OWASP ASVS (Application Security Verification Standard)
An open checklist of security requirements for web apps and APIs, in three levels, used for design, testing and assessments such as CASA.
The ASVS turns “is it secure” into checkable requirements: authentication, sessions, access control, input handling, cryptography, logging and more. Level 1 is a baseline, level 2 fits most apps holding user data, level 3 is for high-assurance systems. Version 5.0 came out in May 2025. Google’s CASA assessment is based on it, so passing CASA means answering ASVS-style questions with evidence.
Related terms
- CASA (Cloud Application Security Assessment): The security assessment based on OWASP ASVS that Google requires for apps using restricted scopes, such as Gmail data.
- OWASP Top 10: The OWASP Foundation’s list of the ten most critical web application security risks, updated every few years.
- CSP (Content Security Policy): An HTTP header that tells the browser which scripts, styles and connections a page may use, limiting the damage of injected code.
