+	tmpDir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "nuclei-tmp-*")
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "could not create temporary directory")
+	}
+	runner.tmpDir = tmpDir
+
+	// Cleanup tmpDir only if initialization fails
+	// On successful initialization, Close() method will handle cleanup
+	cleanupOnError := true
+	defer func() {
+		if cleanupOnError && runner.tmpDir != "" {
+			_ = os.RemoveAll(runner.tmpDir)
+		}
+	}()
+
 	// create the input provider and load the inputs
-	inputProvider, err := provider.NewInputProvider(provider.InputOptions{Options: options})
+	inputProvider, err := provider.NewInputProvider(provider.InputOptions{Options: options, TempDir: runner.tmpDir})
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "could not create input provider")
 	}
@@ -384,16 +391,10 @@ func New(options *types.Options) (*Runner, error) {
 	if options.RateLimit > 0 && options.RateLimitDuration == 0 {
 		options.RateLimitDuration = time.Second
 	}
-	if options.RateLimit == 0 && options.RateLimitDuration == 0 {
-		runner.rateLimiter = ratelimit.NewUnlimited(context.Background())
-	} else {
-		runner.rateLimiter = ratelimit.New(context.Background(), uint(options.RateLimit), options.RateLimitDuration)
-	}
-
-	if tmpDir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "nuclei-tmp-*"); err == nil {
-		runner.tmpDir = tmpDir
-	}
+	runner.rateLimiter = utils.GetRateLimiter(context.Background(), options.RateLimit, options.RateLimitDuration)
 
+	// Initialization successful, disable cleanup on error
+	cleanupOnError = false
 	return runner, nil
 }
 
@@ -576,7 +577,9 @@ func (r *Runner) RunEnumeration() error {
 	}
 
 	if len(r.options.SecretsFile) > 0 && !r.options.Validate {
-		authTmplStore, err := GetAuthTmplStore(r.options, r.catalog, executorOpts)
+		// Clone options so GetAuthTmplStore can modify them without affecting the original
+		authOptions := r.options.Copy()
+		authTmplStore, err := GetAuthTmplStore(authOptions, r.catalog, executorOpts)
 		if err != nil {
 			return errors.Wrap(err, "failed to load dynamic auth templates")
 		}
@@ -659,7 +662,6 @@ func (r *Runner) RunEnumeration() error {
 	}
 	store.Load()
 	// TODO: remove below functions after v3 or update warning messages
-	disk.PrintDeprecatedPathsMsgIfApplicable(r.options.Silent)
 	templates.PrintDeprecatedProtocolNameMsgIfApplicable(r.options.Silent, r.options.Verbose)
 
 	// add the hosts from the metadata queries of loaded templates into input provider

internal/runner/templates.go

@@ -44,7 +44,13 @@ func (r *Runner) listAvailableStoreTemplates(store *loader.Store) {
 		config.DefaultConfig.TemplateVersion,
 		config.DefaultConfig.TemplatesDirectory,
 	)
-	for _, tpl := range store.Templates() {
+	// order templates alphabetically by path
+	templates := store.Templates()
+	sort.Slice(templates, func(i, j int) bool {
+		return templates[i].Path < templates[j].Path
+	})
+
+	for _, tpl := range templates {
 		if hasExtraFlags(r.options) {
 			if r.options.TemplateDisplay {
 				colorize := !r.options.NoColor

lib/README.md

@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ import nuclei "github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/lib"
 
 ## Advanced Example of using Nuclei Library/SDK
 
-For Various use cases like batching etc you might want to run nuclei in goroutines this can be done by using `nuclei.NewThreadSafeNucleiEngine`
+For Various use cases like batching etc. you might want to run nuclei in goroutines this can be done by using `nuclei.NewThreadSafeNucleiEngine`
 
 ```go
 // create nuclei engine with options

lib/config.go

@@ -3,11 +3,12 @@ package nuclei
 import (
 	"context"
 	"errors"
+	"os"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/goflags"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/gologger"
-	"github.com/projectdiscovery/ratelimit"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/utils"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/utils/errkit"
 
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/authprovider"
@@ -18,7 +19,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/protocols/common/hosterrorscache"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/protocols/common/interactsh"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/protocols/common/utils/vardump"
-	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/protocols/headless/engine"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/templates/types"
 	pkgtypes "github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/types"
 )
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ func WithGlobalRateLimitCtx(ctx context.Context, maxTokens int, duration time.Du
 	return func(e *NucleiEngine) error {
 		e.opts.RateLimit = maxTokens
 		e.opts.RateLimitDuration = duration
-		e.rateLimiter = ratelimit.New(ctx, uint(e.opts.RateLimit), e.opts.RateLimitDuration)
+		e.rateLimiter = utils.GetRateLimiter(ctx, e.opts.RateLimit, e.opts.RateLimitDuration)
 		return nil
 	}
 }
@@ -195,8 +195,10 @@ type HeadlessOpts struct {
 }
 
 // EnableHeadless allows execution of headless templates
-// *Use With Caution*: Enabling headless mode may open up attack surface due to browser usage
-// and can be prone to exploitation by custom unverified templates if not properly configured
+//
+// Warning: enabling headless mode may open up attack surface due to browser
+// usage and can be prone to exploitation by custom unverified templates if not
+// properly configured.
 func EnableHeadlessWithOpts(hopts *HeadlessOpts) NucleiSDKOptions {
 	return func(e *NucleiEngine) error {
 		e.opts.Headless = true
@@ -206,14 +208,6 @@ func EnableHeadlessWithOpts(hopts *HeadlessOpts) NucleiSDKOptions {
 			e.opts.ShowBrowser = hopts.ShowBrowser
 			e.opts.UseInstalledChrome = hopts.UseChrome
 		}
-		if engine.MustDisableSandbox() {
-			e.Logger.Warning().Msgf("The current platform and privileged user will run the browser without sandbox")
-		}
-		browser, err := engine.New(e.opts)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		e.browserInstance = browser
 		return nil
 	}
 }
@@ -559,3 +553,18 @@ func WithOptions(opts *pkgtypes.Options) NucleiSDKOptions {
 		return nil
 	}
 }
+
+// WithTemporaryDirectory allows setting a parent directory for SDK-managed temporary files.
+// A temporary directory will be created inside the provided directory and cleaned up on engine close.
+// If not set, a temporary directory will be automatically created in the system temp location.
+// The parent directory is assumed to exist.
+func WithTemporaryDirectory(parentDir string) NucleiSDKOptions {
+	return func(e *NucleiEngine) error {
+		tmpDir, err := os.MkdirTemp(parentDir, "nuclei-tmp-*")
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		e.tmpDir = tmpDir
+		return nil
+	}
+}

lib/example_test.go

@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 //go:build !race
-// +build !race
 
 package nuclei_test
 

lib/multi.go

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/output"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/protocols"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/types"
-	"github.com/projectdiscovery/ratelimit"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/utils"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/utils/errkit"
 	"github.com/rs/xid"
 )
@@ -53,11 +53,7 @@ func createEphemeralObjects(ctx context.Context, base *NucleiEngine, opts *types
 	if opts.RateLimit > 0 && opts.RateLimitDuration == 0 {
 		opts.RateLimitDuration = time.Second
 	}
-	if opts.RateLimit == 0 && opts.RateLimitDuration == 0 {
-		u.executerOpts.RateLimiter = ratelimit.NewUnlimited(ctx)
-	} else {
-		u.executerOpts.RateLimiter = ratelimit.New(ctx, uint(opts.RateLimit), opts.RateLimitDuration)
-	}
+	u.executerOpts.RateLimiter = utils.GetRateLimiter(ctx, opts.RateLimit, opts.RateLimitDuration)
 	u.engine = core.New(opts)
 	u.engine.SetExecuterOptions(u.executerOpts)
 	return u, nil
@@ -91,10 +87,12 @@ type ThreadSafeNucleiEngine struct {
 func NewThreadSafeNucleiEngineCtx(ctx context.Context, opts ...NucleiSDKOptions) (*ThreadSafeNucleiEngine, error) {
 	defaultOptions := types.DefaultOptions()
 	defaultOptions.ExecutionId = xid.New().String()
-	// default options
+
 	e := &NucleiEngine{
-		opts: defaultOptions,
-		mode: threadSafe,
+		opts:   defaultOptions,
+		mode:   threadSafe,
+		ctx:    ctx,
+		Logger: defaultOptions.Logger,
 	}
 	for _, option := range opts {
 		if err := option(e); err != nil {
@@ -124,7 +122,7 @@ func (e *ThreadSafeNucleiEngine) GlobalResultCallback(callback func(event *outpu
 }
 
 // ExecuteNucleiWithOptsCtx executes templates on targets and calls callback on each result(only if results are found)
-// This method can be called concurrently and it will use some global resources but can be runned parallelly
+// This method can be called concurrently and it will use some global resources but can be run parallelly
 // by invoking this method with different options and targets
 // Note: Not all options are thread-safe. this method will throw error if you try to use non-thread-safe options
 func (e *ThreadSafeNucleiEngine) ExecuteNucleiWithOptsCtx(ctx context.Context, targets []string, opts ...NucleiSDKOptions) error {

lib/sdk.go

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"io"
+	"os"
 	"sync"
 
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/gologger"
@@ -92,6 +93,9 @@ type NucleiEngine struct {
 
 	// Logger instance for the engine
 	Logger *gologger.Logger
+
+	// Temporary directory for SDK-managed template files
+	tmpDir string
 }
 
 // LoadAllTemplates loads all nuclei template based on given options
@@ -231,6 +235,9 @@ func (e *NucleiEngine) closeInternal() {
 	if e.httpxClient != nil {
 		_ = e.httpxClient.Close()
 	}
+	if e.tmpDir != "" {
+		_ = os.RemoveAll(e.tmpDir)
+	}
 }
 
 // Close all resources used by nuclei engine
@@ -313,10 +320,12 @@ func NewNucleiEngineCtx(ctx context.Context, options ...NucleiSDKOptions) (*Nucl
 	// default options
 	defaultOptions := types.DefaultOptions()
 	defaultOptions.ExecutionId = xid.New().String()
+
 	e := &NucleiEngine{
-		opts: defaultOptions,
-		mode: singleInstance,
-		ctx:  ctx,
+		opts:   defaultOptions,
+		mode:   singleInstance,
+		ctx:    ctx,
+		Logger: defaultOptions.Logger,
 	}
 	for _, option := range options {
 		if err := option(e); err != nil {

lib/sdk_private.go

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package nuclei
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"os"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
@@ -12,7 +13,6 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/logrusorgru/aurora"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
-	"github.com/projectdiscovery/gologger"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/gologger/levels"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/httpx/common/httpx"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/internal/runner"
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/protocols/common/interactsh"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/protocols/common/protocolinit"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/protocols/common/protocolstate"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/protocols/headless/engine"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/protocols/http/httpclientpool"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/templates"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/testutils"
@@ -96,13 +97,11 @@ func (e *NucleiEngine) applyRequiredDefaults(ctx context.Context) {
 
 // init
 func (e *NucleiEngine) init(ctx context.Context) error {
-	// Set a default logger if one isn't provided in the options
-	if e.opts.Logger != nil {
+	// Update logger ref (if it was changed by [WithLogger])
+	// (Logger is already initialized)
+	if e.opts.Logger != e.Logger {
 		e.Logger = e.opts.Logger
-	} else {
-		e.opts.Logger = &gologger.Logger{}
 	}
-	e.Logger = e.opts.Logger
 
 	if e.opts.Verbose {
 		e.Logger.SetMaxLevel(levels.LevelVerbose)
@@ -166,24 +165,44 @@ func (e *NucleiEngine) init(ctx context.Context) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	if e.opts.Headless {
+		if engine.MustDisableSandbox() {
+			e.Logger.Warning().Msgf("The current platform and privileged user will run the browser without sandbox")
+		}
+		browser, err := engine.New(e.opts)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		e.browserInstance = browser
+	}
+
 	if e.catalog == nil {
 		e.catalog = disk.NewCatalog(config.DefaultConfig.TemplatesDirectory)
 	}
 
+	if e.tmpDir == "" {
+		tmpDir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "nuclei-tmp-*")
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		e.tmpDir = tmpDir
+	}
+
 	e.executerOpts = &protocols.ExecutorOptions{
-		Output:       e.customWriter,
-		Options:      e.opts,
-		Progress:     e.customProgress,
-		Catalog:      e.catalog,
-		IssuesClient: e.rc,
-		RateLimiter:  e.rateLimiter,
-		Interactsh:   e.interactshClient,
-		Colorizer:    aurora.NewAurora(true),
-		ResumeCfg:    types.NewResumeCfg(),
-		Browser:      e.browserInstance,
-		Parser:       e.parser,
-		InputHelper:  input.NewHelper(),
-		Logger:       e.opts.Logger,
+		Output:             e.customWriter,
+		Options:            e.opts,
+		Progress:           e.customProgress,
+		Catalog:            e.catalog,
+		IssuesClient:       e.rc,
+		RateLimiter:        e.rateLimiter,
+		Interactsh:         e.interactshClient,
+		Colorizer:          aurora.NewAurora(true),
+		ResumeCfg:          types.NewResumeCfg(),
+		Browser:            e.browserInstance,
+		Parser:             e.parser,
+		InputHelper:        input.NewHelper(),
+		TemporaryDirectory: e.tmpDir,
+		Logger:             e.opts.Logger,
 	}
 	if e.opts.ShouldUseHostError() && e.hostErrCache != nil {
 		e.executerOpts.HostErrorsCache = e.hostErrCache

lib/sdk_test.go

@@ -35,3 +35,23 @@ func TestContextCancelNucleiEngine(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	defer ne.Close()
 }
+
+func TestHeadlessOptionInitialization(t *testing.T) {
+	ne, err := nuclei.NewNucleiEngineCtx(
+		context.Background(),
+		nuclei.EnableHeadlessWithOpts(&nuclei.HeadlessOpts{
+			PageTimeout:     20,
+			ShowBrowser:     false,
+			UseChrome:       false,
+			HeadlessOptions: []string{},
+		}),
+	)
+
+	require.NoError(t, err, "could not create nuclei engine with headless options")
+	require.NotNil(t, ne, "nuclei engine should not be nil")
+
+	// Verify logger is initialized
+	require.NotNil(t, ne.Logger, "logger should be initialized")
+
+	defer ne.Close()
+}

nuclei-jsonschema.json

@@ -59,6 +59,11 @@
           "title": "engine",
           "description": "Engine"
         },
+        "sandbox": {
+          "$ref": "#/$defs/code.Sandbox",
+          "title": "sandbox",
+          "description": "Sandbox"
+        },
         "pre-condition": {
           "type": "string",
           "title": "pre-condition for the request",
@@ -86,6 +91,22 @@
       "additionalProperties": false,
       "type": "object"
     },
+    "code.Sandbox": {
+      "properties": {
+        "working-dir": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "title": "working-dir",
+          "description": "Working directory"
+        },
+        "image": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "title": "image",
+          "description": "Image"
+        }
+      },
+      "additionalProperties": false,
+      "type": "object"
+    },
     "dns.DNSRequestTypeHolder": {
       "type": "string",
       "enum": [

pkg/authprovider/authx/dynamic.go

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ package authx
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"strings"
-	"sync"
+	"sync/atomic"
 
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/gologger"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/protocols/common/replacer"
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@ type Dynamic struct {
 	Input         string                 `json:"input" yaml:"input"` // (optional) target for the dynamic secret
 	Extracted     map[string]interface{} `json:"-" yaml:"-"`         // extracted values from the dynamic secret
 	fetchCallback LazyFetchSecret        `json:"-" yaml:"-"`
-	m             *sync.Mutex            `json:"-" yaml:"-"` // mutex for lazy fetch
-	fetched       bool                   `json:"-" yaml:"-"` // flag to check if the secret has been fetched
+	fetched       *atomic.Bool           `json:"-" yaml:"-"` // atomic flag to check if the secret has been fetched
+	fetching      *atomic.Bool           `json:"-" yaml:"-"` // atomic flag to prevent recursive fetch calls
 	error         error                  `json:"-" yaml:"-"` // error if any
 }
 
@@ -70,7 +70,8 @@ func (d *Dynamic) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
 
 // Validate validates the dynamic secret
 func (d *Dynamic) Validate() error {
-	d.m = &sync.Mutex{}
+	d.fetched = &atomic.Bool{}
+	d.fetching = &atomic.Bool{}
 	if d.TemplatePath == "" {
 		return errkit.New(" template-path is required for dynamic secret")
 	}
@@ -97,9 +98,7 @@ func (d *Dynamic) Validate() error {
 func (d *Dynamic) SetLazyFetchCallback(callback LazyFetchSecret) {
 	d.fetchCallback = func(d *Dynamic) error {
 		err := callback(d)
-		d.fetched = true
 		if err != nil {
-			d.error = err
 			return err
 		}
 		if len(d.Extracted) == 0 {
@@ -184,9 +183,15 @@ func (d *Dynamic) applyValuesToSecret(secret *Secret) error {
 
 // GetStrategy returns the auth strategies for the dynamic secret
 func (d *Dynamic) GetStrategies() []AuthStrategy {
-	if !d.fetched {
+	if d.fetched.Load() {
+		if d.error != nil {
+			return nil
+		}
+	} else {
+		// Try to fetch if not already fetched
 		_ = d.Fetch(true)
 	}
+
 	if d.error != nil {
 		return nil
 	}
@@ -203,12 +208,23 @@ func (d *Dynamic) GetStrategies() []AuthStrategy {
 // Fetch fetches the dynamic secret
 // if isFatal is true, it will stop the execution if the secret could not be fetched
 func (d *Dynamic) Fetch(isFatal bool) error {
-	d.m.Lock()
-	defer d.m.Unlock()
-	if d.fetched {
-		return nil
+	if d.fetched.Load() {
+		return d.error
 	}
+
+	// Try to set fetching flag atomically
+	if !d.fetching.CompareAndSwap(false, true) {
+		// Already fetching, return current error
+		return d.error
+	}
+
+	// We're the only one fetching, call the callback
 	d.error = d.fetchCallback(d)
+
+	// Mark as fetched and clear fetching flag
+	d.fetched.Store(true)
+	d.fetching.Store(false)
+
 	if d.error != nil && isFatal {
 		gologger.Fatal().Msgf("Could not fetch dynamic secret: %s\n", d.error)
 	}

pkg/authprovider/authx/file.go

@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ type Secret struct {
 	Type            string   `json:"type" yaml:"type"`
 	Domains         []string `json:"domains" yaml:"domains"`
 	DomainsRegex    []string `json:"domains-regex" yaml:"domains-regex"`
-	Headers         []KV     `json:"headers" yaml:"headers"`
+	Headers         []KV     `json:"headers" yaml:"headers"` // Headers preserve exact casing (useful for case-sensitive APIs)
 	Cookies         []Cookie `json:"cookies" yaml:"cookies"`
 	Params          []KV     `json:"params" yaml:"params"`
 	Username        string   `json:"username" yaml:"username"` // can be either email or username
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ func (s *Secret) Validate() error {
 }
 
 type KV struct {
-	Key   string `json:"key" yaml:"key"`
+	Key   string `json:"key" yaml:"key"` // Header key (preserves exact casing)
 	Value string `json:"value" yaml:"value"`
 }
 

pkg/authprovider/authx/headers_auth.go

@@ -21,15 +21,19 @@ func NewHeadersAuthStrategy(data *Secret) *HeadersAuthStrategy {
 }
 
 // Apply applies the headers auth strategy to the request
+// NOTE: This preserves exact header casing (e.g., barAuthToken stays as barAuthToken)
+// This is useful for APIs that require case-sensitive header names
 func (s *HeadersAuthStrategy) Apply(req *http.Request) {
 	for _, header := range s.Data.Headers {
-		req.Header.Set(header.Key, header.Value)
+		req.Header[header.Key] = []string{header.Value}
 	}
 }
 
 // ApplyOnRR applies the headers auth strategy to the retryable request
+// NOTE: This preserves exact header casing (e.g., barAuthToken stays as barAuthToken)
+// This is useful for APIs that require case-sensitive header names
 func (s *HeadersAuthStrategy) ApplyOnRR(req *retryablehttp.Request) {
 	for _, header := range s.Data.Headers {
-		req.Header.Set(header.Key, header.Value)
+		req.Header[header.Key] = []string{header.Value}
 	}
 }

pkg/authprovider/authx/testData/example-auth.yaml

@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ info:
 # static secrets
 static:
   # for header based auth session
+  # NOTE: Headers preserve exact casing (e.g., x-pdcp-key stays as x-pdcp-key)
+  # This is useful for APIs that require case-sensitive header names
   - type: header
     domains:
       - api.projectdiscovery.io
@@ -20,6 +22,8 @@ static:
     headers:
       - key: x-pdcp-key
         value: <api-key-here>
+      - key: barAuthToken
+        value: <auth-token-here>
 
   # for query based auth session
   - type: Query

pkg/catalog/config/constants.go

@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ const (
 	CLIConfigFileName               = "config.yaml"
 	ReportingConfigFilename         = "reporting-config.yaml"
 	// Version is the current version of nuclei
-	Version = `v3.4.10`
+	Version = `v3.6.1`
 	// Directory Names of custom templates
 	CustomS3TemplatesDirName     = "s3"
 	CustomGitHubTemplatesDirName = "github"
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ const (
 	BinaryName                   = "nuclei"
 	FallbackConfigFolderName     = ".nuclei-config"
 	NucleiConfigDirEnv           = "NUCLEI_CONFIG_DIR"
+	NucleiTemplatesDirEnv        = "NUCLEI_TEMPLATES_DIR"
 )
 
 // IsOutdatedVersion compares two versions and returns true

pkg/catalog/config/ignorefile.go

@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package config
 
 import (
 	"os"
-	"runtime/debug"
 
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/gologger"
 	"gopkg.in/yaml.v2"
@@ -18,7 +17,7 @@ type IgnoreFile struct {
 func ReadIgnoreFile() IgnoreFile {
 	file, err := os.Open(DefaultConfig.GetIgnoreFilePath())
 	if err != nil {
-		gologger.Error().Msgf("Could not read nuclei-ignore file: %s\n%s\n", err, string(debug.Stack()))
+		gologger.Error().Msgf("Could not read nuclei-ignore file: %s\n", err)
 		return IgnoreFile{}
 	}
 	defer func() {

pkg/catalog/config/nucleiconfig.go

@@ -200,8 +200,8 @@ func (c *Config) GetNewAdditions() []string {
 	if err != nil {
 		return arr
 	}
-	for _, v := range strings.Fields(string(bin)) {
-		if IsTemplate(v) {
+	for v := range strings.FieldsSeq(string(bin)) {
+		if IsTemplateWithRoot(v, c.TemplatesDirectory) {
 			arr = append(arr, v)
 		}
 	}
@@ -350,7 +350,7 @@ func (c *Config) IsDebugArgEnabled(arg string) bool {
 
 // parseDebugArgs from string
 func (c *Config) parseDebugArgs(data string) {
-	// use space as seperator instead of commas
+	// use space as separator instead of commas
 	tmp := strings.Fields(data)
 	for _, v := range tmp {
 		key := v

pkg/catalog/config/template.go

@@ -12,7 +12,10 @@ import (
 	stringsutil "github.com/projectdiscovery/utils/strings"
 )
 
-var knownConfigFiles = []string{"cves.json", "contributors.json", "TEMPLATES-STATS.json"}
+var (
+	knownConfigFiles     = []string{"cves.json", "contributors.json", "TEMPLATES-STATS.json"}
+	knownMiscDirectories = []string{".git", ".github", "helpers"}
+)
 
 // TemplateFormat
 type TemplateFormat uint8
@@ -23,6 +26,25 @@ const (
 	Unknown
 )
 
+// GetKnownConfigFiles returns known config files.
+func GetKnownConfigFiles() []string {
+	return knownConfigFiles
+}
+
+// GetKnownMiscDirectories returns known misc directories with trailing slashes.
+//
+// The trailing slash ensures that directory matching is explicit and avoids
+// falsely match files with similar names (e.g. "helpers" matching
+// "some-helpers.yaml"), since [IsTemplate] checks against normalized full paths.
+func GetKnownMiscDirectories() []string {
+	trailedSlashDirs := make([]string, 0, len(knownMiscDirectories))
+	for _, dir := range knownMiscDirectories {
+		trailedSlashDirs = append(trailedSlashDirs, dir+string(os.PathSeparator))
+	}
+
+	return trailedSlashDirs
+}
+
 // GetTemplateFormatFromExt returns template format
 func GetTemplateFormatFromExt(filePath string) TemplateFormat {
 	fileExt := strings.ToLower(filepath.Ext(filePath))
@@ -41,13 +63,54 @@ func GetSupportTemplateFileExtensions() []string {
 	return []string{extensions.YAML, extensions.JSON}
 }
 
-// IsTemplate is a callback function used by goflags to decide if given file should be read
-// if it is not a nuclei-template file only then file is read
-func IsTemplate(filename string) bool {
-	if stringsutil.ContainsAny(filename, knownConfigFiles...) {
+// IsTemplate returns true if the file is a template based on its path.
+// It used by goflags and other places to filter out non-template files.
+func IsTemplate(fpath string) bool {
+	return IsTemplateWithRoot(fpath, "")
+}
+
+// IsTemplateWithRoot returns true if the file is a template based on its path
+// and root directory. If rootDir is provided, it checks for excluded
+// directories relative to the root.
+func IsTemplateWithRoot(fpath, rootDir string) bool {
+	fpath = filepath.FromSlash(fpath)
+	fname := filepath.Base(fpath)
+	fext := strings.ToLower(filepath.Ext(fpath))
+
+	if stringsutil.ContainsAny(fname, GetKnownConfigFiles()...) {
 		return false
 	}
-	return stringsutil.EqualFoldAny(filepath.Ext(filename), GetSupportTemplateFileExtensions()...)
+
+	var pathToCheck string
+	if rootDir != "" {
+		if filepath.IsAbs(fpath) {
+			rel, err := filepath.Rel(rootDir, fpath)
+			if err == nil && !strings.HasPrefix(rel, "..") {
+				pathToCheck = rel
+			} else {
+				pathToCheck = fpath
+			}
+		} else {
+			pathToCheck = fpath
+		}
+	} else {
+		pathToCheck = fpath
+	}
+
+	// Only check components if pathToCheck is NOT absolute
+	// This avoids false positives on parent directories for absolute paths
+	if !filepath.IsAbs(pathToCheck) {
+		parts := strings.Split(pathToCheck, string(os.PathSeparator))
+		for _, p := range parts {
+			for _, excluded := range knownMiscDirectories {
+				if strings.EqualFold(p, excluded) {
+					return false
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return stringsutil.EqualFoldAny(fext, GetSupportTemplateFileExtensions()...)
 }
 
 type template struct {
@@ -91,11 +154,21 @@ func GetNucleiTemplatesIndex() (map[string]string, error) {
 			if err == nil {
 				for _, v := range records {
 					if len(v) >= 2 {
-						index[v[0]] = v[1]
+						templateID := v[0]
+						templatePath := v[1]
+						// Normalize path for consistent comparison (handles Windows path issues)
+						normalizedPath := filepath.Clean(templatePath)
+						// Validate that the file actually exists (prevents stale entries from deleted files on Windows)
+						if fileutil.FileExists(normalizedPath) {
+							index[templateID] = normalizedPath
+						}
 					}
 				}
+				// Close file handle before returning
+				_ = f.Close()
 				return index, nil
 			}
+			_ = f.Close()
 		}
 		DefaultConfig.Logger.Error().Msgf("failed to read index file creating new one: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -111,16 +184,18 @@ func GetNucleiTemplatesIndex() (map[string]string, error) {
 			DefaultConfig.Logger.Verbose().Msgf("failed to walk path=%v err=%v", path, err)
 			return nil
 		}
-		if d.IsDir() || !IsTemplate(path) || stringsutil.ContainsAny(path, ignoreDirs...) {
+		if d.IsDir() || !IsTemplateWithRoot(path, DefaultConfig.TemplatesDirectory) || stringsutil.ContainsAny(path, ignoreDirs...) {
 			return nil
 		}
+		// Normalize path for consistent comparison (handles Windows path issues)
+		normalizedPath := filepath.Clean(path)
 		// get template id from file
-		id, err := getTemplateID(path)
+		id, err := getTemplateID(normalizedPath)
 		if err != nil || id == "" {
-			DefaultConfig.Logger.Verbose().Msgf("failed to get template id from file=%v got id=%v err=%v", path, id, err)
+			DefaultConfig.Logger.Verbose().Msgf("failed to get template id from file=%v got id=%v err=%v", normalizedPath, id, err)
 			return nil
 		}
-		index[id] = path
+		index[id] = normalizedPath
 		return nil
 	})
 	return index, err

pkg/catalog/config/template_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+package config
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+
+	osutils "github.com/projectdiscovery/utils/os"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func toAbs(p string) string {
+	if osutils.IsWindows() {
+		// Infer the drive letter from the Windows system path
+		// SystemRoot or WINDIR typically points to something like "C:\Windows"
+		systemRoot := os.Getenv("SystemRoot")
+		if systemRoot == "" {
+			systemRoot = os.Getenv("WINDIR")
+		}
+		// Extract volume name (e.g., "C:") from the system path
+		volumeName := filepath.VolumeName(systemRoot)
+		if volumeName == "" {
+			// Fallback to C: if we can't determine the volume
+			volumeName = "C:"
+		}
+		return filepath.FromSlash(volumeName + p)
+	}
+	return filepath.FromSlash(p)
+}
+
+func TestIsTemplate(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name    string
+		fpath   string
+		rootDir string
+		want    bool
+	}{
+		{
+			name:    "valid template",
+			fpath:   "dns/cname.yaml",
+			rootDir: "",
+			want:    true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "excluded directory relative",
+			fpath:   "helpers/data.txt",
+			rootDir: "",
+			want:    false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "excluded directory .git",
+			fpath:   ".git/config",
+			rootDir: "",
+			want:    false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "absolute path with excluded parent dir (bug fix)",
+			fpath:   toAbs("/path/to/somewhere/that/has/helpers/dir/nuclei/nuclei-templates/dns/cname.yaml"),
+			rootDir: toAbs("/path/to/somewhere/that/has/helpers/dir/nuclei/nuclei-templates"),
+			want:    true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "absolute path with excluded dir inside root",
+			fpath:   toAbs("/path/to/somewhere/that/has/helpers/dir/nuclei/nuclei-templates/helpers/data.txt"),
+			rootDir: toAbs("/path/to/somewhere/that/has/helpers/dir/nuclei/nuclei-templates"),
+			want:    false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "absolute path without root (skip check)",
+			fpath:   toAbs("/opt/helpers/foo.yaml"),
+			rootDir: "",
+			want:    true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "valid template with different extension",
+			fpath:   "dns/cname.json",
+			rootDir: "",
+			want:    true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "invalid extension",
+			fpath:   "dns/cname.txt",
+			rootDir: "",
+			want:    false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "excluded config file",
+			fpath:   "cves.json",
+			rootDir: "",
+			want:    false,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got := IsTemplateWithRoot(tt.fpath, tt.rootDir)
+			require.Equal(t, tt.want, got, "IsTemplateWithRoot(%q, %q)", tt.fpath, tt.rootDir)
+		})
+	}
+}

pkg/catalog/disk/catalog.go

@@ -38,13 +38,7 @@ func NewFSCatalog(fs fs.FS, directory string) *DiskCatalog {
 // It is used to read template and payload files based on catalog responses.
 func (d *DiskCatalog) OpenFile(filename string) (io.ReadCloser, error) {
 	if d.templatesFS == nil {
-		file, err := os.Open(filename)
-		if err != nil {
-			if file, errx := os.Open(BackwardsCompatiblePaths(d.templatesDirectory, filename)); errx == nil {
-				return file, nil
-			}
-		}
-		return file, err
+		return os.Open(filename)
 	}
 
 	return d.templatesFS.Open(filename)

pkg/catalog/disk/errors.go

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+package disk
+
+import "errors"
+
+var (
+	ErrNoTemplatesFound = errors.New("no templates found")
+)

pkg/catalog/disk/find.go

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package disk
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"io/fs"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
@@ -65,41 +66,34 @@ func (c *DiskCatalog) GetTemplatesPath(definitions []string) ([]string, map[stri
 // or folders provided as in.
 func (c *DiskCatalog) GetTemplatePath(target string) ([]string, error) {
 	processed := make(map[string]struct{})
-	// Template input includes a wildcard
-	if strings.Contains(target, "*") {
-		matches, findErr := c.findGlobPathMatches(target, processed)
-		if findErr != nil {
-			return nil, errors.Wrap(findErr, "could not find glob matches")
-		}
-		if len(matches) == 0 {
-			return nil, errors.Errorf("no templates found for path")
-		}
-		return matches, nil
-	}
 
-	// try to handle deprecated template paths
-	absPath := target
 	if c.templatesFS == nil {
-		absPath = BackwardsCompatiblePaths(c.templatesDirectory, target)
-		if absPath != target && strings.TrimPrefix(absPath, c.templatesDirectory+string(filepath.Separator)) != target {
-			if config.DefaultConfig.LogAllEvents {
-				config.DefaultConfig.Logger.Print().Msgf("[%v] requested Template path %s is deprecated, please update to %s\n", aurora.Yellow("WRN").String(), target, absPath)
-			}
-			deprecatedPathsCounter++
-		}
-
 		var err error
-		absPath, err = c.convertPathToAbsolute(absPath)
+		target, err = c.convertPathToAbsolute(target)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, errors.Wrapf(err, "could not find template file")
 		}
 	}
 
-	// Template input is either a file or a directory
-	match, file, err := c.findFileMatches(absPath, processed)
+	if strings.Contains(target, "*") {
+		globMatches, err := c.findGlobPathMatches(target, processed)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "could not globbing path")
+		}
+
+		if len(globMatches) > 0 {
+			return globMatches, nil
+		} else {
+			return globMatches, fmt.Errorf("%w in path %q", ErrNoTemplatesFound, target)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// `target` is either a file or a directory
+	match, file, err := c.findFileMatches(target, processed)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "could not find file")
 	}
+
 	if file {
 		if match != "" {
 			return []string{match}, nil
@@ -109,13 +103,15 @@ func (c *DiskCatalog) GetTemplatePath(target string) ([]string, error) {
 
 	// Recursively walk down the Templates directory and run all
 	// the template file checks
-	matches, err := c.findDirectoryMatches(absPath, processed)
+	matches, err := c.findDirectoryMatches(target, processed)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "could not find directory matches")
 	}
+
 	if len(matches) == 0 {
-		return nil, errors.Errorf("no templates found in path %s", absPath)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w in path %q", ErrNoTemplatesFound, target)
 	}
+
 	return matches, nil
 }
 
@@ -135,72 +131,29 @@ func (c *DiskCatalog) convertPathToAbsolute(t string) (string, error) {
 
 // findGlobPathMatches returns the matched files from a glob path
 func (c *DiskCatalog) findGlobPathMatches(absPath string, processed map[string]struct{}) ([]string, error) {
-	// to support globbing on old paths we use brute force to find matches with exit on first match
 	// trim templateDir if any
 	relPath := strings.TrimPrefix(absPath, c.templatesDirectory)
 	// trim leading slash if any
-	relPath = strings.TrimPrefix(relPath, string(os.PathSeparator))
-
-	OldPathsResolver := func(inputGlob string) []string {
-		templateDir := c.templatesDirectory
-		if c.templatesDirectory == "" {
-			templateDir = "./"
-		}
-
-		if c.templatesFS == nil {
-			matches, _ := fs.Glob(os.DirFS(filepath.Join(templateDir, "http")), inputGlob)
-			if len(matches) != 0 {
-				return matches
-			}
-
-			// condition to support network cve related globs
-			matches, _ = fs.Glob(os.DirFS(filepath.Join(templateDir, "network")), inputGlob)
-			return matches
-		} else {
-			sub, err := fs.Sub(c.templatesFS, filepath.Join(templateDir, "http"))
-			if err != nil {
-				return nil
-			}
-			matches, _ := fs.Glob(sub, inputGlob)
-			if len(matches) != 0 {
-				return matches
-			}
-
-			// condition to support network cve related globs
-			sub, err = fs.Sub(c.templatesFS, filepath.Join(templateDir, "network"))
-			if err != nil {
-				return nil
-			}
-			matches, _ = fs.Glob(sub, inputGlob)
-			return matches
-		}
-	}
-
-	var matched []string
-	var matches []string
-	if c.templatesFS == nil {
-		var err error
-		matches, err = filepath.Glob(relPath)
-		if len(matches) != 0 {
-			matched = append(matched, matches...)
-		} else {
-			matched = append(matched, OldPathsResolver(relPath)...)
-		}
-		if err != nil && len(matched) == 0 {
-			return nil, errors.Errorf("wildcard found, but unable to glob: %s\n", err)
-		}
+	if c.templatesFS != nil {
+		// fs.FS always uses forward slashes
+		relPath = strings.TrimPrefix(relPath, "/")
 	} else {
-		var err error
-		matches, err = fs.Glob(c.templatesFS, relPath)
-		if len(matches) != 0 {
-			matched = append(matched, matches...)
-		} else {
-			matched = append(matched, OldPathsResolver(relPath)...)
-		}
-		if err != nil && len(matched) == 0 {
-			return nil, errors.Errorf("wildcard found, but unable to glob: %s\n", err)
-		}
+		relPath = strings.TrimPrefix(relPath, string(os.PathSeparator))
 	}
+
+	var err error
+	var matches []string
+
+	if c.templatesFS != nil {
+		matches, err = fs.Glob(c.templatesFS, relPath)
+	} else {
+		matches, err = filepath.Glob(absPath)
+	}
+
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
 	results := make([]string, 0, len(matches))
 	for _, match := range matches {
 		if _, ok := processed[match]; !ok {
@@ -208,6 +161,7 @@ func (c *DiskCatalog) findGlobPathMatches(absPath string, processed map[string]s
 			results = append(results, match)
 		}
 	}
+
 	return results, nil
 }
 
@@ -257,7 +211,7 @@ func (c *DiskCatalog) findDirectoryMatches(absPath string, processed map[string]
 				if err != nil {
 					return nil
 				}
-				if !d.IsDir() && config.GetTemplateFormatFromExt(path) != config.Unknown {
+				if !d.IsDir() && config.IsTemplateWithRoot(path, absPath) {
 					if _, ok := processed[path]; !ok {
 						results = append(results, path)
 						processed[path] = struct{}{}
@@ -281,7 +235,7 @@ func (c *DiskCatalog) findDirectoryMatches(absPath string, processed map[string]
 				if err != nil {
 					return nil
 				}
-				if !d.IsDir() && config.GetTemplateFormatFromExt(path) != config.Unknown {
+				if !d.IsDir() && config.IsTemplateWithRoot(path, absPath) {
 					if _, ok := processed[path]; !ok {
 						results = append(results, path)
 						processed[path] = struct{}{}
@@ -294,8 +248,11 @@ func (c *DiskCatalog) findDirectoryMatches(absPath string, processed map[string]
 	return results, err
 }
 
-// PrintDeprecatedPathsMsgIfApplicable prints a warning message if any deprecated paths are found
-// Unless mode is silent warning message is printed
+// PrintDeprecatedPathsMsgIfApplicable prints a warning message if any
+// deprecated paths are found. Unless mode is silent warning message is printed.
+//
+// Deprecated: No longer used since the official Nuclei Templates repository
+// have restructured this a long time ago.
 func PrintDeprecatedPathsMsgIfApplicable(isSilent bool) {
 	if !updateutils.IsOutdated("v9.4.3", config.DefaultConfig.TemplateVersion) {
 		return

pkg/catalog/disk/path.go

@@ -72,6 +72,9 @@ func (c *DiskCatalog) tryResolve(fullPath string) (string, error) {
 
 // BackwardsCompatiblePaths returns new paths for all old/legacy template paths
 // Note: this is a temporary function and will be removed in the future release
+//
+// Deprecated: No longer used since the official Nuclei Templates repository
+// have restructured this a long time ago.
 func BackwardsCompatiblePaths(templateDir string, oldPath string) string {
 	// TODO: remove this function in the future release
 	// 1. all http related paths are now moved at path /http

pkg/catalog/index/filter.go

@@ -0,0 +1,344 @@
+package index
+
+import (
+	"path/filepath"
+	"slices"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/model/types/severity"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/templates/types"
+)
+
+// Filter represents filtering criteria for template metadata.
+//
+// Inclusion fields (e.g., Authors, Tags, IDs, Severities, ProtocolTypes) use
+// AND logic across different filter types and OR logic within each type.
+// Exclusion fields (e.g., ExcludeTags, ExcludeIDs, ExcludeSeverities,
+// ExcludeProtocolTypes) take precedence over inclusion fields. Additionally,
+// IncludeTemplates and IncludeTags can force inclusion of templates even if
+// they match exclusion criteria.
+type Filter struct {
+	// Authors to include.
+	Authors []string
+
+	// Tags to include.
+	Tags []string
+
+	// ExcludeTags to exclude (takes precedence over Tags).
+	ExcludeTags []string
+
+	// IncludeTags to force include even if excluded.
+	IncludeTags []string
+
+	// IDs to include (supports wildcards, OR logic).
+	IDs []string
+
+	// ExcludeIDs to exclude (supports wildcards).
+	ExcludeIDs []string
+
+	// IncludeTemplates paths to force include even if excluded.
+	IncludeTemplates []string
+
+	// ExcludeTemplates paths to exclude.
+	ExcludeTemplates []string
+
+	// Severities to include.
+	Severities []severity.Severity
+
+	// ExcludeSeverities to exclude.
+	ExcludeSeverities []severity.Severity
+
+	// ProtocolTypes to include.
+	ProtocolTypes []types.ProtocolType
+
+	// ExcludeProtocolTypes to exclude.
+	ExcludeProtocolTypes []types.ProtocolType
+}
+
+// Matches checks if metadata matches the filter criteria.
+func (f *Filter) Matches(m *Metadata) bool {
+	if f.isForcedInclude(m) {
+		return true
+	}
+
+	if f.isExcluded(m) {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	if !f.matchesIncludes(m) {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	return true
+}
+
+// isForcedInclude checks if template is forced to be included.
+func (f *Filter) isForcedInclude(m *Metadata) bool {
+	if len(f.IncludeTemplates) > 0 {
+		for _, includePath := range f.IncludeTemplates {
+			if matchesPath(m.FilePath, includePath) {
+				return true
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	if len(f.IncludeTags) > 0 {
+		if slices.ContainsFunc(f.IncludeTags, m.HasTag) {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+
+	return false
+}
+
+// isExcluded checks if template should be excluded.
+func (f *Filter) isExcluded(m *Metadata) bool {
+	if len(f.ExcludeTemplates) > 0 {
+		for _, excludePath := range f.ExcludeTemplates {
+			if matchesPath(m.FilePath, excludePath) {
+				return true
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	if len(f.ExcludeTags) > 0 {
+		if slices.ContainsFunc(f.ExcludeTags, m.HasTag) {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+
+	if len(f.ExcludeIDs) > 0 {
+		for _, excludeID := range f.ExcludeIDs {
+			if matchesID(m.ID, excludeID) {
+				return true
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	if len(f.ExcludeSeverities) > 0 {
+		if slices.ContainsFunc(f.ExcludeSeverities, m.MatchesSeverity) {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+
+	if len(f.ExcludeProtocolTypes) > 0 {
+		if slices.ContainsFunc(f.ExcludeProtocolTypes, m.MatchesProtocol) {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+
+	return false
+}
+
+// matchesIncludes checks if metadata matches include filters.
+//
+// Returns true if no include filters are specified, or if all specified filter
+// types match.
+func (f *Filter) matchesIncludes(m *Metadata) bool {
+	if len(f.Authors) > 0 {
+		if !slices.ContainsFunc(f.Authors, m.HasAuthor) {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+
+	if len(f.Tags) > 0 {
+		if !slices.ContainsFunc(f.Tags, m.HasTag) {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+
+	if len(f.IDs) > 0 {
+		matched := false
+		for _, id := range f.IDs {
+			if matchesID(m.ID, id) {
+				matched = true
+				break
+			}
+		}
+		if !matched {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+
+	if len(f.Severities) > 0 {
+		if !slices.ContainsFunc(f.Severities, m.MatchesSeverity) {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+
+	if len(f.ProtocolTypes) > 0 {
+		if !slices.ContainsFunc(f.ProtocolTypes, m.MatchesProtocol) {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+
+	return true
+}
+
+// matchesID checks if template ID matches pattern (supports wildcards).
+func matchesID(templateID, pattern string) bool {
+	// Convert to lowercase for case-insensitive matching
+	templateID = strings.ToLower(templateID)
+	pattern = strings.ToLower(pattern)
+
+	if templateID == pattern {
+		return true
+	}
+
+	matched, _ := filepath.Match(pattern, templateID)
+
+	return matched
+}
+
+// matchesPath checks if template path matches pattern.
+func matchesPath(templatePath, pattern string) bool {
+	templatePath = filepath.Clean(templatePath)
+	pattern = filepath.Clean(pattern)
+
+	if templatePath == pattern {
+		return true
+	}
+
+	if strings.HasPrefix(templatePath, pattern+string(filepath.Separator)) {
+		return true
+	}
+
+	matched, _ := filepath.Match(pattern, templatePath)
+
+	return matched
+}
+
+// FilterFunc is a function that filters metadata.
+type FilterFunc func(*Metadata) bool
+
+// UnmarshalFilter creates a Filter from nuclei options.
+func UnmarshalFilter(
+	authors, tags, excludeTags, includeTags []string,
+	ids, excludeIDs []string,
+	includeTemplates, excludeTemplates []string,
+	severities, excludeSeverities []string,
+	protocolTypes, excludeProtocolTypes []string,
+) (*Filter, error) {
+	filter := &Filter{
+		Authors:          authors,
+		Tags:             tags,
+		ExcludeTags:      excludeTags,
+		IncludeTags:      includeTags,
+		IDs:              ids,
+		ExcludeIDs:       excludeIDs,
+		IncludeTemplates: includeTemplates,
+		ExcludeTemplates: excludeTemplates,
+	}
+
+	for _, sev := range severities {
+		holder := &severity.Holder{}
+		if err := holder.UnmarshalYAML(func(v interface{}) error {
+			*v.(*string) = sev
+			return nil
+		}); err == nil {
+			filter.Severities = append(filter.Severities, holder.Severity)
+		}
+	}
+
+	for _, sev := range excludeSeverities {
+		holder := &severity.Holder{}
+		if err := holder.UnmarshalYAML(func(v interface{}) error {
+			*v.(*string) = sev
+			return nil
+		}); err == nil {
+			filter.ExcludeSeverities = append(filter.ExcludeSeverities, holder.Severity)
+		}
+	}
+
+	for _, pt := range protocolTypes {
+		holder := &types.TypeHolder{}
+		if err := holder.UnmarshalYAML(func(v interface{}) error {
+			*v.(*string) = pt
+			return nil
+		}); err == nil && holder.ProtocolType != types.InvalidProtocol {
+			filter.ProtocolTypes = append(filter.ProtocolTypes, holder.ProtocolType)
+		}
+	}
+
+	for _, pt := range excludeProtocolTypes {
+		holder := &types.TypeHolder{}
+		if err := holder.UnmarshalYAML(func(v interface{}) error {
+			*v.(*string) = pt
+			return nil
+		}); err == nil && holder.ProtocolType != types.InvalidProtocol {
+			filter.ExcludeProtocolTypes = append(filter.ExcludeProtocolTypes, holder.ProtocolType)
+		}
+	}
+
+	return filter, nil
+}
+
+// UnmarshalFilterFunc creates a FilterFunc from filter criteria.
+func UnmarshalFilterFunc(filter *Filter) FilterFunc {
+	if filter == nil {
+		return func(*Metadata) bool { return true }
+	}
+
+	return filter.Matches
+}
+
+// IsEmpty returns true if filter has no criteria set.
+func (f *Filter) IsEmpty() bool {
+	return len(f.Authors) == 0 &&
+		len(f.Tags) == 0 &&
+		len(f.ExcludeTags) == 0 &&
+		len(f.IncludeTags) == 0 &&
+		len(f.IDs) == 0 &&
+		len(f.ExcludeIDs) == 0 &&
+		len(f.IncludeTemplates) == 0 &&
+		len(f.ExcludeTemplates) == 0 &&
+		len(f.Severities) == 0 &&
+		len(f.ExcludeSeverities) == 0 &&
+		len(f.ProtocolTypes) == 0 &&
+		len(f.ExcludeProtocolTypes) == 0
+}
+
+// String returns a human-readable representation of the filter.
+func (f *Filter) String() string {
+	var parts []string
+
+	if len(f.Authors) > 0 {
+		parts = append(parts, "authors="+strings.Join(f.Authors, ","))
+	}
+
+	if len(f.Tags) > 0 {
+		parts = append(parts, "tags="+strings.Join(f.Tags, ","))
+	}
+
+	if len(f.ExcludeTags) > 0 {
+		parts = append(parts, "exclude-tags="+strings.Join(f.ExcludeTags, ","))
+	}
+
+	if len(f.IDs) > 0 {
+		parts = append(parts, "ids="+strings.Join(f.IDs, ","))
+	}
+
+	if len(f.Severities) > 0 {
+		sevs := make([]string, len(f.Severities))
+		for i, s := range f.Severities {
+			sevs[i] = s.String()
+		}
+
+		parts = append(parts, "severities="+strings.Join(sevs, ","))
+	}
+
+	if len(f.ProtocolTypes) > 0 {
+		pts := make([]string, len(f.ProtocolTypes))
+		for i, p := range f.ProtocolTypes {
+			pts[i] = p.String()
+		}
+
+		parts = append(parts, "types="+strings.Join(pts, ","))
+	}
+
+	if len(parts) == 0 {
+		return "filter=<nil>"
+	}
+
+	return "filter(" + strings.Join(parts, ", ") + ")"
+}

pkg/catalog/index/filter_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,407 @@
+package index
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/model/types/severity"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/templates/types"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestFilterMatches(t *testing.T) {
+	metadata := &Metadata{
+		ID:           "test-template-1",
+		FilePath:     "/templates/cves/2021/CVE-2021-1234.yaml",
+		Name:         "Test CVE Template",
+		Authors:      []string{"pdteam", "geeknik"},
+		Tags:         []string{"cve", "rce", "apache"},
+		Severity:     "critical",
+		ProtocolType: "http",
+	}
+
+	t.Run("Empty filter matches all", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{}
+		require.True(t, filter.Matches(metadata))
+		require.True(t, filter.IsEmpty())
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Author filter - match", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{Authors: []string{"pdteam"}}
+		require.True(t, filter.Matches(metadata))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Author filter - no match", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{Authors: []string{"unknown"}}
+		require.False(t, filter.Matches(metadata))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Multiple authors - OR logic", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{Authors: []string{"unknown", "geeknik"}}
+		require.True(t, filter.Matches(metadata))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Tag filter - match", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{Tags: []string{"cve"}}
+		require.True(t, filter.Matches(metadata))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Tag filter - no match", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{Tags: []string{"xss"}}
+		require.False(t, filter.Matches(metadata))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Exclude tags - match", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{ExcludeTags: []string{"rce"}}
+		require.False(t, filter.Matches(metadata))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Include tags overrides exclude", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{
+			ExcludeTags: []string{"rce"},
+			IncludeTags: []string{"cve"},
+		}
+		require.True(t, filter.Matches(metadata))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("ID filter - exact match", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{IDs: []string{"test-template-1"}}
+		require.True(t, filter.Matches(metadata))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("ID filter - wildcard match", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{IDs: []string{"test-*"}}
+		require.True(t, filter.Matches(metadata))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("ID filter - no match", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{IDs: []string{"other-*"}}
+		require.False(t, filter.Matches(metadata))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Exclude ID - exact match", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{ExcludeIDs: []string{"test-template-1"}}
+		require.False(t, filter.Matches(metadata))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Exclude ID - wildcard match", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{ExcludeIDs: []string{"test-*"}}
+		require.False(t, filter.Matches(metadata))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Severity filter - match", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{Severities: []severity.Severity{severity.Critical}}
+		require.True(t, filter.Matches(metadata))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Severity filter - no match", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{Severities: []severity.Severity{severity.High, severity.Medium}}
+		require.False(t, filter.Matches(metadata))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Exclude severity - match", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{ExcludeSeverities: []severity.Severity{severity.Critical}}
+		require.False(t, filter.Matches(metadata))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Protocol type filter - match", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{ProtocolTypes: []types.ProtocolType{types.HTTPProtocol}}
+		require.True(t, filter.Matches(metadata))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Protocol type filter - no match", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{ProtocolTypes: []types.ProtocolType{types.DNSProtocol}}
+		require.False(t, filter.Matches(metadata))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Exclude protocol type - match", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{ExcludeProtocolTypes: []types.ProtocolType{types.HTTPProtocol}}
+		require.False(t, filter.Matches(metadata))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Include templates - path match", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{
+			ExcludeTags:      []string{"cve"},
+			IncludeTemplates: []string{"/templates/cves/"},
+		}
+		require.True(t, filter.Matches(metadata))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Exclude templates - path match", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{
+			ExcludeTemplates: []string{"/templates/cves/"},
+		}
+		require.False(t, filter.Matches(metadata))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Complex filter - all match", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{
+			Authors:       []string{"pdteam"},
+			Tags:          []string{"cve"},
+			Severities:    []severity.Severity{severity.Critical},
+			ProtocolTypes: []types.ProtocolType{types.HTTPProtocol},
+		}
+		require.True(t, filter.Matches(metadata))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Complex filter - AND logic across types", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{
+			Authors:    []string{"pdteam"},                     // matches
+			Tags:       []string{"xss"},                        // doesn't match
+			Severities: []severity.Severity{severity.Critical}, // matches
+		}
+		// With AND logic across filter types, doesn't match because tags don't match
+		// even though author and severity match
+		require.False(t, filter.Matches(metadata))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Complex filter - no match at all", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{
+			Authors:    []string{"unknown"},               // doesn't match
+			Tags:       []string{"xss"},                   // doesn't match
+			Severities: []severity.Severity{severity.Low}, // doesn't match
+		}
+		require.False(t, filter.Matches(metadata))
+	})
+}
+
+func TestMatchesPath(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name     string
+		path     string
+		pattern  string
+		expected bool
+	}{
+		{"exact match", "/templates/cves/2021/test.yaml", "/templates/cves/2021/test.yaml", true},
+		{"directory prefix", "/templates/cves/2021/test.yaml", "/templates/cves", true},
+		{"directory with slash", "/templates/cves/2021/test.yaml", "/templates/cves/", true},
+		{"no match", "/templates/cves/2021/test.yaml", "/templates/exploits", false},
+		{"wildcard match", "/templates/cves/2021/test.yaml", "/templates/*/2021/*.yaml", true},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			result := matchesPath(tt.path, tt.pattern)
+			require.Equal(t, tt.expected, result)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestMatchesID(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name     string
+		id       string
+		pattern  string
+		expected bool
+	}{
+		{"exact match", "CVE-2021-1234", "CVE-2021-1234", true},
+		{"wildcard prefix", "CVE-2021-1234", "CVE-*", true},
+		{"wildcard suffix", "CVE-2021-1234", "*-1234", true},
+		{"wildcard middle", "CVE-2021-1234", "CVE-*-1234", true},
+		{"no match", "CVE-2021-1234", "CVE-2022-*", false},
+		{"partial no match", "CVE-2021-1234", "CVE-2021-12", false},
+		{"case insensitive exact", "cve-2021-1234", "CVE-2021-1234", true},
+		{"case insensitive wildcard", "CVE-2021-1234", "cve-*", true},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			result := matchesID(tt.id, tt.pattern)
+			require.Equal(t, tt.expected, result)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestUnmarshalFilter(t *testing.T) {
+	filter, err := UnmarshalFilter(
+		[]string{"author1", "author2"},
+		[]string{"tag1", "tag2"},
+		[]string{"exclude-tag"},
+		[]string{"include-tag"},
+		[]string{"id1", "id2*"},
+		[]string{"exclude-id*"},
+		[]string{"/include/path"},
+		[]string{"/exclude/path"},
+		[]string{"critical", "high"},
+		[]string{"info"},
+		[]string{"http", "dns"},
+		[]string{"file"},
+	)
+
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.NotNil(t, filter)
+
+	require.Equal(t, []string{"author1", "author2"}, filter.Authors)
+	require.Equal(t, []string{"tag1", "tag2"}, filter.Tags)
+	require.Equal(t, []string{"exclude-tag"}, filter.ExcludeTags)
+	require.Equal(t, []string{"include-tag"}, filter.IncludeTags)
+	require.Equal(t, []string{"id1", "id2*"}, filter.IDs)
+	require.Equal(t, []string{"exclude-id*"}, filter.ExcludeIDs)
+	require.Equal(t, []string{"/include/path"}, filter.IncludeTemplates)
+	require.Equal(t, []string{"/exclude/path"}, filter.ExcludeTemplates)
+
+	require.Len(t, filter.Severities, 2)
+	require.Contains(t, filter.Severities, severity.Critical)
+	require.Contains(t, filter.Severities, severity.High)
+
+	require.Len(t, filter.ExcludeSeverities, 1)
+	require.Contains(t, filter.ExcludeSeverities, severity.Info)
+
+	require.Len(t, filter.ProtocolTypes, 2)
+	require.Contains(t, filter.ProtocolTypes, types.HTTPProtocol)
+	require.Contains(t, filter.ProtocolTypes, types.DNSProtocol)
+
+	require.Len(t, filter.ExcludeProtocolTypes, 1)
+	require.Contains(t, filter.ExcludeProtocolTypes, types.FileProtocol)
+}
+
+func TestIndexFilter(t *testing.T) {
+	tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+	idx, err := NewIndex(tmpDir)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Create test templates and metadata
+	templates := []struct {
+		id       string
+		path     string
+		authors  []string
+		tags     []string
+		severity string
+		protocol string
+	}{
+		{"cve-2021-1", "/templates/cves/CVE-2021-1.yaml", []string{"pdteam"}, []string{"cve", "rce"}, "critical", "http"},
+		{"cve-2021-2", "/templates/cves/CVE-2021-2.yaml", []string{"pdteam"}, []string{"cve", "xss"}, "high", "http"},
+		{"exploit-1", "/templates/exploits/exploit-1.yaml", []string{"geeknik"}, []string{"exploit"}, "medium", "dns"},
+		{"info-1", "/templates/info/info-1.yaml", []string{"author1"}, []string{"info"}, "info", "http"},
+	}
+
+	for _, tmpl := range templates {
+		tmpFile := filepath.Join(tmpDir, filepath.Base(tmpl.path))
+		err := os.WriteFile(tmpFile, []byte("id: "+tmpl.id), 0644)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		metadata := &Metadata{
+			ID:           tmpl.id,
+			FilePath:     tmpFile,
+			Authors:      tmpl.authors,
+			Tags:         tmpl.tags,
+			Severity:     tmpl.severity,
+			ProtocolType: tmpl.protocol,
+		}
+		idx.Set(tmpl.path, metadata)
+	}
+
+	t.Run("No filter returns all", func(t *testing.T) {
+		results := idx.Filter(nil)
+		require.Len(t, results, 4)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Filter by author", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{Authors: []string{"pdteam"}}
+		results := idx.Filter(filter)
+		require.Len(t, results, 2)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Filter by tag", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{Tags: []string{"cve"}}
+		results := idx.Filter(filter)
+		require.Len(t, results, 2)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Filter by severity", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{Severities: []severity.Severity{severity.Critical}}
+		results := idx.Filter(filter)
+		require.Len(t, results, 1)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Filter by protocol type", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{ProtocolTypes: []types.ProtocolType{types.HTTPProtocol}}
+		results := idx.Filter(filter)
+		require.Len(t, results, 3)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Exclude by severity", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{ExcludeSeverities: []severity.Severity{severity.Info}}
+		results := idx.Filter(filter)
+		require.Len(t, results, 3)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Exclude by tag", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{ExcludeTags: []string{"info"}}
+		results := idx.Filter(filter)
+		require.Len(t, results, 3)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Complex filter", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{
+			Tags:              []string{"cve"},
+			Severities:        []severity.Severity{severity.Critical, severity.High},
+			ExcludeSeverities: []severity.Severity{severity.Info},
+		}
+		results := idx.Filter(filter)
+		require.Len(t, results, 2)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Count with filter", func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := &Filter{Tags: []string{"cve"}}
+		count := idx.Count(filter)
+		require.Equal(t, 2, count)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Count without filter", func(t *testing.T) {
+		count := idx.Count(nil)
+		require.Equal(t, 4, count)
+	})
+}
+
+func TestIndexFilterFunc(t *testing.T) {
+	tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+	idx, err := NewIndex(tmpDir)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Add test metadata
+	for i := 0; i < 5; i++ {
+		metadata := &Metadata{
+			ID:       "test-" + string(rune('a'+i)),
+			FilePath: "/tmp/test.yaml",
+			Severity: "high",
+		}
+		if i%2 == 0 {
+			metadata.Tags = []string{"even"}
+		} else {
+			metadata.Tags = []string{"odd"}
+		}
+		idx.Set("/tmp/test-"+string(rune('a'+i))+".yaml", metadata)
+	}
+
+	t.Run("Custom filter function", func(t *testing.T) {
+		results := idx.FilterFunc(func(m *Metadata) bool {
+			return m.HasTag("even")
+		})
+		require.Len(t, results, 3) // 0, 2, 4
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Nil filter function returns all", func(t *testing.T) {
+		results := idx.FilterFunc(nil)
+		require.Len(t, results, 5)
+	})
+}
+
+func TestFilterString(t *testing.T) {
+	filter := &Filter{
+		Authors:       []string{"author1", "author2"},
+		Tags:          []string{"tag1"},
+		Severities:    []severity.Severity{severity.Critical, severity.High},
+		ProtocolTypes: []types.ProtocolType{types.HTTPProtocol},
+	}
+
+	str := filter.String()
+	require.Contains(t, str, "authors=")
+	require.Contains(t, str, "tags=")
+	require.Contains(t, str, "severities=")
+	require.Contains(t, str, "types=")
+
+	emptyFilter := &Filter{}
+	require.Equal(t, "filter=<nil>", emptyFilter.String())
+}

pkg/catalog/index/index.go

@@ -0,0 +1,352 @@
+package index
+
+import (
+	"encoding/gob"
+	"maps"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"sync"
+
+	"github.com/maypok86/otter/v2"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/catalog/config"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/templates"
+	folderutil "github.com/projectdiscovery/utils/folder"
+)
+
+const (
+	// IndexFileName is the name of the persistent cache file.
+	IndexFileName = "index.gob"
+
+	// IndexVersion is the schema version for cache invalidation on breaking
+	// changes.
+	IndexVersion = 1
+
+	// DefaultMaxSize is the default maximum number of templates to cache.
+	DefaultMaxSize = 50000
+
+	// DefaultMaxWeight is the default maximum weight of the cache.
+	DefaultMaxWeight = DefaultMaxSize * 800 // ~40MB assuming ~800B/entry
+)
+
+// Index represents a cache for template metadata.
+type Index struct {
+	cache     *otter.Cache[string, *Metadata]
+	cacheFile string
+	mu        sync.RWMutex
+	version   int
+}
+
+// cacheSnapshot represents the serialized cache structure.
+type cacheSnapshot struct {
+	Version int                  `gob:"version"`
+	Data    map[string]*Metadata `gob:"data"`
+}
+
+// NewIndex creates a new template metadata cache with the given options.
+func NewIndex(cacheDir string) (*Index, error) {
+	if cacheDir == "" {
+		cacheDir = folderutil.AppCacheDirOrDefault(".nuclei-cache", config.BinaryName)
+	}
+
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(cacheDir, 0755); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	cacheFile := filepath.Join(cacheDir, IndexFileName)
+
+	// NOTE(dwisiswant0): Build cache with adaptive sizing based on memory cost.
+	opts := &otter.Options[string, *Metadata]{
+		MaximumWeight: uint64(DefaultMaxWeight),
+		Weigher: func(key string, value *Metadata) uint32 {
+			if value == nil {
+				return uint32(len(key))
+			}
+
+			weight := len(key)
+			weight += len(value.ID)
+			weight += len(value.FilePath)
+			weight += 24 // ModTime is time.Time (24B)
+			weight += len(value.Name)
+			weight += len(value.Severity)
+			weight += len(value.ProtocolType)
+			weight += len(value.TemplateVerifier)
+
+			for _, author := range value.Authors {
+				weight += len(author)
+			}
+			for _, tag := range value.Tags {
+				weight += len(tag)
+			}
+
+			return uint32(weight)
+		},
+	}
+
+	cache, err := otter.New(opts)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	c := &Index{
+		cache:     cache,
+		cacheFile: cacheFile,
+		version:   IndexVersion,
+	}
+
+	return c, nil
+}
+
+// NewDefaultIndex creates a index with default settings in the default cache
+// directory.
+func NewDefaultIndex() (*Index, error) {
+	return NewIndex("")
+}
+
+// Get retrieves metadata for a template path, validating freshness via mtime.
+func (i *Index) Get(path string) (*Metadata, bool) {
+	i.mu.RLock()
+	defer i.mu.RUnlock()
+
+	metadata, found := i.cache.GetIfPresent(path)
+	if !found {
+		return nil, false
+	}
+
+	if !metadata.IsValid() {
+		go i.Delete(path)
+
+		return nil, false
+	}
+
+	return metadata, true
+}
+
+// Set stores metadata for a template path.
+//
+// The caller is responsible for ensuring the metadata is valid and contains
+// the correct checksum before calling this method.
+// Use [SetFromTemplate] for automatic extraction and checksum computation.
+//
+// Returns the metadata and whether it was successfully cached (false if evicted).
+func (i *Index) Set(path string, metadata *Metadata) (*Metadata, bool) {
+	i.mu.Lock()
+	defer i.mu.Unlock()
+
+	return i.cache.Set(path, metadata)
+}
+
+// SetFromTemplate extracts metadata from a parsed template and stores it.
+//
+// Returns the metadata and whether it was successfully cached. The metadata is
+// always returned (even on checksum failure) for immediate filtering use.
+// Returns false if the metadata was not cached (e.g., set, evicted).
+func (i *Index) SetFromTemplate(path string, tpl *templates.Template) (*Metadata, bool) {
+	metadata := NewMetadataFromTemplate(path, tpl)
+
+	info, err := os.Stat(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return metadata, false
+	}
+	metadata.ModTime = info.ModTime()
+
+	if i.cache == nil {
+		return metadata, false
+	}
+
+	return i.Set(path, metadata)
+}
+
+// Has checks if metadata exists for a path without validation.
+func (i *Index) Has(path string) bool {
+	i.mu.RLock()
+	defer i.mu.RUnlock()
+
+	_, found := i.cache.GetIfPresent(path)
+
+	return found
+}
+
+// Delete removes metadata for a path.
+func (i *Index) Delete(path string) {
+	i.mu.Lock()
+	defer i.mu.Unlock()
+
+	i.cache.Invalidate(path)
+}
+
+// Size returns the number of cached entries.
+func (i *Index) Size() int {
+	i.mu.RLock()
+	defer i.mu.RUnlock()
+
+	return i.cache.EstimatedSize()
+}
+
+// Clear removes all cached entries.
+func (i *Index) Clear() {
+	i.mu.Lock()
+	defer i.mu.Unlock()
+
+	i.cache.InvalidateAll()
+}
+
+// Save persists the cache to disk using gob encoding.
+func (i *Index) Save() error {
+	i.mu.RLock()
+	defer i.mu.RUnlock()
+
+	snapshot := &cacheSnapshot{
+		Version: i.version,
+		Data:    make(map[string]*Metadata),
+	}
+
+	maps.Insert(snapshot.Data, i.cache.All())
+
+	// NOTE(dwisiswant0): write to temp for atomic op.
+	tmpFile := i.cacheFile + ".tmp"
+	file, err := os.Create(tmpFile)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	encoder := gob.NewEncoder(file)
+	if err := encoder.Encode(snapshot); err != nil {
+		_ = file.Close()
+		_ = os.Remove(tmpFile)
+
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if err := file.Close(); err != nil {
+		_ = os.Remove(tmpFile)
+
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if err := os.Rename(tmpFile, i.cacheFile); err != nil {
+		_ = os.Remove(tmpFile)
+
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Load loads the cache from disk using gob decoding.
+func (i *Index) Load() error {
+	file, err := os.Open(i.cacheFile)
+	if err != nil {
+		if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			return nil
+		}
+
+		return err
+	}
+	defer func() { _ = file.Close() }()
+
+	var snapshot cacheSnapshot
+
+	decoder := gob.NewDecoder(file)
+	if err := decoder.Decode(&snapshot); err != nil {
+		_ = file.Close()
+		_ = os.Remove(i.cacheFile)
+
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	if snapshot.Version != i.version {
+		_ = file.Close()
+		_ = os.Remove(i.cacheFile)
+
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	i.mu.Lock()
+	defer i.mu.Unlock()
+
+	for key, value := range snapshot.Data {
+		i.cache.Set(key, value)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Filter returns all template paths that match the given filter criteria.
+func (i *Index) Filter(filter *Filter) []string {
+	if filter == nil || filter.IsEmpty() {
+		return i.All()
+	}
+
+	i.mu.RLock()
+	defer i.mu.RUnlock()
+
+	var matched []string
+	for path, metadata := range i.cache.All() {
+		if filter.Matches(metadata) {
+			matched = append(matched, path)
+		}
+	}
+
+	return matched
+}
+
+// FilterFunc returns all template paths that match the given filter function.
+func (i *Index) FilterFunc(fn FilterFunc) []string {
+	if fn == nil {
+		return i.All()
+	}
+
+	i.mu.RLock()
+	defer i.mu.RUnlock()
+
+	var matched []string
+	for path, metadata := range i.cache.All() {
+		if fn(metadata) {
+			matched = append(matched, path)
+		}
+	}
+
+	return matched
+}
+
+// All returns all template paths in the index.
+func (i *Index) All() []string {
+	i.mu.RLock()
+	defer i.mu.RUnlock()
+
+	paths := make([]string, 0, i.cache.EstimatedSize())
+	for path := range i.cache.All() {
+		paths = append(paths, path)
+	}
+
+	return paths
+}
+
+// GetAll returns all metadata entries in the index.
+func (i *Index) GetAll() map[string]*Metadata {
+	i.mu.RLock()
+	defer i.mu.RUnlock()
+
+	result := maps.Collect(i.cache.All())
+
+	return result
+}
+
+// Count returns the number of templates matching the filter.
+func (i *Index) Count(filter *Filter) int {
+	if filter == nil || filter.IsEmpty() {
+		return i.Size()
+	}
+
+	i.mu.RLock()
+	defer i.mu.RUnlock()
+
+	count := 0
+	for _, metadata := range i.cache.All() {
+		if filter.Matches(metadata) {
+			count++
+		}
+	}
+
+	return count
+}

pkg/catalog/index/index_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,737 @@
+package index
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/model"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/model/types/severity"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/model/types/stringslice"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/protocols/code"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/protocols/headless"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/protocols/http"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/templates"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/templates/types"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestNewIndex(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("with custom directory", func(t *testing.T) {
+		tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+		cache, err := NewIndex(tmpDir)
+		require.NoError(t, err, "Failed to create cache with custom directory")
+		require.NotNil(t, cache, "Cache should not be nil")
+		require.Equal(t, filepath.Join(tmpDir, IndexFileName), cache.cacheFile)
+		require.Equal(t, IndexVersion, cache.version)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("with default directory", func(t *testing.T) {
+		cache, err := NewDefaultIndex()
+		require.NoError(t, err, "Failed to create cache with default directory")
+		require.NotNil(t, cache, "Cache should not be nil")
+	})
+}
+
+func TestCacheBasicOperations(t *testing.T) {
+	tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+	cache, err := NewIndex(tmpDir)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	metadata := &Metadata{
+		ID:       "concurrent-test",
+		FilePath: "/tmp/concurrent.yaml",
+	}
+
+	t.Run("Set and Has", func(t *testing.T) {
+		cache.Set(metadata.FilePath, metadata)
+		require.Equal(t, 1, cache.Size(), "Cache size should be 1 after Set")
+		require.True(t, cache.Has(metadata.FilePath), "Cache should contain the path after Set")
+		require.False(t, cache.Has("/nonexistent"), "Cache should not contain nonexistent path")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Get with validation", func(t *testing.T) {
+		// Get should fail validation for nonexistent file
+		retrieved, found := cache.Get(metadata.FilePath)
+		require.False(t, found, "Get should fail validation for nonexistent file")
+		require.Nil(t, retrieved, "Retrieved metadata should be nil for invalid entry")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Delete", func(t *testing.T) {
+		cache.Set(metadata.FilePath, metadata)
+		require.True(t, cache.Has(metadata.FilePath), "Cache should contain path before Delete")
+
+		cache.Delete(metadata.FilePath)
+		require.False(t, cache.Has(metadata.FilePath), "Cache should not contain path after Delete")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Clear", func(t *testing.T) {
+		cache.Set(metadata.FilePath, metadata)
+		cache.Set("/tmp/test2.yaml", &Metadata{ID: "test2", FilePath: "/tmp/test2.yaml"})
+		require.True(t, cache.Size() > 0, "Cache should have entries before Clear")
+
+		cache.Clear()
+		require.Equal(t, 0, cache.Size(), "Cache should be empty after Clear")
+	})
+}
+
+func TestCachePersistence(t *testing.T) {
+	tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+
+	metadata1 := &Metadata{
+		ID:           "persist-test-1",
+		FilePath:     "/tmp/persist1.yaml",
+		Name:         "Persistence Test 1",
+		Authors:      []string{"tester"},
+		Tags:         []string{"test"},
+		Severity:     "medium",
+		ProtocolType: "dns",
+	}
+
+	metadata2 := &Metadata{
+		ID:           "persist-test-2",
+		FilePath:     "/tmp/persist2.yaml",
+		Name:         "Persistence Test 2",
+		Authors:      []string{"tester2"},
+		Tags:         []string{"cve"},
+		Severity:     "critical",
+		ProtocolType: "http",
+	}
+
+	t.Run("Save and Load", func(t *testing.T) {
+		// Create cache and add entries
+		cache1, err := NewIndex(tmpDir)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		cache1.Set(metadata1.FilePath, metadata1)
+		cache1.Set(metadata2.FilePath, metadata2)
+		require.Equal(t, 2, cache1.Size())
+
+		// Save to disk
+		err = cache1.Save()
+		require.NoError(t, err, "Failed to save cache")
+
+		// Verify cache file exists
+		cacheFile := filepath.Join(tmpDir, IndexFileName)
+		stat, err := os.Stat(cacheFile)
+		require.NoError(t, err, "Cache file should exist")
+		require.Greater(t, stat.Size(), int64(0), "Cache file should not be empty")
+
+		// Create new cache and load
+		cache2, err := NewIndex(tmpDir)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Equal(t, 0, cache2.Size(), "New cache should be empty before Load")
+
+		err = cache2.Load()
+		require.NoError(t, err, "Failed to load cache")
+
+		// Verify data was loaded
+		require.Equal(t, 2, cache2.Size(), "Loaded cache should have 2 entries")
+		require.True(t, cache2.Has(metadata1.FilePath), "Loaded cache should contain first entry")
+		require.True(t, cache2.Has(metadata2.FilePath), "Loaded cache should contain second entry")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Load non-existent cache", func(t *testing.T) {
+		emptyDir := t.TempDir()
+		cache, err := NewIndex(emptyDir)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		// Loading non-existent cache should not error
+		err = cache.Load()
+		require.NoError(t, err, "Loading non-existent cache should not error")
+		require.Equal(t, 0, cache.Size(), "Cache should be empty after loading non-existent file")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Atomic save", func(t *testing.T) {
+		cache, err := NewIndex(tmpDir)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		cache.Set(metadata1.FilePath, metadata1)
+		err = cache.Save()
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		// Verify no .tmp file left behind
+		tmpFile := filepath.Join(tmpDir, IndexFileName+".tmp")
+		_, err = os.Stat(tmpFile)
+		require.True(t, os.IsNotExist(err), "Temporary file should not exist after save")
+
+		// Verify actual cache file exists
+		cacheFile := filepath.Join(tmpDir, IndexFileName)
+		_, err = os.Stat(cacheFile)
+		require.NoError(t, err, "Cache file should exist")
+	})
+}
+
+func TestIndexVersionMismatch(t *testing.T) {
+	tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+
+	// Create cache with current version
+	cache1, err := NewIndex(tmpDir)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	metadata := &Metadata{
+		ID:       "version-test",
+		FilePath: "/tmp/version.yaml",
+	}
+	cache1.Set(metadata.FilePath, metadata)
+
+	// Save with current version
+	err = cache1.Save()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Manually modify version and save again
+	cache1.version = 999
+	err = cache1.Save()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Try to load with different version
+	cache2, err := NewIndex(tmpDir)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Load should succeed but cache should be empty (version mismatch)
+	err = cache2.Load()
+	require.NoError(t, err, "Load should not error on version mismatch")
+	require.Equal(t, 0, cache2.Size(), "Cache should be empty after version mismatch")
+}
+
+func TestCacheCorruptedFile(t *testing.T) {
+	tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+	cacheFile := filepath.Join(tmpDir, IndexFileName)
+
+	// Create corrupted cache file
+	err := os.WriteFile(cacheFile, []byte("corrupted data that is not valid gob"), 0644)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Try to load corrupted cache
+	cache, err := NewIndex(tmpDir)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	err = cache.Load()
+	require.NoError(t, err, "Load should not error on corrupted cache")
+	require.Equal(t, 0, cache.Size(), "Cache should be empty after loading corrupted file")
+
+	// Corrupted file should be removed
+	_, err = os.Stat(cacheFile)
+	require.True(t, os.IsNotExist(err), "Corrupted cache file should be removed")
+}
+
+func TestMetadataValidation(t *testing.T) {
+	tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+	tmpFile := filepath.Join(tmpDir, "test.yaml")
+
+	t.Run("Valid metadata", func(t *testing.T) {
+		// Create a test file
+		err := os.WriteFile(tmpFile, []byte("id: test\ninfo:\n  name: Test"), 0644)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		info, err := os.Stat(tmpFile)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		// Create metadata with correct checksum
+		metadata := &Metadata{
+			ID:       "test",
+			FilePath: tmpFile,
+			ModTime:  info.ModTime(),
+		}
+
+		// Should be valid
+		require.True(t, metadata.IsValid(), "Metadata should be valid for unchanged file")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Invalid metadata after file modification", func(t *testing.T) {
+		// Create the test file first to ensure it exists in this subtest
+		err := os.WriteFile(tmpFile, []byte("id: test\ninfo:\n  name: Test"), 0644)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		// Set file ModTime to past to ensure modification is detectable
+		oldTime := time.Now().Add(-2 * time.Second)
+		err = os.Chtimes(tmpFile, oldTime, oldTime)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		info, err := os.Stat(tmpFile)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		metadata := &Metadata{
+			ID:       "test",
+			FilePath: tmpFile,
+			ModTime:  info.ModTime(),
+		}
+
+		// Modify file
+		err = os.WriteFile(tmpFile, []byte("id: test\ninfo:\n  name: Modified"), 0644)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		// Should now be invalid
+		require.False(t, metadata.IsValid(), "Metadata should be invalid after file modification")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Invalid metadata for deleted file", func(t *testing.T) {
+		// Create the test file first to ensure it exists in this subtest
+		err := os.WriteFile(tmpFile, []byte("id: test\ninfo:\n  name: Test"), 0644)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		info, err := os.Stat(tmpFile)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		metadata := &Metadata{
+			ID:       "test",
+			FilePath: tmpFile,
+			ModTime:  info.ModTime(),
+		}
+
+		// Delete file
+		err = os.Remove(tmpFile)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		// Should be invalid
+		require.False(t, metadata.IsValid(), "Metadata should be invalid for deleted file")
+	})
+}
+
+func TestSetFromTemplate(t *testing.T) {
+	tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+	tmpFile := filepath.Join(tmpDir, "extract.yaml")
+
+	// Create a test file
+	err := os.WriteFile(tmpFile, []byte("id: extract-test"), 0644)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	cache, err := NewIndex(tmpDir)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	t.Run("Basic metadata extraction", func(t *testing.T) {
+		template := &templates.Template{
+			ID: "extract-test",
+			Info: model.Info{
+				Name:        "Extract Test Template",
+				Authors:     stringslice.StringSlice{Value: "author1,author2"},
+				Tags:        stringslice.StringSlice{Value: "tag1,tag2"},
+				Description: "Test description",
+				SeverityHolder: severity.Holder{
+					Severity: severity.High,
+				},
+			},
+			SelfContained:    true,
+			Verified:         true,
+			TemplateVerifier: "test-verifier",
+		}
+
+		metadata, ok := cache.SetFromTemplate(tmpFile, template)
+		require.True(t, ok, "Failed to set metadata from template")
+		require.NotNil(t, metadata, "Metadata should not be nil")
+
+		// Verify core fields
+		require.Equal(t, "extract-test", metadata.ID)
+		require.Equal(t, tmpFile, metadata.FilePath)
+
+		// Verify Info fields
+		require.Equal(t, "Extract Test Template", metadata.Name)
+		require.Equal(t, []string{"author1,author2"}, metadata.Authors)
+		require.Equal(t, []string{"tag1,tag2"}, metadata.Tags)
+		require.Equal(t, "high", metadata.Severity)
+
+		// Verify flags
+		require.True(t, metadata.Verified)
+		require.Equal(t, "test-verifier", metadata.TemplateVerifier)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("HTTP protocol detection", func(t *testing.T) {
+		// Create a separate test file for this test
+		httpFile := filepath.Join(tmpDir, "http-test.yaml")
+		err := os.WriteFile(httpFile, []byte("id: http-test"), 0644)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		template := &templates.Template{
+			ID: "http-test",
+			Info: model.Info{
+				Name:    "HTTP Test",
+				Authors: stringslice.StringSlice{Value: "tester"},
+				SeverityHolder: severity.Holder{
+					Severity: severity.Medium,
+				},
+			},
+			RequestsHTTP: []*http.Request{{Method: http.HTTPMethodTypeHolder{MethodType: http.HTTPGet}}},
+		}
+
+		metadata, ok := cache.SetFromTemplate(httpFile, template)
+		require.True(t, ok)
+		require.NotNil(t, metadata)
+		require.Equal(t, "http", metadata.ProtocolType)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Extract with missing file", func(t *testing.T) {
+		template := &templates.Template{
+			ID: "missing-test",
+			Info: model.Info{
+				Name:    "Missing File Test",
+				Authors: stringslice.StringSlice{Value: "tester"},
+				SeverityHolder: severity.Holder{
+					Severity: severity.Low,
+				},
+			},
+		}
+
+		metadata, ok := cache.SetFromTemplate("/nonexistent/file.yaml", template)
+		require.False(t, ok, "Should return false for nonexistent file")
+		require.NotNil(t, metadata, "Metadata should still be returned")
+	})
+}
+
+func TestMetadataMatchingHelpers(t *testing.T) {
+	metadata := &Metadata{
+		Tags:         []string{"cve", "rce", "apache"},
+		Authors:      []string{"pdteam", "geeknik"},
+		Severity:     "critical",
+		ProtocolType: "http",
+	}
+
+	t.Run("HasTag", func(t *testing.T) {
+		require.True(t, metadata.HasTag("cve"))
+		require.True(t, metadata.HasTag("rce"))
+		require.True(t, metadata.HasTag("apache"))
+		require.False(t, metadata.HasTag("xxe"))
+		require.False(t, metadata.HasTag(""))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("HasAuthor", func(t *testing.T) {
+		require.True(t, metadata.HasAuthor("pdteam"))
+		require.True(t, metadata.HasAuthor("geeknik"))
+		require.False(t, metadata.HasAuthor("unknown"))
+		require.False(t, metadata.HasAuthor(""))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("MatchesSeverity", func(t *testing.T) {
+		require.True(t, metadata.MatchesSeverity(severity.Critical))
+		require.False(t, metadata.MatchesSeverity(severity.High))
+		require.False(t, metadata.MatchesSeverity(severity.Medium))
+		require.False(t, metadata.MatchesSeverity(severity.Low))
+		require.False(t, metadata.MatchesSeverity(severity.Info))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("MatchesProtocol", func(t *testing.T) {
+		require.True(t, metadata.MatchesProtocol(types.HTTPProtocol))
+		require.False(t, metadata.MatchesProtocol(types.DNSProtocol))
+		require.False(t, metadata.MatchesProtocol(types.FileProtocol))
+		require.False(t, metadata.MatchesProtocol(types.NetworkProtocol))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Empty metadata", func(t *testing.T) {
+		emptyMetadata := &Metadata{}
+		require.False(t, emptyMetadata.HasTag("any"))
+		require.False(t, emptyMetadata.HasAuthor("any"))
+	})
+}
+
+func TestCacheConcurrency(t *testing.T) {
+	tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+	cache, err := NewIndex(tmpDir)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Test concurrent writes
+	t.Run("Concurrent Set", func(t *testing.T) {
+		done := make(chan bool)
+		for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
+			go func(id int) {
+				metadata := &Metadata{
+					ID:       string(rune('a' + id)),
+					FilePath: filepath.Join("/tmp", string(rune('a'+id))+".yaml"),
+				}
+				cache.Set(metadata.FilePath, metadata)
+				done <- true
+			}(i)
+		}
+
+		// Wait for all goroutines
+		for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
+			<-done
+		}
+
+		require.Equal(t, 10, cache.Size(), "All concurrent writes should succeed")
+	})
+
+	// Test concurrent reads
+	t.Run("Concurrent Has", func(t *testing.T) {
+		metadata := &Metadata{
+			ID:       "concurrent-test",
+			FilePath: "/tmp/concurrent.yaml",
+		}
+		cache.Set(metadata.FilePath, metadata)
+
+		done := make(chan bool)
+		for i := 0; i < 20; i++ {
+			go func() {
+				_ = cache.Has(metadata.FilePath)
+				done <- true
+			}()
+		}
+
+		// Wait for all goroutines
+		for i := 0; i < 20; i++ {
+			<-done
+		}
+	})
+}
+
+func TestCacheSize(t *testing.T) {
+	tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+	cache, err := NewIndex(tmpDir)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	require.Equal(t, 0, cache.Size(), "New cache should have size 0")
+
+	// Add entries
+	for i := 0; i < 5; i++ {
+		metadata := &Metadata{
+			ID:       string(rune('a' + i)),
+			FilePath: filepath.Join("/tmp", string(rune('a'+i))+".yaml"),
+		}
+		cache.Set(metadata.FilePath, metadata)
+	}
+
+	require.Equal(t, 5, cache.Size(), "Cache should have size 5 after adding 5 entries")
+
+	// Delete entries
+	cache.Delete(filepath.Join("/tmp", "a.yaml"))
+	cache.Delete(filepath.Join("/tmp", "b.yaml"))
+
+	require.Equal(t, 3, cache.Size(), "Cache should have size 3 after deleting 2 entries")
+
+	// Clear cache
+	cache.Clear()
+	require.Equal(t, 0, cache.Size(), "Cache should have size 0 after Clear")
+}
+
+func TestCacheGetWithValidFile(t *testing.T) {
+	tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+	cache, err := NewIndex(tmpDir)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Create a real file for testing validation
+	tmpFile := filepath.Join(tmpDir, "test.yaml")
+	err = os.WriteFile(tmpFile, []byte("id: test"), 0644)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	info, err := os.Stat(tmpFile)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	metadata := &Metadata{
+		ID:       "test",
+		FilePath: tmpFile,
+		ModTime:  info.ModTime(),
+		Name:     "Test Template",
+	}
+
+	// Set and get should work with valid file
+	cache.Set(metadata.FilePath, metadata)
+	retrieved, found := cache.Get(metadata.FilePath)
+	require.True(t, found, "Should find entry with valid file")
+	require.NotNil(t, retrieved, "Retrieved metadata should not be nil")
+	require.Equal(t, metadata.ID, retrieved.ID)
+}
+
+func TestCacheSaveErrorHandling(t *testing.T) {
+	tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+	cache, err := NewIndex(tmpDir)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	metadata := &Metadata{
+		ID:       "test",
+		FilePath: filepath.Join("/tmp", "test.yaml"),
+	}
+	cache.Set(metadata.FilePath, metadata)
+
+	// Create a directory where the temp file would be created to force an error
+	// The Save method creates a file at cacheFile + ".tmp"
+	conflictPath := filepath.Join(tmpDir, IndexFileName+".tmp")
+	err = os.Mkdir(conflictPath, 0755)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	err = cache.Save()
+	require.Error(t, err, "Save should fail when temp file cannot be created")
+}
+
+func TestNewCacheWithInvalidDirectory(t *testing.T) {
+	// Try to create cache in a file path (should fail)
+	tmpFile := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "file.txt")
+	err := os.WriteFile(tmpFile, []byte("test"), 0644)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	cache, err := NewIndex(tmpFile)
+	require.Error(t, err, "NewCache should fail when path is a file")
+	require.Nil(t, cache, "Cache should be nil on error")
+}
+
+func TestCacheLoadCorruptedRemoval(t *testing.T) {
+	tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+	cacheFile := filepath.Join(tmpDir, IndexFileName)
+
+	// Create corrupted cache file with invalid gob data
+	err := os.WriteFile(cacheFile, []byte("this is not valid gob encoding at all!"), 0644)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Verify file exists before Load
+	_, err = os.Stat(cacheFile)
+	require.NoError(t, err, "Corrupted file should exist")
+
+	// Load should not error but should remove corrupted file
+	cache, err := NewIndex(tmpDir)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	err = cache.Load()
+	require.NoError(t, err, "Load should not return error for corrupted file")
+
+	// Verify corrupted file was removed
+	_, err = os.Stat(cacheFile)
+	require.True(t, os.IsNotExist(err), "Corrupted file should be removed")
+	require.Equal(t, 0, cache.Size(), "Cache should be empty after loading corrupted file")
+}
+
+func TestMetadataExtractionWithNilClassification(t *testing.T) {
+	tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+	tmpFile := filepath.Join(tmpDir, "test.yaml")
+	err := os.WriteFile(tmpFile, []byte("id: test"), 0644)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	template := &templates.Template{
+		ID: "nil-classification",
+		Info: model.Info{
+			Name:    "Template without classification",
+			Authors: stringslice.StringSlice{Value: "tester"},
+			SeverityHolder: severity.Holder{
+				Severity: severity.Medium,
+			},
+			Classification: nil, // Explicitly nil
+		},
+	}
+
+	cache, err := NewIndex(tmpDir)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	metadata, ok := cache.SetFromTemplate(tmpFile, template)
+	require.True(t, ok)
+	require.NotNil(t, metadata)
+}
+
+func TestCachePersistenceWithLargeDataset(t *testing.T) {
+	tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+	cache, err := NewIndex(tmpDir)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Add 100 entries to test bulk operations
+	for i := 0; i < 100; i++ {
+		metadata := &Metadata{
+			ID:       fmt.Sprintf("template-%d", i),
+			FilePath: filepath.Join("/tmp", fmt.Sprintf("template-%d.yaml", i)),
+			Name:     fmt.Sprintf("Template %d", i),
+			Authors:  []string{fmt.Sprintf("author%d", i)},
+			Tags:     []string{"tag1", "tag2", "tag3"},
+			Severity: "high",
+		}
+		cache.Set(metadata.FilePath, metadata)
+	}
+
+	require.Equal(t, 100, cache.Size(), "Cache should contain 100 entries")
+
+	// Save to disk
+	err = cache.Save()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Load into new cache
+	cache2, err := NewIndex(tmpDir)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	err = cache2.Load()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	require.Equal(t, 100, cache2.Size(), "Loaded cache should contain 100 entries")
+
+	// Verify a sample entry
+	found := cache2.Has(filepath.Join("/tmp", "template-50.yaml"))
+	require.True(t, found, "Should find sample entry")
+}
+
+func TestMetadataHelperMethods(t *testing.T) {
+	metadata := &Metadata{
+		ID:           "helper-test",
+		Tags:         []string{},
+		Authors:      []string{},
+		Severity:     "",
+		ProtocolType: "",
+	}
+
+	t.Run("Empty tags", func(t *testing.T) {
+		require.False(t, metadata.HasTag("anytag"))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Empty authors", func(t *testing.T) {
+		require.False(t, metadata.HasAuthor("anyauthor"))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Empty severity", func(t *testing.T) {
+		require.False(t, metadata.MatchesSeverity(severity.Critical))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Empty protocol", func(t *testing.T) {
+		require.False(t, metadata.MatchesProtocol(types.HTTPProtocol))
+	})
+}
+
+func TestMultipleProtocolsDetection(t *testing.T) {
+	tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+	tmpFile := filepath.Join(tmpDir, "multi.yaml")
+	err := os.WriteFile(tmpFile, []byte("id: multi"), 0644)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Template with multiple protocol types
+	template := &templates.Template{
+		ID: "multi-protocol",
+		Info: model.Info{
+			Name:    "Multi Protocol Template",
+			Authors: stringslice.StringSlice{Value: "tester"},
+			SeverityHolder: severity.Holder{
+				Severity: severity.High,
+			},
+		},
+		RequestsHTTP:     []*http.Request{{Method: http.HTTPMethodTypeHolder{MethodType: http.HTTPGet}}},
+		RequestsHeadless: []*headless.Request{{}},
+		RequestsCode:     []*code.Request{{}},
+	}
+
+	cache, err := NewIndex(tmpDir)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	metadata, ok := cache.SetFromTemplate(tmpFile, template)
+	require.True(t, ok)
+	require.NotNil(t, metadata)
+	require.Equal(t, "http", metadata.ProtocolType, "Primary protocol should be http")
+}
+
+func TestNewMetadataFromTemplate(t *testing.T) {
+	tmpl := &templates.Template{
+		ID: "test-template",
+		Info: model.Info{
+			Name:    "Test Template",
+			Authors: stringslice.StringSlice{Value: []string{"author"}},
+			Tags:    stringslice.StringSlice{Value: []string{"tag"}},
+			SeverityHolder: severity.Holder{
+				Severity: severity.Low,
+			},
+		},
+		Verified:         true,
+		TemplateVerifier: "verifier",
+	}
+
+	path := "/tmp/test.yaml"
+	metadata := NewMetadataFromTemplate(path, tmpl)
+
+	require.Equal(t, tmpl.ID, metadata.ID)
+	require.Equal(t, path, metadata.FilePath)
+	require.Equal(t, tmpl.Info.Name, metadata.Name)
+	require.Equal(t, tmpl.Info.Authors.ToSlice(), metadata.Authors)
+	require.Equal(t, tmpl.Info.Tags.ToSlice(), metadata.Tags)
+	require.Equal(t, tmpl.Info.SeverityHolder.Severity.String(), metadata.Severity)
+	require.Equal(t, tmpl.Type().String(), metadata.ProtocolType)
+	require.Equal(t, tmpl.Verified, metadata.Verified)
+	require.Equal(t, tmpl.TemplateVerifier, metadata.TemplateVerifier)
+}

pkg/catalog/index/metadata.go

@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+package index
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"slices"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/model/types/severity"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/templates"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/templates/types"
+)
+
+// Metadata contains lightweight metadata extracted from a template.
+type Metadata struct {
+	// ID is the unique identifier of the template.
+	ID string `gob:"id"`
+
+	// FilePath is the path to the template file.
+	FilePath string `gob:"file_path"`
+
+	// ModTime is the modification time of the template file.
+	ModTime time.Time `gob:"mod_time"`
+
+	// Name is the name of the template.
+	Name string `gob:"name"`
+
+	// Authors are the authors of the template.
+	Authors []string `gob:"authors"`
+
+	// Tags are the tags associated with the template.
+	Tags []string `gob:"tags"`
+
+	// Severity is the severity level of the template.
+	Severity string `gob:"severity"`
+
+	// ProtocolType is the primary protocol type of the template.
+	ProtocolType string `gob:"protocol_type"`
+
+	// Verified indicates whether the template is verified.
+	Verified bool `gob:"verified"`
+
+	// TemplateVerifier is the verifier used for the template.
+	TemplateVerifier string `gob:"verifier,omitempty"`
+
+	// NOTE(dwisiswant0): Consider adding more fields here in the future to
+	// enhance filtering caps w/o loading full templates, such as:
+	// `has_{code,headless,file}` to indicate presence of protocol-based
+	// requests, and/or classification fields (CVE, CWE, CVSS, EPSS), if needed.
+	//
+	// For maintainers: when adding new fields, don't forget to update the
+	// Weigher logic in [NewIndex] to account for the new fields in cache weight
+	// calculation, because it affects cache eviction behavior. Also, consider
+	// the impact on existing cached data and whether a [IndexVersion] bump is
+	// needed.
+}
+
+// NewMetadataFromTemplate creates a new metadata object from a template.
+func NewMetadataFromTemplate(path string, tpl *templates.Template) *Metadata {
+	return &Metadata{
+		ID:       tpl.ID,
+		FilePath: path,
+
+		Name:     tpl.Info.Name,
+		Authors:  tpl.Info.Authors.ToSlice(),
+		Tags:     tpl.Info.Tags.ToSlice(),
+		Severity: tpl.Info.SeverityHolder.Severity.String(),
+
+		ProtocolType: tpl.Type().String(),
+
+		Verified:         tpl.Verified,
+		TemplateVerifier: tpl.TemplateVerifier,
+	}
+}
+
+// IsValid checks if the cached metadata is still valid by comparing the file
+// modification time.
+func (m *Metadata) IsValid() bool {
+	info, err := os.Stat(m.FilePath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	return m.ModTime.Equal(info.ModTime())
+}
+
+// MatchesSeverity checks if the metadata matches the given severity.
+func (m *Metadata) MatchesSeverity(sev severity.Severity) bool {
+	return m.Severity == sev.String()
+}
+
+// MatchesProtocol checks if the metadata matches the given protocol type.
+func (m *Metadata) MatchesProtocol(protocolType types.ProtocolType) bool {
+	return m.ProtocolType == protocolType.String()
+}
+
+// HasTag checks if the metadata contains the given tag.
+func (m *Metadata) HasTag(tag string) bool {
+	return slices.Contains(m.Tags, tag)
+}
+
+// HasAuthor checks if the metadata contains the given author.
+func (m *Metadata) HasAuthor(author string) bool {
+	return slices.Contains(m.Authors, author)
+}

pkg/catalog/loader/loader.go

@@ -7,13 +7,14 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
+	"sync"
 
 	"github.com/logrusorgru/aurora"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/gologger"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/catalog"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/catalog/config"
-	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/catalog/loader/filter"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/catalog/index"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/keys"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/model/types/severity"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/protocols"
@@ -25,6 +26,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/workflows"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/retryablehttp-go"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/utils/errkit"
+	mapsutil "github.com/projectdiscovery/utils/maps"
 	sliceutil "github.com/projectdiscovery/utils/slice"
 	stringsutil "github.com/projectdiscovery/utils/strings"
 	syncutil "github.com/projectdiscovery/utils/sync"
@@ -75,7 +77,6 @@ type Config struct {
 type Store struct {
 	id             string // id of the store (optional)
 	tagFilter      *templates.TagFilter
-	pathFilter     *filter.PathFilter
 	config         *Config
 	finalTemplates []string
 	finalWorkflows []string
@@ -87,6 +88,19 @@ type Store struct {
 
 	logger *gologger.Logger
 
+	// parserCacheOnce is used to cache the parser cache result
+	parserCacheOnce func() *templates.Cache
+
+	// metadataIndex is the template metadata cache
+	metadataIndex *index.Index
+
+	// indexFilter is the cached filter for metadata matching
+	indexFilter *index.Filter
+
+	// saveTemplatesIndexOnce is used to ensure we only save the metadata index
+	// once
+	saveMetadataIndexOnce func()
+
 	// NotFoundCallback is called for each not found template
 	// This overrides error handling for not found templates
 	NotFoundCallback func(template string) bool
@@ -124,17 +138,10 @@ func NewConfig(options *types.Options, catalog catalog.Catalog, executerOpts *pr
 
 // New creates a new template store based on provided configuration
 func New(cfg *Config) (*Store, error) {
+	// tagFilter only for IncludeConditions (advanced filtering).
+	// All other filtering (tags, authors, severities, IDs, protocols, paths) is
+	// handled by [index.Filter].
 	tagFilter, err := templates.NewTagFilter(&templates.TagFilterConfig{
-		Tags:              cfg.Tags,
-		ExcludeTags:       cfg.ExcludeTags,
-		Authors:           cfg.Authors,
-		Severities:        cfg.Severities,
-		ExcludeSeverities: cfg.ExcludeSeverities,
-		IncludeTags:       cfg.IncludeTags,
-		IncludeIds:        cfg.IncludeIds,
-		ExcludeIds:        cfg.ExcludeIds,
-		Protocols:         cfg.Protocols,
-		ExcludeProtocols:  cfg.ExcludeProtocols,
 		IncludeConditions: cfg.IncludeConditions,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
@@ -142,20 +149,43 @@ func New(cfg *Config) (*Store, error) {
 	}
 
 	store := &Store{
-		id:        cfg.StoreId,
-		config:    cfg,
-		tagFilter: tagFilter,
-		pathFilter: filter.NewPathFilter(&filter.PathFilterConfig{
-			IncludedTemplates: cfg.IncludeTemplates,
-			ExcludedTemplates: cfg.ExcludeTemplates,
-		}, cfg.Catalog),
+		id:             cfg.StoreId,
+		config:         cfg,
+		tagFilter:      tagFilter,
 		finalTemplates: cfg.Templates,
 		finalWorkflows: cfg.Workflows,
 		logger:         cfg.Logger,
 	}
 
+	store.parserCacheOnce = sync.OnceValue(func() *templates.Cache {
+		if cfg.ExecutorOptions == nil || cfg.ExecutorOptions.Parser == nil {
+			return nil
+		}
+
+		if parser, ok := cfg.ExecutorOptions.Parser.(*templates.Parser); ok {
+			return parser.Cache()
+		}
+
+		return nil
+	})
+
+	// Initialize metadata index and filter (load from disk & cache for reuse)
+	store.metadataIndex = store.loadTemplatesIndex()
+	store.indexFilter = store.buildIndexFilter()
+	store.saveMetadataIndexOnce = sync.OnceFunc(func() {
+		if store.metadataIndex == nil {
+			return
+		}
+
+		if err := store.metadataIndex.Save(); err != nil {
+			store.logger.Warning().Msgf("Could not save metadata cache: %v", err)
+		} else {
+			store.logger.Verbose().Msgf("Saved %d templates to metadata cache", store.metadataIndex.Size())
+		}
+	})
+
 	// Do a check to see if we have URLs in templates flag, if so
-	// we need to processs them separately and remove them from the initial list
+	// we need to process them separately and remove them from the initial list
 	var templatesFinal []string
 	for _, template := range cfg.Templates {
 		// TODO: Add and replace this with urlutil.IsURL() helper
@@ -175,6 +205,7 @@ func New(cfg *Config) (*Store, error) {
 			templatesFinal = append(templatesFinal, v) // something went wrong, treat it as a file
 		}
 	}
+
 	cfg.TemplateURLs = remoteTemplates
 	store.finalTemplates = templatesFinal
 
@@ -184,6 +215,7 @@ func New(cfg *Config) (*Store, error) {
 		if err != nil {
 			return store, err
 		}
+
 		store.finalTemplates = append(store.finalTemplates, remoteTemplates...)
 		store.finalWorkflows = append(store.finalWorkflows, remoteWorkflows...)
 	}
@@ -219,14 +251,18 @@ func handleTemplatesEditorURLs(input string) string {
 	if err != nil {
 		return input
 	}
+
 	if !strings.HasSuffix(parsed.Hostname(), "cloud.projectdiscovery.io") {
 		return input
 	}
+
 	if strings.HasSuffix(parsed.Path, ".yaml") {
 		return input
 	}
+
 	parsed.Path = fmt.Sprintf("%s.yaml", parsed.Path)
 	finalURL := parsed.String()
+
 	return finalURL
 }
 
@@ -236,17 +272,21 @@ func handleTemplatesEditorURLs(input string) string {
 func (store *Store) ReadTemplateFromURI(uri string, remote bool) ([]byte, error) {
 	if stringsutil.HasPrefixAny(uri, httpPrefix, httpsPrefix) && remote {
 		uri = handleTemplatesEditorURLs(uri)
+
 		remoteTemplates, _, err := getRemoteTemplatesAndWorkflows([]string{uri}, nil, store.config.RemoteTemplateDomainList)
 		if err != nil || len(remoteTemplates) == 0 {
 			return nil, errkit.Wrapf(err, "Could not load template %s: got %v", uri, remoteTemplates)
 		}
+
 		resp, err := retryablehttp.Get(remoteTemplates[0])
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
+
 		defer func() {
 			_ = resp.Body.Close()
 		}()
+
 		return io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
 	} else {
 		return os.ReadFile(uri)
@@ -285,19 +325,106 @@ func init() {
 	templateIDPathMap = make(map[string]string)
 }
 
+// buildIndexFilter creates an [index.Filter] from the store configuration.
+// This filter handles all basic filtering (paths, tags, authors, severities,
+// IDs, protocols). Advanced IncludeConditions filtering is handled separately
+// by tagFilter.
+func (store *Store) buildIndexFilter() *index.Filter {
+	includeTemplates, _ := store.config.Catalog.GetTemplatesPath(store.config.IncludeTemplates)
+	excludeTemplates, _ := store.config.Catalog.GetTemplatesPath(store.config.ExcludeTemplates)
+
+	return &index.Filter{
+		Authors:              store.config.Authors,
+		Tags:                 store.config.Tags,
+		ExcludeTags:          store.config.ExcludeTags,
+		IncludeTags:          store.config.IncludeTags,
+		IDs:                  store.config.IncludeIds,
+		ExcludeIDs:           store.config.ExcludeIds,
+		IncludeTemplates:     includeTemplates,
+		ExcludeTemplates:     excludeTemplates,
+		Severities:           []severity.Severity(store.config.Severities),
+		ExcludeSeverities:    []severity.Severity(store.config.ExcludeSeverities),
+		ProtocolTypes:        []templateTypes.ProtocolType(store.config.Protocols),
+		ExcludeProtocolTypes: []templateTypes.ProtocolType(store.config.ExcludeProtocols),
+	}
+}
+
+func (store *Store) loadTemplatesIndex() *index.Index {
+	var metadataIdx *index.Index
+
+	idx, err := index.NewDefaultIndex()
+	if err != nil {
+		store.logger.Warning().Msgf("Could not create metadata cache: %v", err)
+	} else {
+		metadataIdx = idx
+		if err := metadataIdx.Load(); err != nil {
+			store.logger.Warning().Msgf("Could not load metadata cache: %v", err)
+		}
+	}
+
+	return metadataIdx
+}
+
 // LoadTemplatesOnlyMetadata loads only the metadata of the templates
 func (store *Store) LoadTemplatesOnlyMetadata() error {
+	defer store.saveMetadataIndexOnce()
+
 	templatePaths, errs := store.config.Catalog.GetTemplatesPath(store.finalTemplates)
 	store.logErroredTemplates(errs)
 
-	filteredTemplatePaths := store.pathFilter.Match(templatePaths)
-
+	indexFilter := store.indexFilter
 	validPaths := make(map[string]struct{})
-	for templatePath := range filteredTemplatePaths {
+
+	for _, templatePath := range templatePaths {
+		if store.metadataIndex != nil {
+			if metadata, found := store.metadataIndex.Get(templatePath); found {
+				if !indexFilter.Matches(metadata) {
+					continue
+				}
+
+				if store.tagFilter != nil {
+					loaded, err := store.config.ExecutorOptions.Parser.LoadTemplate(templatePath, store.tagFilter, nil, store.config.Catalog)
+					if !loaded {
+						if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), templates.ErrExcluded.Error()) {
+							stats.Increment(templates.TemplatesExcludedStats)
+							if config.DefaultConfig.LogAllEvents {
+								store.logger.Print().Msgf("[%v] %v\n", aurora.Yellow("WRN").String(), err.Error())
+							}
+						}
+						continue
+					}
+				}
+
+				validPaths[templatePath] = struct{}{}
+				continue
+			}
+		}
+
 		loaded, err := store.config.ExecutorOptions.Parser.LoadTemplate(templatePath, store.tagFilter, nil, store.config.Catalog)
-		if loaded || store.pathFilter.MatchIncluded(templatePath) {
+		if loaded {
+			templatesCache := store.parserCacheOnce()
+			if templatesCache != nil {
+				if template, _, _ := templatesCache.Has(templatePath); template != nil {
+					var metadata *index.Metadata
+
+					if store.metadataIndex != nil {
+						metadata, _ = store.metadataIndex.SetFromTemplate(templatePath, template)
+					} else {
+						metadata = index.NewMetadataFromTemplate(templatePath, template)
+					}
+
+					if !indexFilter.Matches(metadata) {
+						continue
+					}
+
+					validPaths[templatePath] = struct{}{}
+					continue
+				}
+			}
+
 			validPaths[templatePath] = struct{}{}
 		}
+
 		if err != nil {
 			if strings.Contains(err.Error(), templates.ErrExcluded.Error()) {
 				stats.Increment(templates.TemplatesExcludedStats)
@@ -306,43 +433,47 @@ func (store *Store) LoadTemplatesOnlyMetadata() error {
 				}
 				continue
 			}
+
 			store.logger.Warning().Msg(err.Error())
 		}
 	}
-	parserItem, ok := store.config.ExecutorOptions.Parser.(*templates.Parser)
-	if !ok {
+
+	templatesCache := store.parserCacheOnce()
+	if templatesCache == nil {
 		return errors.New("invalid parser")
 	}
-	templatesCache := parserItem.Cache()
+
+	loadedTemplateIDs := mapsutil.NewSyncLockMap[string, struct{}]()
+	caps := templates.Capabilities{
+		Headless:      store.config.ExecutorOptions.Options.Headless,
+		Code:          store.config.ExecutorOptions.Options.EnableCodeTemplates,
+		DAST:          store.config.ExecutorOptions.Options.DAST,
+		SelfContained: store.config.ExecutorOptions.Options.EnableSelfContainedTemplates,
+		File:          store.config.ExecutorOptions.Options.EnableFileTemplates,
+	}
+	isListOrDisplay := store.config.ExecutorOptions.Options.TemplateList ||
+		store.config.ExecutorOptions.Options.TemplateDisplay
 
 	for templatePath := range validPaths {
 		template, _, _ := templatesCache.Has(templatePath)
-
-		if len(template.RequestsHeadless) > 0 && !store.config.ExecutorOptions.Options.Headless {
+		if template == nil {
 			continue
 		}
 
-		if len(template.RequestsCode) > 0 && !store.config.ExecutorOptions.Options.EnableCodeTemplates {
+		if !isListOrDisplay && !template.IsEnabledFor(caps) {
 			continue
 		}
 
-		if template.IsFuzzing() && !store.config.ExecutorOptions.Options.DAST {
+		if loadedTemplateIDs.Has(template.ID) {
+			store.logger.Debug().Msgf("Skipping duplicate template ID '%s' from path '%s'", template.ID, templatePath)
 			continue
 		}
 
-		if template.SelfContained && !store.config.ExecutorOptions.Options.EnableSelfContainedTemplates {
-			continue
-		}
-
-		if template.HasFileProtocol() && !store.config.ExecutorOptions.Options.EnableFileTemplates {
-			continue
-		}
-
-		if template != nil {
-			template.Path = templatePath
-			store.templates = append(store.templates, template)
-		}
+		_ = loadedTemplateIDs.Set(template.ID, struct{}{})
+		template.Path = templatePath
+		store.templates = append(store.templates, template)
 	}
+
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -351,15 +482,24 @@ func (store *Store) LoadTemplatesOnlyMetadata() error {
 func (store *Store) ValidateTemplates() error {
 	templatePaths, errs := store.config.Catalog.GetTemplatesPath(store.finalTemplates)
 	store.logErroredTemplates(errs)
+
 	workflowPaths, errs := store.config.Catalog.GetTemplatesPath(store.finalWorkflows)
 	store.logErroredTemplates(errs)
 
-	filteredTemplatePaths := store.pathFilter.Match(templatePaths)
-	filteredWorkflowPaths := store.pathFilter.Match(workflowPaths)
+	templatePathsMap := make(map[string]struct{}, len(templatePaths))
+	for _, path := range templatePaths {
+		templatePathsMap[path] = struct{}{}
+	}
 
-	if store.areTemplatesValid(filteredTemplatePaths) && store.areWorkflowsValid(filteredWorkflowPaths) {
+	workflowPathsMap := make(map[string]struct{}, len(workflowPaths))
+	for _, path := range workflowPaths {
+		workflowPathsMap[path] = struct{}{}
+	}
+
+	if store.areTemplatesValid(templatePathsMap) && store.areWorkflowsValid(workflowPathsMap) {
 		return nil
 	}
+
 	return errors.New("errors occurred during template validation")
 }
 
@@ -377,6 +517,7 @@ func (store *Store) areTemplatesValid(filteredTemplatePaths map[string]struct{})
 
 func (store *Store) areWorkflowOrTemplatesValid(filteredTemplatePaths map[string]struct{}, isWorkflow bool, load func(templatePath string, tagFilter *templates.TagFilter) (bool, error)) bool {
 	areTemplatesValid := true
+	parsedCache := store.parserCacheOnce()
 
 	for templatePath := range filteredTemplatePaths {
 		if _, err := load(templatePath, store.tagFilter); err != nil {
@@ -386,13 +527,26 @@ func (store *Store) areWorkflowOrTemplatesValid(filteredTemplatePaths map[string
 			}
 		}
 
-		template, err := templates.Parse(templatePath, store.preprocessor, store.config.ExecutorOptions)
-		if err != nil {
-			if isParsingError(store, "Error occurred parsing template %s: %s\n", templatePath, err) {
-				areTemplatesValid = false
-				continue
+		var template *templates.Template
+		var err error
+
+		if parsedCache != nil {
+			if cachedTemplate, _, cacheErr := parsedCache.Has(templatePath); cacheErr == nil && cachedTemplate != nil {
+				template = cachedTemplate
 			}
-		} else if template == nil {
+		}
+
+		if template == nil {
+			template, err = templates.Parse(templatePath, store.preprocessor, store.config.ExecutorOptions)
+			if err != nil {
+				if isParsingError(store, "Error occurred parsing template %s: %s\n", templatePath, err) {
+					areTemplatesValid = false
+					continue
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
+		if template == nil {
 			// NOTE(dwisiswant0): possibly global matchers template.
 			// This could definitely be handled better, for example by returning an
 			// `ErrGlobalMatchersTemplate` during `templates.Parse` and checking it
@@ -415,10 +569,12 @@ func (store *Store) areWorkflowOrTemplatesValid(filteredTemplatePaths map[string
 				// areTemplatesValid = false
 				store.logger.Warning().Msgf("Found duplicate template ID during validation '%s' => '%s': %s\n", templatePath, existingTemplatePath, template.ID)
 			}
-			if !isWorkflow && len(template.Workflows) > 0 {
+
+			if !isWorkflow && template.HasWorkflows() {
 				continue
 			}
 		}
+
 		if isWorkflow {
 			if !areWorkflowTemplatesValid(store, template.Workflows) {
 				areTemplatesValid = false
@@ -426,6 +582,7 @@ func (store *Store) areWorkflowOrTemplatesValid(filteredTemplatePaths map[string
 			}
 		}
 	}
+
 	return areTemplatesValid
 }
 
@@ -434,6 +591,7 @@ func areWorkflowTemplatesValid(store *Store, workflows []*workflows.WorkflowTemp
 		if !areWorkflowTemplatesValid(store, workflow.Subtemplates) {
 			return false
 		}
+
 		_, err := store.config.Catalog.GetTemplatePath(workflow.Template)
 		if err != nil {
 			if isParsingError(store, "Error occurred loading template %s: %s\n", workflow.Template, err) {
@@ -441,6 +599,7 @@ func areWorkflowTemplatesValid(store *Store, workflows []*workflows.WorkflowTemp
 			}
 		}
 	}
+
 	return true
 }
 
@@ -448,10 +607,13 @@ func isParsingError(store *Store, message string, template string, err error) bo
 	if errors.Is(err, templates.ErrExcluded) {
 		return false
 	}
+
 	if errors.Is(err, templates.ErrCreateTemplateExecutor) {
 		return false
 	}
+
 	store.logger.Error().Msgf(message, template, err)
+
 	return true
 }
 
@@ -464,14 +626,14 @@ func (store *Store) LoadTemplates(templatesList []string) []*templates.Template
 func (store *Store) LoadWorkflows(workflowsList []string) []*templates.Template {
 	includedWorkflows, errs := store.config.Catalog.GetTemplatesPath(workflowsList)
 	store.logErroredTemplates(errs)
-	workflowPathMap := store.pathFilter.Match(includedWorkflows)
 
-	loadedWorkflows := make([]*templates.Template, 0, len(workflowPathMap))
-	for workflowPath := range workflowPathMap {
+	loadedWorkflows := make([]*templates.Template, 0, len(includedWorkflows))
+	for _, workflowPath := range includedWorkflows {
 		loaded, err := store.config.ExecutorOptions.Parser.LoadWorkflow(workflowPath, store.config.Catalog)
 		if err != nil {
 			store.logger.Warning().Msgf("Could not load workflow %s: %s\n", workflowPath, err)
 		}
+
 		if loaded {
 			parsed, err := templates.Parse(workflowPath, store.preprocessor, store.config.ExecutorOptions)
 			if err != nil {
@@ -481,19 +643,31 @@ func (store *Store) LoadWorkflows(workflowsList []string) []*templates.Template
 			}
 		}
 	}
+
 	return loadedWorkflows
 }
 
 // LoadTemplatesWithTags takes a list of templates and extra tags
 // returning templates that match.
 func (store *Store) LoadTemplatesWithTags(templatesList, tags []string) []*templates.Template {
+	defer store.saveMetadataIndexOnce()
+
+	indexFilter := store.indexFilter
+
 	includedTemplates, errs := store.config.Catalog.GetTemplatesPath(templatesList)
 	store.logErroredTemplates(errs)
-	templatePathMap := store.pathFilter.Match(includedTemplates)
 
 	loadedTemplates := sliceutil.NewSyncSlice[*templates.Template]()
+	loadedTemplateIDs := mapsutil.NewSyncLockMap[string, struct{}]()
 
 	loadTemplate := func(tmpl *templates.Template) {
+		if loadedTemplateIDs.Has(tmpl.ID) {
+			store.logger.Debug().Msgf("Skipping duplicate template ID '%s' from path '%s'", tmpl.ID, tmpl.Path)
+			return
+		}
+
+		_ = loadedTemplateIDs.Set(tmpl.ID, struct{}{})
+
 		loadedTemplates.Append(tmpl)
 		// increment signed/unsigned counters
 		if tmpl.Verified {
@@ -507,28 +681,66 @@ func (store *Store) LoadTemplatesWithTags(templatesList, tags []string) []*templ
 		}
 	}
 
-	wgLoadTemplates, errWg := syncutil.New(syncutil.WithSize(50))
+	typesOpts := store.config.ExecutorOptions.Options
+	concurrency := typesOpts.TemplateLoadingConcurrency
+	if concurrency <= 0 {
+		concurrency = types.DefaultTemplateLoadingConcurrency
+	}
+
+	wgLoadTemplates, errWg := syncutil.New(syncutil.WithSize(concurrency))
 	if errWg != nil {
 		panic("could not create wait group")
 	}
 
-	if store.config.ExecutorOptions.Options.ExecutionId == "" {
-		store.config.ExecutorOptions.Options.ExecutionId = xid.New().String()
+	if typesOpts.ExecutionId == "" {
+		typesOpts.ExecutionId = xid.New().String()
 	}
 
-	dialers := protocolstate.GetDialersWithId(store.config.ExecutorOptions.Options.ExecutionId)
+	dialers := protocolstate.GetDialersWithId(typesOpts.ExecutionId)
 	if dialers == nil {
-		panic("dialers with executionId " + store.config.ExecutorOptions.Options.ExecutionId + " not found")
+		panic("dialers with executionId " + typesOpts.ExecutionId + " not found")
 	}
 
-	for templatePath := range templatePathMap {
+	for _, templatePath := range includedTemplates {
 		wgLoadTemplates.Add()
 		go func(templatePath string) {
 			defer wgLoadTemplates.Done()
 
+			var (
+				metadata       *index.Metadata
+				metadataCached bool
+			)
+
+			if store.metadataIndex != nil {
+				if cachedMetadata, found := store.metadataIndex.Get(templatePath); found {
+					metadata = cachedMetadata
+					if !indexFilter.Matches(metadata) {
+						return
+					}
+					// NOTE(dwisiswant0): else, tagFilter probably exists (for
+					// IncludeConditions), which still need to check via
+					// LoadTemplate.
+
+					metadataCached = true
+				}
+			}
+
 			loaded, err := store.config.ExecutorOptions.Parser.LoadTemplate(templatePath, store.tagFilter, tags, store.config.Catalog)
-			if loaded || store.pathFilter.MatchIncluded(templatePath) {
+			if loaded {
 				parsed, err := templates.Parse(templatePath, store.preprocessor, store.config.ExecutorOptions)
+
+				if parsed != nil && !metadataCached {
+					if store.metadataIndex != nil {
+						metadata, _ = store.metadataIndex.SetFromTemplate(templatePath, parsed)
+					} else {
+						metadata = index.NewMetadataFromTemplate(templatePath, parsed)
+					}
+
+					if metadata != nil && !indexFilter.Matches(metadata) {
+						return
+					}
+				}
+
 				if err != nil {
 					// exclude templates not compatible with offline matching from total runtime warning stats
 					if !errors.Is(err, templates.ErrIncompatibleWithOfflineMatching) {
@@ -536,18 +748,18 @@ func (store *Store) LoadTemplatesWithTags(templatesList, tags []string) []*templ
 					}
 					store.logger.Warning().Msgf("Could not parse template %s: %s\n", templatePath, err)
 				} else if parsed != nil {
-					if !parsed.Verified && store.config.ExecutorOptions.Options.DisableUnsignedTemplates {
+					if !parsed.Verified && typesOpts.DisableUnsignedTemplates {
 						// skip unverified templates when prompted to
 						stats.Increment(templates.SkippedUnsignedStats)
 						return
 					}
 
-					if parsed.SelfContained && !store.config.ExecutorOptions.Options.EnableSelfContainedTemplates {
+					if parsed.SelfContained && !typesOpts.EnableSelfContainedTemplates {
 						stats.Increment(templates.ExcludedSelfContainedStats)
 						return
 					}
 
-					if parsed.HasFileProtocol() && !store.config.ExecutorOptions.Options.EnableFileTemplates {
+					if parsed.HasFileRequest() && !typesOpts.EnableFileTemplates {
 						stats.Increment(templates.ExcludedFileStats)
 						return
 					}
@@ -559,25 +771,32 @@ func (store *Store) LoadTemplatesWithTags(templatesList, tags []string) []*templ
 					}
 					// DAST only templates
 					// Skip DAST filter when loading auth templates
-					if store.ID() != AuthStoreId && store.config.ExecutorOptions.Options.DAST {
+					if store.ID() != AuthStoreId && typesOpts.DAST {
 						// check if the template is a DAST template
 						// also allow global matchers template to be loaded
-						if parsed.IsFuzzing() || parsed.Options.GlobalMatchers != nil && parsed.Options.GlobalMatchers.HasMatchers() {
-							loadTemplate(parsed)
+						if parsed.IsFuzzableRequest() || parsed.IsGlobalMatchersTemplate() {
+							if parsed.HasHeadlessRequest() && !typesOpts.Headless {
+								stats.Increment(templates.ExcludedHeadlessTmplStats)
+								if config.DefaultConfig.LogAllEvents {
+									store.logger.Print().Msgf("[%v] Headless flag is required for headless template '%s'.\n", aurora.Yellow("WRN").String(), templatePath)
+								}
+							} else {
+								loadTemplate(parsed)
+							}
 						}
-					} else if len(parsed.RequestsHeadless) > 0 && !store.config.ExecutorOptions.Options.Headless {
+					} else if parsed.HasHeadlessRequest() && !typesOpts.Headless {
 						// donot include headless template in final list if headless flag is not set
 						stats.Increment(templates.ExcludedHeadlessTmplStats)
 						if config.DefaultConfig.LogAllEvents {
 							store.logger.Print().Msgf("[%v] Headless flag is required for headless template '%s'.\n", aurora.Yellow("WRN").String(), templatePath)
 						}
-					} else if len(parsed.RequestsCode) > 0 && !store.config.ExecutorOptions.Options.EnableCodeTemplates {
+					} else if parsed.HasCodeRequest() && !typesOpts.EnableCodeTemplates {
 						// donot include 'Code' protocol custom template in final list if code flag is not set
 						stats.Increment(templates.ExcludedCodeTmplStats)
 						if config.DefaultConfig.LogAllEvents {
 							store.logger.Print().Msgf("[%v] Code flag is required for code protocol template '%s'.\n", aurora.Yellow("WRN").String(), templatePath)
 						}
-					} else if len(parsed.RequestsCode) > 0 && !parsed.Verified && len(parsed.Workflows) == 0 {
+					} else if parsed.HasCodeRequest() && !parsed.Verified && !parsed.HasWorkflows() {
 						// donot include unverified 'Code' protocol custom template in final list
 						stats.Increment(templates.SkippedCodeTmplTamperedStats)
 						// these will be skipped so increment skip counter
@@ -585,7 +804,7 @@ func (store *Store) LoadTemplatesWithTags(templatesList, tags []string) []*templ
 						if config.DefaultConfig.LogAllEvents {
 							store.logger.Print().Msgf("[%v] Tampered/Unsigned template at %v.\n", aurora.Yellow("WRN").String(), templatePath)
 						}
-					} else if parsed.IsFuzzing() && !store.config.ExecutorOptions.Options.DAST {
+					} else if parsed.IsFuzzableRequest() && !typesOpts.DAST {
 						stats.Increment(templates.ExludedDastTmplStats)
 						if config.DefaultConfig.LogAllEvents {
 							store.logger.Print().Msgf("[%v] -dast flag is required for DAST template '%s'.\n", aurora.Yellow("WRN").String(), templatePath)
@@ -623,10 +842,11 @@ func IsHTTPBasedProtocolUsed(store *Store) bool {
 	templates := append(store.Templates(), store.Workflows()...)
 
 	for _, template := range templates {
-		if len(template.RequestsHTTP) > 0 || len(template.RequestsHeadless) > 0 {
+		if template.HasHTTPRequest() || template.HasHeadlessRequest() {
 			return true
 		}
-		if len(template.Workflows) > 0 {
+
+		if template.HasWorkflows() {
 			if workflowContainsProtocol(template.Workflows) {
 				return true
 			}

pkg/catalog/loader/loader_bench_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,243 @@
+package loader_test
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/gologger"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/catalog/config"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/catalog/disk"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/catalog/loader"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/loader/workflow"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/model/types/severity"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/templates"
+	templateTypes "github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/templates/types"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/testutils"
+)
+
+func BenchmarkStoreValidateTemplates(b *testing.B) {
+	options := testutils.DefaultOptions.Copy()
+	options.Logger = &gologger.Logger{}
+	testutils.Init(options)
+
+	catalog := disk.NewCatalog(config.DefaultConfig.TemplatesDirectory)
+	executerOpts := testutils.NewMockExecuterOptions(options, nil)
+	executerOpts.Parser = templates.NewParser()
+
+	workflowLoader, err := workflow.NewLoader(executerOpts)
+	if err != nil {
+		b.Fatalf("could not create workflow loader: %s", err)
+	}
+	executerOpts.WorkflowLoader = workflowLoader
+
+	loaderCfg := loader.NewConfig(options, catalog, executerOpts)
+
+	store, err := loader.New(loaderCfg)
+	if err != nil {
+		b.Fatalf("could not create store: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	b.ResetTimer()
+	b.ReportAllocs()
+
+	for b.Loop() {
+		_ = store.ValidateTemplates()
+	}
+}
+
+func BenchmarkLoadTemplates(b *testing.B) {
+	options := testutils.DefaultOptions.Copy()
+	options.Logger = &gologger.Logger{}
+	options.ExecutionId = "bench-load-templates"
+	testutils.Init(options)
+
+	catalog := disk.NewCatalog(config.DefaultConfig.TemplatesDirectory)
+	executerOpts := testutils.NewMockExecuterOptions(options, nil)
+	executerOpts.Parser = templates.NewParser()
+
+	workflowLoader, err := workflow.NewLoader(executerOpts)
+	if err != nil {
+		b.Fatalf("could not create workflow loader: %s", err)
+	}
+	executerOpts.WorkflowLoader = workflowLoader
+
+	b.Run("NoFilter", func(b *testing.B) {
+		loaderCfg := loader.NewConfig(options, catalog, executerOpts)
+		store, err := loader.New(loaderCfg)
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("could not create store: %s", err)
+		}
+
+		b.ResetTimer()
+		b.ReportAllocs()
+
+		for b.Loop() {
+			_ = store.LoadTemplates([]string{config.DefaultConfig.TemplatesDirectory})
+		}
+	})
+
+	b.Run("FilterBySeverityCritical", func(b *testing.B) {
+		opts := options.Copy()
+		opts.Severities = severity.Severities{severity.Critical}
+		loaderCfg := loader.NewConfig(opts, catalog, executerOpts)
+
+		store, err := loader.New(loaderCfg)
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("could not create store: %s", err)
+		}
+
+		b.ResetTimer()
+		b.ReportAllocs()
+
+		for b.Loop() {
+			_ = store.LoadTemplates([]string{config.DefaultConfig.TemplatesDirectory})
+		}
+	})
+
+	b.Run("FilterBySeverityHighCritical", func(b *testing.B) {
+		opts := options.Copy()
+		opts.Severities = severity.Severities{severity.High, severity.Critical}
+		loaderCfg := loader.NewConfig(opts, catalog, executerOpts)
+
+		store, err := loader.New(loaderCfg)
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("could not create store: %s", err)
+		}
+
+		b.ResetTimer()
+		b.ReportAllocs()
+
+		for b.Loop() {
+			_ = store.LoadTemplates([]string{config.DefaultConfig.TemplatesDirectory})
+		}
+	})
+
+	b.Run("FilterByAuthor", func(b *testing.B) {
+		opts := options.Copy()
+		opts.Authors = []string{"pdteam"}
+		loaderCfg := loader.NewConfig(opts, catalog, executerOpts)
+
+		store, err := loader.New(loaderCfg)
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("could not create store: %s", err)
+		}
+
+		b.ResetTimer()
+		b.ReportAllocs()
+
+		for b.Loop() {
+			_ = store.LoadTemplates([]string{config.DefaultConfig.TemplatesDirectory})
+		}
+	})
+
+	b.Run("FilterByTags", func(b *testing.B) {
+		opts := options.Copy()
+		opts.Tags = []string{"cve", "rce"}
+		loaderCfg := loader.NewConfig(opts, catalog, executerOpts)
+
+		store, err := loader.New(loaderCfg)
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("could not create store: %s", err)
+		}
+
+		b.ResetTimer()
+		b.ReportAllocs()
+
+		for b.Loop() {
+			_ = store.LoadTemplates([]string{config.DefaultConfig.TemplatesDirectory})
+		}
+	})
+
+	b.Run("FilterByProtocol", func(b *testing.B) {
+		opts := options.Copy()
+		opts.Protocols = templateTypes.ProtocolTypes{templateTypes.HTTPProtocol}
+		loaderCfg := loader.NewConfig(opts, catalog, executerOpts)
+
+		store, err := loader.New(loaderCfg)
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("could not create store: %s", err)
+		}
+
+		b.ResetTimer()
+		b.ReportAllocs()
+
+		for b.Loop() {
+			_ = store.LoadTemplates([]string{config.DefaultConfig.TemplatesDirectory})
+		}
+	})
+
+	b.Run("ComplexFilter", func(b *testing.B) {
+		opts := options.Copy()
+		opts.Severities = severity.Severities{severity.High, severity.Critical}
+		opts.Authors = []string{"pdteam"}
+		opts.Tags = []string{"cve"}
+		loaderCfg := loader.NewConfig(opts, catalog, executerOpts)
+
+		store, err := loader.New(loaderCfg)
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("could not create store: %s", err)
+		}
+
+		b.ResetTimer()
+		b.ReportAllocs()
+
+		for b.Loop() {
+			_ = store.LoadTemplates([]string{config.DefaultConfig.TemplatesDirectory})
+		}
+	})
+}
+
+func BenchmarkLoadTemplatesOnlyMetadata(b *testing.B) {
+	options := testutils.DefaultOptions.Copy()
+	options.Logger = &gologger.Logger{}
+	options.ExecutionId = "bench-metadata"
+	testutils.Init(options)
+
+	catalog := disk.NewCatalog(config.DefaultConfig.TemplatesDirectory)
+	executerOpts := testutils.NewMockExecuterOptions(options, nil)
+	executerOpts.Parser = templates.NewParser()
+
+	workflowLoader, err := workflow.NewLoader(executerOpts)
+	if err != nil {
+		b.Fatalf("could not create workflow loader: %s", err)
+	}
+	executerOpts.WorkflowLoader = workflowLoader
+
+	b.Run("WithoutFilter", func(b *testing.B) {
+		loaderCfg := loader.NewConfig(options, catalog, executerOpts)
+		store, err := loader.New(loaderCfg)
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("could not create store: %s", err)
+		}
+
+		// Pre-warm the cache
+		_ = store.LoadTemplatesOnlyMetadata()
+
+		b.ResetTimer()
+		b.ReportAllocs()
+
+		for b.Loop() {
+			_ = store.LoadTemplatesOnlyMetadata()
+		}
+	})
+
+	b.Run("WithSeverityFilter", func(b *testing.B) {
+		opts := options.Copy()
+		opts.Severities = severity.Severities{severity.Critical}
+		loaderCfg := loader.NewConfig(opts, catalog, executerOpts)
+
+		store, err := loader.New(loaderCfg)
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("could not create store: %s", err)
+		}
+
+		// Pre-warm the cache
+		_ = store.LoadTemplatesOnlyMetadata()
+
+		b.ResetTimer()
+		b.ReportAllocs()
+
+		for b.Loop() {
+			_ = store.LoadTemplatesOnlyMetadata()
+		}
+	})
+}

pkg/catalog/loader/remote_loader.go

@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ func getRemoteContent(URL string, remoteTemplateDomainList []string, contentType
 		_ = response.Body.Close()
 	}()
 	if response.StatusCode < 200 || response.StatusCode > 299 {
-		return RemoteContent{Error: fmt.Errorf("get \"%s\": unexpect status %d", URL, response.StatusCode)}
+		return RemoteContent{Error: fmt.Errorf("get \"%s\": unexpected status %d", URL, response.StatusCode)}
 	}
 
 	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(response.Body)

pkg/core/execute_options.go

@@ -109,7 +109,6 @@ func (e *Engine) executeTemplateSpray(ctx context.Context, templatesList []*temp
 	defer wp.Wait()
 
 	for _, template := range templatesList {
-		template := template
 
 		select {
 		case <-ctx.Done():

pkg/core/executors.go

@@ -48,8 +48,15 @@ func (e *Engine) executeAllSelfContained(ctx context.Context, alltemplates []*te
 
 // executeTemplateWithTargets executes a given template on x targets (with a internal targetpool(i.e concurrency))
 func (e *Engine) executeTemplateWithTargets(ctx context.Context, template *templates.Template, target provider.InputProvider, results *atomic.Bool) {
-	// this is target pool i.e max target to execute
-	wg := e.workPool.InputPool(template.Type())
+	if e.workPool == nil {
+		e.workPool = e.GetWorkPool()
+	}
+	// Bounded worker pool using input concurrency
+	pool := e.workPool.InputPool(template.Type())
+	workerCount := 1
+	if pool != nil && pool.Size > 0 {
+		workerCount = pool.Size
+	}
 
 	var (
 		index uint32
@@ -78,6 +85,41 @@ func (e *Engine) executeTemplateWithTargets(ctx context.Context, template *templ
 		currentInfo.Unlock()
 	}
 
+	// task represents a single target execution unit
+	type task struct {
+		index uint32
+		skip  bool
+		value *contextargs.MetaInput
+	}
+
+	tasks := make(chan task)
+	var workersWg sync.WaitGroup
+	workersWg.Add(workerCount)
+	for i := 0; i < workerCount; i++ {
+		go func() {
+			defer workersWg.Done()
+			for t := range tasks {
+				func() {
+					defer cleanupInFlight(t.index)
+					select {
+					case <-ctx.Done():
+						return
+					default:
+					}
+					if t.skip {
+						return
+					}
+
+					match, err := e.executeTemplateOnInput(ctx, template, t.value)
+					if err != nil {
+						e.options.Logger.Warning().Msgf("[%s] Could not execute step on %s: %s\n", e.executerOpts.Colorizer.BrightBlue(template.ID), t.value.Input, err)
+					}
+					results.CompareAndSwap(false, match)
+				}()
+			}
+		}()
+	}
+
 	target.Iterate(func(scannedValue *contextargs.MetaInput) bool {
 		select {
 		case <-ctx.Done():
@@ -128,43 +170,13 @@ func (e *Engine) executeTemplateWithTargets(ctx context.Context, template *templ
 			return true
 		}
 
-		wg.Add()
-		go func(index uint32, skip bool, value *contextargs.MetaInput) {
-			defer wg.Done()
-			defer cleanupInFlight(index)
-			if skip {
-				return
-			}
-
-			var match bool
-			var err error
-			ctxArgs := contextargs.New(ctx)
-			ctxArgs.MetaInput = value
-			ctx := scan.NewScanContext(ctx, ctxArgs)
-			switch template.Type() {
-			case types.WorkflowProtocol:
-				match = e.executeWorkflow(ctx, template.CompiledWorkflow)
-			default:
-				if e.Callback != nil {
-					if results, err := template.Executer.ExecuteWithResults(ctx); err == nil {
-						for _, result := range results {
-							e.Callback(result)
-						}
-					}
-					match = true
-				} else {
-					match, err = template.Executer.Execute(ctx)
-				}
-			}
-			if err != nil {
-				e.options.Logger.Warning().Msgf("[%s] Could not execute step on %s: %s\n", e.executerOpts.Colorizer.BrightBlue(template.ID), value.Input, err)
-			}
-			results.CompareAndSwap(false, match)
-		}(index, skip, scannedValue)
+		tasks <- task{index: index, skip: skip, value: scannedValue}
 		index++
 		return true
 	})
-	wg.Wait()
+
+	close(tasks)
+	workersWg.Wait()
 
 	// on completion marks the template as completed
 	currentInfo.Lock()
@@ -202,26 +214,7 @@ func (e *Engine) executeTemplatesOnTarget(ctx context.Context, alltemplates []*t
 		go func(template *templates.Template, value *contextargs.MetaInput, wg *syncutil.AdaptiveWaitGroup) {
 			defer wg.Done()
 
-			var match bool
-			var err error
-			ctxArgs := contextargs.New(ctx)
-			ctxArgs.MetaInput = value
-			ctx := scan.NewScanContext(ctx, ctxArgs)
-			switch template.Type() {
-			case types.WorkflowProtocol:
-				match = e.executeWorkflow(ctx, template.CompiledWorkflow)
-			default:
-				if e.Callback != nil {
-					if results, err := template.Executer.ExecuteWithResults(ctx); err == nil {
-						for _, result := range results {
-							e.Callback(result)
-						}
-					}
-					match = true
-				} else {
-					match, err = template.Executer.Execute(ctx)
-				}
-			}
+			match, err := e.executeTemplateOnInput(ctx, template, value)
 			if err != nil {
 				e.options.Logger.Warning().Msgf("[%s] Could not execute step on %s: %s\n", e.executerOpts.Colorizer.BrightBlue(template.ID), value.Input, err)
 			}
@@ -229,3 +222,27 @@ func (e *Engine) executeTemplatesOnTarget(ctx context.Context, alltemplates []*t
 		}(tpl, target, sg)
 	}
 }
+
+// executeTemplateOnInput performs template execution for a single input and returns match status and error
+func (e *Engine) executeTemplateOnInput(ctx context.Context, template *templates.Template, value *contextargs.MetaInput) (bool, error) {
+	ctxArgs := contextargs.New(ctx)
+	ctxArgs.MetaInput = value
+	scanCtx := scan.NewScanContext(ctx, ctxArgs)
+
+	switch template.Type() {
+	case types.WorkflowProtocol:
+		return e.executeWorkflow(scanCtx, template.CompiledWorkflow), nil
+	default:
+		if e.Callback != nil {
+			results, err := template.Executer.ExecuteWithResults(scanCtx)
+			if err != nil {
+				return false, err
+			}
+			for _, result := range results {
+				e.Callback(result)
+			}
+			return len(results) > 0, nil
+		}
+		return template.Executer.Execute(scanCtx)
+	}
+}

pkg/core/executors_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,148 @@
+package core
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"sync/atomic"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	inputtypes "github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/input/types"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/output"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/protocols"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/protocols/common/contextargs"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/scan"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/templates"
+	tmpltypes "github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/templates/types"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/types"
+)
+
+// fakeExecuter is a simple stub for protocols.Executer used to test executeTemplateOnInput
+type fakeExecuter struct {
+	withResults bool
+}
+
+func (f *fakeExecuter) Compile() error                              { return nil }
+func (f *fakeExecuter) Requests() int                               { return 1 }
+func (f *fakeExecuter) Execute(ctx *scan.ScanContext) (bool, error) { return !f.withResults, nil }
+func (f *fakeExecuter) ExecuteWithResults(ctx *scan.ScanContext) ([]*output.ResultEvent, error) {
+	if !f.withResults {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+	return []*output.ResultEvent{{Host: "h"}}, nil
+}
+
+// newTestEngine creates a minimal Engine for tests
+func newTestEngine() *Engine {
+	return New(&types.Options{})
+}
+
+func Test_executeTemplateOnInput_CallbackPath(t *testing.T) {
+	e := newTestEngine()
+	called := 0
+	e.Callback = func(*output.ResultEvent) { called++ }
+
+	tpl := &templates.Template{}
+	tpl.Executer = &fakeExecuter{withResults: true}
+
+	ok, err := e.executeTemplateOnInput(context.Background(), tpl, &contextargs.MetaInput{Input: "x"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if !ok {
+		t.Fatalf("expected match true")
+	}
+	if called == 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected callback to be called")
+	}
+}
+
+func Test_executeTemplateOnInput_ExecutePath(t *testing.T) {
+	e := newTestEngine()
+	tpl := &templates.Template{}
+	tpl.Executer = &fakeExecuter{withResults: false}
+
+	ok, err := e.executeTemplateOnInput(context.Background(), tpl, &contextargs.MetaInput{Input: "x"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if !ok {
+		t.Fatalf("expected match true from Execute path")
+	}
+}
+
+type fakeExecuterErr struct{}
+
+func (f *fakeExecuterErr) Compile() error                              { return nil }
+func (f *fakeExecuterErr) Requests() int                               { return 1 }
+func (f *fakeExecuterErr) Execute(ctx *scan.ScanContext) (bool, error) { return false, nil }
+func (f *fakeExecuterErr) ExecuteWithResults(ctx *scan.ScanContext) ([]*output.ResultEvent, error) {
+	return nil, fmt.Errorf("boom")
+}
+
+func Test_executeTemplateOnInput_CallbackErrorPropagates(t *testing.T) {
+	e := newTestEngine()
+	e.Callback = func(*output.ResultEvent) {}
+	tpl := &templates.Template{}
+	tpl.Executer = &fakeExecuterErr{}
+
+	ok, err := e.executeTemplateOnInput(context.Background(), tpl, &contextargs.MetaInput{Input: "x"})
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("expected error to propagate")
+	}
+	if ok {
+		t.Fatalf("expected match to be false on error")
+	}
+}
+
+type fakeTargetProvider struct {
+	values []*contextargs.MetaInput
+}
+
+func (f *fakeTargetProvider) Count() int64 { return int64(len(f.values)) }
+func (f *fakeTargetProvider) Iterate(cb func(value *contextargs.MetaInput) bool) {
+	for _, v := range f.values {
+		if !cb(v) {
+			return
+		}
+	}
+}
+func (f *fakeTargetProvider) Set(string, string) {}
+func (f *fakeTargetProvider) SetWithProbe(string, string, inputtypes.InputLivenessProbe) error {
+	return nil
+}
+func (f *fakeTargetProvider) SetWithExclusions(string, string) error { return nil }
+func (f *fakeTargetProvider) InputType() string                      { return "test" }
+func (f *fakeTargetProvider) Close()                                 {}
+
+type slowExecuter struct{}
+
+func (s *slowExecuter) Compile() error { return nil }
+func (s *slowExecuter) Requests() int  { return 1 }
+func (s *slowExecuter) Execute(ctx *scan.ScanContext) (bool, error) {
+	select {
+	case <-ctx.Context().Done():
+		return false, ctx.Context().Err()
+	case <-time.After(200 * time.Millisecond):
+		return true, nil
+	}
+}
+func (s *slowExecuter) ExecuteWithResults(ctx *scan.ScanContext) ([]*output.ResultEvent, error) {
+	return nil, nil
+}
+
+func Test_executeTemplateWithTargets_RespectsCancellation(t *testing.T) {
+	e := newTestEngine()
+	e.SetExecuterOptions(&protocols.ExecutorOptions{Logger: e.Logger, ResumeCfg: types.NewResumeCfg(), ProtocolType: tmpltypes.HTTPProtocol})
+
+	tpl := &templates.Template{}
+	tpl.Executer = &slowExecuter{}
+
+	targets := &fakeTargetProvider{values: []*contextargs.MetaInput{{Input: "a"}, {Input: "b"}, {Input: "c"}}}
+
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+	cancel()
+
+	var matched atomic.Bool
+	e.executeTemplateWithTargets(ctx, tpl, targets, &matched)
+}

pkg/core/workflow_execute.go

@@ -34,17 +34,14 @@ func (e *Engine) executeWorkflow(ctx *scan.ScanContext, w *workflows.Workflow) b
 	swg, _ := syncutil.New(syncutil.WithSize(templateThreads))
 
 	for _, template := range w.Workflows {
-		swg.Add()
-
-		func(template *workflows.WorkflowTemplate) {
-			defer swg.Done()
-
-			if err := e.runWorkflowStep(template, ctx, results, swg, w); err != nil {
-				gologger.Warning().Msgf(workflowStepExecutionError, template.Template, err)
-			}
-		}(template)
+		newCtx := scan.NewScanContext(ctx.Context(), ctx.Input.Clone())
+		if err := e.runWorkflowStep(template, newCtx, results, swg, w); err != nil {
+			gologger.Warning().Msgf(workflowStepExecutionError, template.Template, err)
+		}
 	}
+
 	swg.Wait()
+
 	return results.Load()
 }
 

pkg/external/customtemplates/github.go

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/gologger"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/catalog/config"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/types"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/utils/errkit"
 	fileutil "github.com/projectdiscovery/utils/file"
 	folderutil "github.com/projectdiscovery/utils/folder"
 	"golang.org/x/oauth2"
@@ -46,19 +47,45 @@ func (customTemplate *customTemplateGitHubRepo) Update(ctx context.Context) {
 	downloadPath := config.DefaultConfig.CustomGitHubTemplatesDirectory
 	clonePath := customTemplate.getLocalRepoClonePath(downloadPath)
 
-	// If folder does not exits then clone/download the repo
+	// If folder does not exist then clone/download the repo
 	if !fileutil.FolderExists(clonePath) {
 		customTemplate.Download(ctx)
 		return
 	}
+
+	// Attempt to pull changes and handle the result
+	customTemplate.handlePullChanges(clonePath)
+}
+
+// handlePullChanges attempts to pull changes and logs the appropriate message
+func (customTemplate *customTemplateGitHubRepo) handlePullChanges(clonePath string) {
 	err := customTemplate.pullChanges(clonePath, customTemplate.githubToken)
-	if err != nil {
-		gologger.Error().Msgf("%s", err)
-	} else {
-		gologger.Info().Msgf("Repo %s/%s successfully pulled the changes.\n", customTemplate.owner, customTemplate.reponame)
+
+	switch {
+	case err == nil:
+		customTemplate.logPullSuccess()
+	case errors.Is(err, git.NoErrAlreadyUpToDate):
+		customTemplate.logAlreadyUpToDate(err)
+	default:
+		customTemplate.logPullError(err)
 	}
 }
 
+// logPullSuccess logs a success message when changes are pulled
+func (customTemplate *customTemplateGitHubRepo) logPullSuccess() {
+	gologger.Info().Msgf("Repo %s/%s successfully pulled the changes.\n", customTemplate.owner, customTemplate.reponame)
+}
+
+// logAlreadyUpToDate logs an info message when repo is already up to date
+func (customTemplate *customTemplateGitHubRepo) logAlreadyUpToDate(err error) {
+	gologger.Info().Msgf("%s", err)
+}
+
+// logPullError logs an error message when pull fails
+func (customTemplate *customTemplateGitHubRepo) logPullError(err error) {
+	gologger.Error().Msgf("%s", err)
+}
+
 // NewGitHubProviders returns new instance of GitHub providers for downloading custom templates
 func NewGitHubProviders(options *types.Options) ([]*customTemplateGitHubRepo, error) {
 	providers := []*customTemplateGitHubRepo{}
@@ -187,7 +214,7 @@ func (ctr *customTemplateGitHubRepo) pullChanges(repoPath, githubToken string) e
 
 	err = w.Pull(pullOpts)
 	if err != nil {
-		return errors.Errorf("%s/%s: %s", ctr.owner, ctr.reponame, err.Error())
+		return errkit.Wrapf(err, "%s/%s", ctr.owner, ctr.reponame)
 	}
 
 	return nil

pkg/fuzz/analyzers/time/time_delay.go

@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ func checkTimingDependency(
 
 	var requestsSent []requestsSentMetadata
 	for requestsLeft > 0 {
-		isCorrelationPossible, delayRecieved, err := sendRequestAndTestConfidence(regression, highSleepTimeSeconds, requestSender, baselineDelay)
+		isCorrelationPossible, delayReceived, err := sendRequestAndTestConfidence(regression, highSleepTimeSeconds, requestSender, baselineDelay)
 		if err != nil {
 			return false, "", err
 		}
@@ -69,29 +69,29 @@ func checkTimingDependency(
 			return false, "", nil
 		}
 		// Check the delay is greater than baseline by seconds requested
-		if delayRecieved < baselineDelay+float64(highSleepTimeSeconds)*0.8 {
+		if delayReceived < baselineDelay+float64(highSleepTimeSeconds)*0.8 {
 			return false, "", nil
 		}
 		requestsSent = append(requestsSent, requestsSentMetadata{
 			delay:         highSleepTimeSeconds,
-			delayReceived: delayRecieved,
+			delayReceived: delayReceived,
 		})
 
-		isCorrelationPossibleSecond, delayRecievedSecond, err := sendRequestAndTestConfidence(regression, int(DefaultLowSleepTimeSeconds), requestSender, baselineDelay)
+		isCorrelationPossibleSecond, delayReceivedSecond, err := sendRequestAndTestConfidence(regression, int(DefaultLowSleepTimeSeconds), requestSender, baselineDelay)
 		if err != nil {
 			return false, "", err
 		}
 		if !isCorrelationPossibleSecond {
 			return false, "", nil
 		}
-		if delayRecievedSecond < baselineDelay+float64(DefaultLowSleepTimeSeconds)*0.8 {
+		if delayReceivedSecond < baselineDelay+float64(DefaultLowSleepTimeSeconds)*0.8 {
 			return false, "", nil
 		}
 		requestsLeft = requestsLeft - 2
 
 		requestsSent = append(requestsSent, requestsSentMetadata{
 			delay:         int(DefaultLowSleepTimeSeconds),
-			delayReceived: delayRecievedSecond,
+			delayReceived: delayReceivedSecond,
 		})
 	}
 

pkg/fuzz/component/body.go

@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/gologger"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/fuzz/dataformat"
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/retryablehttp-go"
-	readerutil "github.com/projectdiscovery/utils/reader"
 )
 
 // Body is a component for a request body
@@ -132,12 +131,10 @@ func (b *Body) Rebuild() (*retryablehttp.Request, error) {
 		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "could not encode body")
 	}
 	cloned := b.req.Clone(context.Background())
-	reusableReader, err := readerutil.NewReusableReadCloser(encoded)
+	err = cloned.SetBodyString(encoded)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "could not create reusable reader")
+		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "could not set body")
 	}
-	cloned.Body = reusableReader
-	cloned.ContentLength = int64(len(encoded))
 	cloned.Header.Set("Content-Length", strconv.Itoa(len(encoded)))
 	return cloned, nil
 }

pkg/fuzz/component/path.go

@@ -89,15 +89,15 @@ func (q *Path) Delete(key string) error {
 func (q *Path) Rebuild() (*retryablehttp.Request, error) {
 	// Get the original path segments
 	originalSplitted := strings.Split(q.req.Path, "/")
-	
+
 	// Create a new slice to hold the rebuilt segments
 	rebuiltSegments := make([]string, 0, len(originalSplitted))
-	
+
 	// Add the first empty segment (from leading "/")
 	if len(originalSplitted) > 0 && originalSplitted[0] == "" {
 		rebuiltSegments = append(rebuiltSegments, "")
 	}
-	
+
 	// Process each segment
 	segmentIndex := 1 // 1-based indexing for our stored values
 	for i := 1; i < len(originalSplitted); i++ {
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ func (q *Path) Rebuild() (*retryablehttp.Request, error) {
 			// Skip empty segments
 			continue
 		}
-		
+
 		// Check if we have a replacement for this segment
 		key := strconv.Itoa(segmentIndex)
 		if newValue, exists := q.value.parsed.Map.GetOrDefault(key, "").(string); exists && newValue != "" {
@@ -116,10 +116,10 @@ func (q *Path) Rebuild() (*retryablehttp.Request, error) {
 		}
 		segmentIndex++
 	}
-	
+
 	// Join the segments back into a path
 	rebuiltPath := strings.Join(rebuiltSegments, "/")
-	
+
 	if unescaped, err := urlutil.PathDecode(rebuiltPath); err == nil {
 		// this is handle the case where anyportion of path has url encoded data
 		// by default the http/request official library will escape/encode special characters in path

pkg/fuzz/component/path_test.go

@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ func TestPathComponent_SQLInjection(t *testing.T) {
 	// Let's see what path segments are available for fuzzing
 	err = path.Iterate(func(key string, value interface{}) error {
 		t.Logf("Key: %s, Value: %s", key, value.(string))
-		
+
 		// Try fuzzing the "55" segment specifically (which should be key "2")
 		if value.(string) == "55" {
 			if setErr := path.SetValue(key, "55 OR True"); setErr != nil {
@@ -116,14 +116,14 @@ func TestPathComponent_SQLInjection(t *testing.T) {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
-	
+
 	t.Logf("Modified path: %s", newReq.Path)
-	
+
 	// Now with PathEncode, spaces are preserved correctly for SQL injection
 	if newReq.Path != "/user/55 OR True/profile" {
 		t.Fatalf("expected path to be '/user/55 OR True/profile', got '%s'", newReq.Path)
 	}
-	
+
 	// Let's also test what the actual URL looks like
 	t.Logf("Full URL: %s", newReq.String())
 }

pkg/fuzz/dataformat/json.go

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import (
 // and not arrays
 //
 // TODO: Support arrays + other JSON oddities by
-// adding more attirbutes to the map[string]interface{}
+// adding more attributes to the map[string]interface{}
 type JSON struct{}
 
 var (

pkg/fuzz/dataformat/multipart.go

@@ -27,7 +27,29 @@ var (
 
 // NewMultiPartForm returns a new MultiPartForm encoder
 func NewMultiPartForm() *MultiPartForm {
-	return &MultiPartForm{}
+	return &MultiPartForm{
+		filesMetadata: make(map[string]FileMetadata),
+	}
+}
+
+// SetFileMetadata sets the file metadata for a given field name
+func (m *MultiPartForm) SetFileMetadata(fieldName string, metadata FileMetadata) {
+	if m.filesMetadata == nil {
+		m.filesMetadata = make(map[string]FileMetadata)
+	}
+
+	m.filesMetadata[fieldName] = metadata
+}
+
+// GetFileMetadata gets the file metadata for a given field name
+func (m *MultiPartForm) GetFileMetadata(fieldName string) (FileMetadata, bool) {
+	if m.filesMetadata == nil {
+		return FileMetadata{}, false
+	}
+
+	metadata, exists := m.filesMetadata[fieldName]
+
+	return metadata, exists
 }
 
 // IsType returns true if the data is MultiPartForm encoded
@@ -125,16 +147,24 @@ func (m *MultiPartForm) ParseBoundary(contentType string) error {
 	if m.boundary == "" {
 		return fmt.Errorf("no boundary found in the content type")
 	}
+
+	// NOTE(dwisiswant0): boundary cannot exceed 70 characters according to
+	// RFC-2046.
+	if len(m.boundary) > 70 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("boundary exceeds maximum length of 70 characters")
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }
 
 // Decode decodes the data from MultiPartForm format
 func (m *MultiPartForm) Decode(data string) (KV, error) {
+	if m.boundary == "" {
+		return KV{}, fmt.Errorf("boundary not set, call ParseBoundary first")
+	}
+
 	// Create a buffer from the string data
 	b := bytes.NewBufferString(data)
-	// The boundary parameter should be extracted from the Content-Type header of the HTTP request
-	// which is not available in this context, so this is a placeholder for demonstration.
-	// You will need to pass the actual boundary value to this function.
 	r := multipart.NewReader(b, m.boundary)
 
 	form, err := r.ReadForm(32 << 20) // 32MB is the max memory used to parse the form
@@ -153,30 +183,44 @@ func (m *MultiPartForm) Decode(data string) (KV, error) {
 			result.Set(key, values[0])
 		}
 	}
-	m.filesMetadata = make(map[string]FileMetadata)
+
+	if m.filesMetadata == nil {
+		m.filesMetadata = make(map[string]FileMetadata)
+	}
+
 	for key, files := range form.File {
 		fileContents := []interface{}{}
+		var fileMetadataList []FileMetadata
+
 		for _, fileHeader := range files {
 			file, err := fileHeader.Open()
 			if err != nil {
 				return KV{}, err
 			}
-			defer func() {
-				_ = file.Close()
-			}()
 
 			buffer := new(bytes.Buffer)
 			if _, err := buffer.ReadFrom(file); err != nil {
+				_ = file.Close()
+
 				return KV{}, err
 			}
+			_ = file.Close()
+
 			fileContents = append(fileContents, buffer.String())
 
-			m.filesMetadata[key] = FileMetadata{
+			fileMetadataList = append(fileMetadataList, FileMetadata{
 				ContentType: fileHeader.Header.Get("Content-Type"),
 				Filename:    fileHeader.Filename,
-			}
+			})
 		}
+
 		result.Set(key, fileContents)
+
+		// NOTE(dwisiswant0): store the first file's metadata instead of the
+		// last one
+		if len(fileMetadataList) > 0 {
+			m.filesMetadata[key] = fileMetadataList[0]
+		}
 	}
 	return KVOrderedMap(&result), nil
 }

pkg/fuzz/dataformat/multipart_test.go

@@ -240,3 +240,131 @@ Python
 	assert.Contains(t, documentsArray, "fake_pdf_content_1")
 	assert.Contains(t, documentsArray, "fake_pdf_content_2")
 }
+
+func TestMultiPartForm_SetGetFileMetadata(t *testing.T) {
+	form := NewMultiPartForm()
+	metadata := FileMetadata{
+		ContentType: "image/jpeg",
+		Filename:    "test.jpg",
+	}
+	form.SetFileMetadata("avatar", metadata)
+
+	// Test GetFileMetadata for existing field
+	retrievedMetadata, exists := form.GetFileMetadata("avatar")
+	assert.True(t, exists)
+	assert.Equal(t, metadata.ContentType, retrievedMetadata.ContentType)
+	assert.Equal(t, metadata.Filename, retrievedMetadata.Filename)
+
+	// Test GetFileMetadata for non-existing field
+	_, exists = form.GetFileMetadata("nonexistent")
+	assert.False(t, exists)
+}
+
+func TestMultiPartForm_FilesMetadataInitialization(t *testing.T) {
+	form := NewMultiPartForm()
+	assert.NotNil(t, form.filesMetadata)
+
+	metadata := FileMetadata{
+		ContentType: "text/plain",
+		Filename:    "test.txt",
+	}
+	form.SetFileMetadata("file", metadata)
+
+	retrievedMetadata, exists := form.GetFileMetadata("file")
+	assert.True(t, exists)
+	assert.Equal(t, metadata, retrievedMetadata)
+}
+
+func TestMultiPartForm_BoundaryValidation(t *testing.T) {
+	form := NewMultiPartForm()
+
+	// Test valid boundary
+	err := form.ParseBoundary("multipart/form-data; boundary=testboundary")
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, "testboundary", form.boundary)
+
+	// Test missing boundary
+	err = form.ParseBoundary("multipart/form-data")
+	assert.Error(t, err)
+	assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "no boundary found")
+
+	// Test boundary too long (over 70 characters)
+	longBoundary := "multipart/form-data; boundary=" + string(make([]byte, 71))
+	for i := range longBoundary[len("multipart/form-data; boundary="):] {
+		longBoundary = longBoundary[:len("multipart/form-data; boundary=")+i] + "a" + longBoundary[len("multipart/form-data; boundary=")+i+1:]
+	}
+
+	err = form.ParseBoundary(longBoundary)
+	assert.Error(t, err)
+	assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "boundary exceeds maximum length")
+}
+
+func TestMultiPartForm_DecodeRequiresBoundary(t *testing.T) {
+	form := NewMultiPartForm()
+
+	// Decode should fail if boundary is not set
+	_, err := form.Decode("some data")
+	assert.Error(t, err)
+	assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "boundary not set")
+}
+
+func TestMultiPartForm_MultipleFilesMetadata(t *testing.T) {
+	form := NewMultiPartForm()
+	form.boundary = "----WebKitFormBoundaryMultiFileTest"
+
+	// Test with multiple files having the same field name
+	multipartData := `------WebKitFormBoundaryMultiFileTest
+Content-Disposition: form-data; name="documents"; filename="file1.txt"
+Content-Type: text/plain
+
+content1
+------WebKitFormBoundaryMultiFileTest
+Content-Disposition: form-data; name="documents"; filename="file2.txt"
+Content-Type: text/plain
+
+content2
+------WebKitFormBoundaryMultiFileTest--
+`
+
+	decoded, err := form.Decode(multipartData)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Verify files are decoded correctly
+	documents := decoded.Get("documents")
+	require.NotNil(t, documents)
+	documentsArray, ok := documents.([]interface{})
+	require.True(t, ok)
+	require.Len(t, documentsArray, 2)
+	assert.Contains(t, documentsArray, "content1")
+	assert.Contains(t, documentsArray, "content2")
+
+	// Verify metadata for the field exists (should be from the first file)
+	metadata, exists := form.GetFileMetadata("documents")
+	assert.True(t, exists)
+	assert.Equal(t, "text/plain", metadata.ContentType)
+	assert.Equal(t, "file1.txt", metadata.Filename) // Should be from first file, not last
+}
+
+func TestMultiPartForm_SetFileMetadataWithNilMap(t *testing.T) {
+	form := &MultiPartForm{}
+
+	// SetFileMetadata should handle nil filesMetadata
+	metadata := FileMetadata{
+		ContentType: "application/pdf",
+		Filename:    "document.pdf",
+	}
+	form.SetFileMetadata("doc", metadata)
+
+	// Should be able to retrieve the metadata
+	retrievedMetadata, exists := form.GetFileMetadata("doc")
+	assert.True(t, exists)
+	assert.Equal(t, metadata, retrievedMetadata)
+}
+
+func TestMultiPartForm_GetFileMetadataWithNilMap(t *testing.T) {
+	form := &MultiPartForm{}
+
+	// GetFileMetadata should handle nil filesMetadata gracefully
+	_, exists := form.GetFileMetadata("anything")
+	assert.False(t, exists)
+}

pkg/fuzz/frequency/tracker.go

@@ -20,15 +20,15 @@ import (
 // This is used to reduce the number of requests made during fuzzing
 // for parameters that are less likely to give results for a rule.
 type Tracker struct {
-	frequencies             gcache.Cache
-	paramOccurenceThreshold int
+	frequencies              gcache.Cache
+	paramOccurrenceThreshold int
 
 	isDebug bool
 }
 
 const (
-	DefaultMaxTrackCount           = 10000
-	DefaultParamOccurenceThreshold = 10
+	DefaultMaxTrackCount            = 10000
+	DefaultParamOccurrenceThreshold = 10
 )
 
 type cacheItem struct {
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ type cacheItem struct {
 
 // New creates a new frequency tracker with a given maximum
 // number of params to track in LRU fashion with a max error threshold
-func New(maxTrackCount, paramOccurenceThreshold int) *Tracker {
+func New(maxTrackCount, paramOccurrenceThreshold int) *Tracker {
 	gc := gcache.New(maxTrackCount).ARC().Build()
 
 	var isDebug bool
@@ -46,9 +46,9 @@ func New(maxTrackCount, paramOccurenceThreshold int) *Tracker {
 		isDebug = true
 	}
 	return &Tracker{
-		isDebug:                 isDebug,
-		frequencies:             gc,
-		paramOccurenceThreshold: paramOccurenceThreshold,
+		isDebug:                  isDebug,
+		frequencies:              gc,
+		paramOccurrenceThreshold: paramOccurrenceThreshold,
 	}
 }
 
@@ -56,10 +56,10 @@ func (t *Tracker) Close() {
 	t.frequencies.Purge()
 }
 
-// MarkParameter marks a parameter as frequently occuring once.
+// MarkParameter marks a parameter as frequently occurring once.
 //
-// The logic requires a parameter to be marked as frequently occuring
-// multiple times before it's considered as frequently occuring.
+// The logic requires a parameter to be marked as frequently occurring
+// multiple times before it's considered as frequently occurring.
 func (t *Tracker) MarkParameter(parameter, target, template string) {
 	normalizedTarget := normalizeTarget(target)
 	key := getFrequencyKey(parameter, normalizedTarget, template)
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ func (t *Tracker) MarkParameter(parameter, target, template string) {
 	_ = t.frequencies.Set(key, existingCacheItemValue)
 }
 
-// IsParameterFrequent checks if a parameter is frequently occuring
+// IsParameterFrequent checks if a parameter is frequently occurring
 // in the input with no much results.
 func (t *Tracker) IsParameterFrequent(parameter, target, template string) bool {
 	normalizedTarget := normalizeTarget(target)
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ func (t *Tracker) IsParameterFrequent(parameter, target, template string) bool {
 	}
 	existingCacheItemValue := existingCacheItem.(*cacheItem)
 
-	if existingCacheItemValue.errors.Load() >= int32(t.paramOccurenceThreshold) {
+	if existingCacheItemValue.errors.Load() >= int32(t.paramOccurrenceThreshold) {
 		existingCacheItemValue.Do(func() {
 			gologger.Verbose().Msgf("[%s] Skipped %s from parameter for %s as found uninteresting %d times", template, parameter, target, existingCacheItemValue.errors.Load())
 		})
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ func (t *Tracker) IsParameterFrequent(parameter, target, template string) bool {
 	return false
 }
 
-// UnmarkParameter unmarks a parameter as frequently occuring. This carries
+// UnmarkParameter unmarks a parameter as frequently occurring. This carries
 // more weight and resets the frequency counter for the parameter causing
 // it to be checked again. This is done when results are found.
 func (t *Tracker) UnmarkParameter(parameter, target, template string) {

pkg/fuzz/parts.go

@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ func (rule *Rule) executePartComponentOnKV(input *ExecuteRuleInput, payload Valu
 				return qerr
 			}
 
-			// after building change back to original value to avoid repeating it in furthur requests
+			// after building change back to original value to avoid repeating it in further requests
 			if origKey != "" {
 				err = ruleComponent.SetValue(origKey, types.ToString(origValue)) // change back to previous value for temp
 				if err != nil {

pkg/input/README.md

@@ -25,5 +25,5 @@ Currently Nuclei Supports three input providers:
 func NewInputProvider(opts InputOptions) (InputProvider, error)
 ```
 
-This function returns a InputProvider based by appropriately selecting input provider based on the input format (i.e either list or http) and returns the provider that can handle that input format.
+This function returns a InputProvider based by appropriately selecting input provider based on the input format (i.e. either list or http) and returns the provider that can handle that input format.
 

pkg/input/formats/burp/burp.go

@@ -43,7 +43,6 @@ func (j *BurpFormat) Parse(input io.Reader, resultsCb formats.ParseReqRespCallba
 
 	// Print the parsed data for verification
 	for _, item := range items.Items {
-		item := item
 		binx, err := base64.StdEncoding.DecodeString(item.Request.Raw)
 		if err != nil {
 			return errors.Wrap(err, "could not decode base64")

pkg/input/formats/formats.go

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/input/types"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/retryablehttp-go"
 	fileutil "github.com/projectdiscovery/utils/file"
 	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
 )
@@ -28,6 +29,12 @@ type InputFormatOptions struct {
 	// RequiredOnly only uses required fields when generating requests
 	// instead of all fields
 	RequiredOnly bool
+	// VarsTextTemplating uses Variables and inject it into the input
+	// this is used for text templating of variables based on carvel ytt
+	// Only available for Yaml formats
+	VarsTextTemplating bool
+	// VarsFilePaths is the path to the file containing variables
+	VarsFilePaths []string
 }
 
 // Format is an interface implemented by all input formats
@@ -41,6 +48,16 @@ type Format interface {
 	SetOptions(options InputFormatOptions)
 }
 
+// SpecDownloader is an interface for downloading API specifications from URLs
+type SpecDownloader interface {
+	// Download downloads the spec from the given URL and saves it to tmpDir
+	// Returns the path to the downloaded file
+	// httpClient is a retryablehttp.Client instance (can be nil for fallback)
+	Download(url, tmpDir string, httpClient *retryablehttp.Client) (string, error)
+	// SupportedExtensions returns the list of supported file extensions
+	SupportedExtensions() []string
+}
+
 var (
 	DefaultVarDumpFileName = "required_openapi_params.yaml"
 	ErrNoVarsDumpFile      = errors.New("no required params file found")

pkg/input/formats/openapi/downloader.go

@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+package openapi
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/url"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/pkg/errors"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/input/formats"
+	"github.com/projectdiscovery/retryablehttp-go"
+)
+
+// OpenAPIDownloader implements the SpecDownloader interface for OpenAPI 3.0 specs
+type OpenAPIDownloader struct{}
+
+// NewDownloader creates a new OpenAPI downloader
+func NewDownloader() formats.SpecDownloader {
+	return &OpenAPIDownloader{}
+}
+
+// This function downloads an OpenAPI 3.0 spec from the given URL and saves it to tmpDir
+func (d *OpenAPIDownloader) Download(urlStr, tmpDir string, httpClient *retryablehttp.Client) (string, error) {
+	// Validate URL format, OpenAPI 3.0 specs are typically JSON
+	if !strings.HasSuffix(urlStr, ".json") {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("URL does not appear to be an OpenAPI JSON spec")
+	}
+
+	const maxSpecSizeBytes = 10 * 1024 * 1024 // 10MB
+
+	// Use provided httpClient or create a fallback
+	var client *http.Client
+	if httpClient != nil {
+		client = httpClient.HTTPClient
+	} else {
+		// Fallback to simple client if no httpClient provided
+		client = &http.Client{Timeout: 30 * time.Second}
+	}
+
+	resp, err := client.Get(urlStr)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", errors.Wrap(err, "failed to download OpenAPI spec")
+	}
+
+	defer func() {
+		_ = resp.Body.Close()
+	}()
+
+	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("HTTP %d when downloading OpenAPI spec", resp.StatusCode)
+	}
+
+	bodyBytes, err := io.ReadAll(io.LimitReader(resp.Body, maxSpecSizeBytes))
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", errors.Wrap(err, "failed to read response body")
+	}
+
+	// Validate it's a valid JSON and has OpenAPI structure
+	var spec map[string]interface{}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(bodyBytes, &spec); err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("downloaded content is not valid JSON: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	// Check if it's an OpenAPI 3.0 spec
+	if openapi, exists := spec["openapi"]; exists {
+		if openapiStr, ok := openapi.(string); ok && strings.HasPrefix(openapiStr, "3.") {
+			// Valid OpenAPI 3.0 spec
+		} else {
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("not a valid OpenAPI 3.0 spec (found version: %v)", openapi)
+		}
+	} else {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("not an OpenAPI spec (missing 'openapi' field)")
+	}
+
+	// Extract host from URL for server configuration
+	parsedURL, err := url.Parse(urlStr)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", errors.Wrap(err, "failed to parse URL")
+	}
+	host := parsedURL.Host
+	scheme := parsedURL.Scheme
+	if scheme == "" {
+		scheme = "https"
+	}
+
+	// Add servers section if missing or empty
+	servers, exists := spec["servers"]
+	if !exists || servers == nil {
+		spec["servers"] = []map[string]interface{}{{"url": scheme + "://" + host}}
+	} else if serverList, ok := servers.([]interface{}); ok && len(serverList) == 0 {
+		spec["servers"] = []map[string]interface{}{{"url": scheme + "://" + host}}
+	}
+
+	// Marshal back to JSON
+	modifiedJSON, err := json.Marshal(spec)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", errors.Wrap(err, "failed to marshal modified spec")
+	}
+
+	// Create output directory
+	openapiDir := filepath.Join(tmpDir, "openapi")
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(openapiDir, 0755); err != nil {
+		return "", errors.Wrap(err, "failed to create openapi directory")
+	}
+
+	// Generate filename
+	filename := fmt.Sprintf("openapi-spec-%d.json", time.Now().Unix())
+	filePath := filepath.Join(openapiDir, filename)
+
+	// Write file
+	file, err := os.Create(filePath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to create file: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	defer func() {
+		_ = file.Close()
+	}()
+
+	if _, writeErr := file.Write(modifiedJSON); writeErr != nil {
+		_ = os.Remove(filePath)
+		return "", errors.Wrap(writeErr, "failed to write OpenAPI spec to file")
+	}
+
+	return filePath, nil
+}
+
+// SupportedExtensions returns the list of supported file extensions for OpenAPI
+func (d *OpenAPIDownloader) SupportedExtensions() []string {
+	return []string{".json"}
+}

pkg/input/formats/openapi/downloader_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,278 @@
+package openapi
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+func TestOpenAPIDownloader_SupportedExtensions(t *testing.T) {
+	downloader := &OpenAPIDownloader{}
+	extensions := downloader.SupportedExtensions()
+
+	expected := []string{".json"}
+	if len(extensions) != len(expected) {
+		t.Errorf("Expected %d extensions, got %d", len(expected), len(extensions))
+	}
+
+	for i, ext := range extensions {
+		if ext != expected[i] {
+			t.Errorf("Expected extension %s, got %s", expected[i], ext)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestOpenAPIDownloader_Download_Success(t *testing.T) {
+	// Create a mock OpenAPI spec
+	mockSpec := map[string]interface{}{
+		"openapi": "3.0.0",
+		"info": map[string]interface{}{
+			"title":   "Test API",
+			"version": "1.0.0",
+		},
+		"paths": map[string]interface{}{
+			"/test": map[string]interface{}{
+				"get": map[string]interface{}{
+					"summary": "Test endpoint",
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	// Create mock server
+	server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+		if err := json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(mockSpec); err != nil {
+			http.Error(w, "failed to encode response", http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		}
+	}))
+	defer server.Close()
+
+	// Create temp directory
+	tmpDir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "openapi_test")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to create temp dir: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	defer func() {
+		if err := os.RemoveAll(tmpDir); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("Failed to remove temp dir: %v", err)
+		}
+	}()
+
+	// Test download
+	downloader := &OpenAPIDownloader{}
+	filePath, err := downloader.Download(server.URL+"/openapi.json", tmpDir, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Download failed: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Verify file exists
+	if !fileExists(filePath) {
+		t.Errorf("Downloaded file does not exist: %s", filePath)
+	}
+
+	// Verify file content
+	content, err := os.ReadFile(filePath)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to read downloaded file: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	var downloadedSpec map[string]interface{}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(content, &downloadedSpec); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to parse downloaded JSON: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Verify servers field was added
+	servers, exists := downloadedSpec["servers"]
+	if !exists {
+		t.Error("Servers field was not added to the spec")
+	}
+
+	if serversList, ok := servers.([]interface{}); ok {
+		if len(serversList) == 0 {
+			t.Error("Servers list is empty")
+		}
+	} else {
+		t.Error("Servers field is not a list")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestOpenAPIDownloader_Download_NonJSONURL(t *testing.T) {
+	tmpDir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "openapi_test")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to create temp dir: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	defer func() {
+		if err := os.RemoveAll(tmpDir); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("Failed to remove temp dir: %v", err)
+		}
+	}()
+
+	downloader := &OpenAPIDownloader{}
+	_, err = downloader.Download("http://example.com/spec.yaml", tmpDir, nil)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Error("Expected error for non-JSON URL, but got none")
+	}
+
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "URL does not appear to be an OpenAPI JSON spec") {
+		t.Errorf("Unexpected error message: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestOpenAPIDownloader_Download_HTTPError(t *testing.T) {
+	// Create mock server that returns 404
+	server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNotFound)
+	}))
+	defer server.Close()
+
+	tmpDir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "openapi_test")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to create temp dir: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	defer func() {
+		if err := os.RemoveAll(tmpDir); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("Failed to remove temp dir: %v", err)
+		}
+	}()
+
+	downloader := &OpenAPIDownloader{}
+	_, err = downloader.Download(server.URL+"/openapi.json", tmpDir, nil)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Error("Expected error for HTTP 404, but got none")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestOpenAPIDownloader_Download_InvalidJSON(t *testing.T) {
+	// Create mock server that returns invalid JSON
+	server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+		if _, err := w.Write([]byte("invalid json")); err != nil {
+			http.Error(w, "failed to write response", http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		}
+	}))
+	defer server.Close()
+
+	tmpDir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "openapi_test")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to create temp dir: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	defer func() {
+		if err := os.RemoveAll(tmpDir); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("Failed to remove temp dir: %v", err)
+		}
+	}()
+
+	downloader := &OpenAPIDownloader{}
+	_, err = downloader.Download(server.URL+"/openapi.json", tmpDir, nil)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Error("Expected error for invalid JSON, but got none")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestOpenAPIDownloader_Download_Timeout(t *testing.T) {
+	// Create mock server with delay
+	server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		time.Sleep(35 * time.Second) // Longer than 30 second timeout
+		if err := json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(map[string]interface{}{"test": "data"}); err != nil {
+			http.Error(w, "failed to encode response", http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		}
+	}))
+	defer server.Close()
+
+	tmpDir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "openapi_test")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to create temp dir: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	defer func() {
+		if err := os.RemoveAll(tmpDir); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("Failed to remove temp dir: %v", err)
+		}
+	}()
+
+	downloader := &OpenAPIDownloader{}
+	_, err = downloader.Download(server.URL+"/openapi.json", tmpDir, nil)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Error("Expected timeout error, but got none")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestOpenAPIDownloader_Download_WithExistingServers(t *testing.T) {
+	// Create a mock OpenAPI spec with existing servers
+	mockSpec := map[string]interface{}{
+		"openapi": "3.0.0",
+		"info": map[string]interface{}{
+			"title":   "Test API",
+			"version": "1.0.0",
+		},
+		"servers": []interface{}{
+			map[string]interface{}{
+				"url": "https://existing-server.com",
+			},
+		},
+		"paths": map[string]interface{}{},
+	}
+
+	// Create mock server
+	server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+		if err := json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(mockSpec); err != nil {
+			http.Error(w, "failed to encode response", http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		}
+	}))
+	defer server.Close()
+
+	tmpDir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "openapi_test")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to create temp dir: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	defer func() {
+		if err := os.RemoveAll(tmpDir); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("Failed to remove temp dir: %v", err)
+		}
+	}()
+
+	downloader := &OpenAPIDownloader{}
+	filePath, err := downloader.Download(server.URL+"/openapi.json", tmpDir, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Download failed: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Verify existing servers are preserved
+	content, err := os.ReadFile(filePath)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to read downloaded file: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	var downloadedSpec map[string]interface{}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(content, &downloadedSpec); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to parse downloaded JSON: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	servers, exists := downloadedSpec["servers"]
+	if !exists {
+		t.Error("Servers field was removed from the spec")
+	}
+
+	if serversList, ok := servers.([]interface{}); ok {
+		if len(serversList) != 1 {
+			t.Errorf("Expected 1 server, got %d", len(serversList))
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// Helper function to check if file exists
+func fileExists(filename string) bool {
+	_, err := os.Stat(filename)
+	return !os.IsNotExist(err)
+}