Common Vulnerabilities in Web Applications

Common Vulnerabilities

XSS is one of the most common vulnerabilities in web applications, and it continues to grow year over year. Input sanitization failure allows an attacker to insert malicious JavaScript code into the browser, which executes the malicious code. This code may contain a link, or it may be more sinister, and can post cookies to an attacker’s server. If you have web applications, you must consider how to protect yourself from these attacks.

Insecure third-party components are one of the largest culprits in exploiting common vulnerabilities in web applications. Fortunately, these vulnerabilities are often patched by third-party developers, but attackers often wait for the details to launch attacks on these critical components. Exploiting this vulnerability would give an attacker access to sensitive files on a web server, including all the data managed by the web platform. Because of this, it’s crucial for companies to limit the use of third-party components in their development.

Insufficient or broken access controls are another common problem. Broken access controls allow attackers to bypass authentication and perform tasks in the role of administrators. In addition, web applications can allow users to change their account by altering part of the url. Because of this vulnerability, attackers will not be deterred by your UI design. It’s always possible to forge a user’s request for a hidden functionality. Therefore, it’s important to ensure that you implement adequate access controls for sensitive information and other sensitive information.

Another common vulnerability is SQL Injection. Using SQL Injection to gain access to sensitive information on a database is easy if a user has the ability to manipulate data stored in the database. This type of vulnerability is found in one out of four tested web applications. Using SQL Injection, an attacker can obtain sensitive information from the database by inserting malicious code. Some other common vulnerabilities are OS Commanding, XML External Entities, and Path Traversing.

Common Vulnerabilities in Web Applications

Injection flaws are caused by a lack of input filtering. Injection attacks can take advantage of database or directory vulnerabilities. They target input fields like usernames and passwords, which are not properly filtered. In addition, attackers can exploit this vulnerability through a front-end UI, which can allow the attacker to access sensitive data. This is called “sensitive data exposure” and it is the most common type of web application vulnerability.

Cross-site scripting exploits APIs and DOM manipulations to execute malicious JavaScript code on the victim’s browser. This vulnerability can be exploited by attackers to hijack user accounts, access browser histories, and control the browser remotely. Some of the common solutions to prevent XSS attacks include training developers in best practices and data encryption. Then again, developers should check their code for security vulnerabilities by using vulnerability scanners.

Input manipulation flaws are another type of common web application vulnerability. These flaws arise from misconfigured sites or insecure components. Common Internet security threats include injection and authentication flaws, insecure direct object references, and unfiltered redirects. When designing your site, make sure that you sanitize all user input. If you want to protect sensitive data from unauthorized access, you should use secure-flags.