http://212.100.234.54/content/55/28862.html

By John Leyden
Posted: 14/01/2003

An open source security group has put together a helpful list of the
ten most critical web application security vulnerabilities.

Although plenty of attention is given to the nuisance of viruses and
the risks posed by insecure firewall configuration, application
security is arguably an even more important risk area. The checklist
from the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) is therefore a
timely reminder of the types of problems people can run into in the
application security arena.

The list, designed to help organizations understand and improve the
security of their web applications and web services, is a worthwhile
pointer for both Web developers and vendors.

OWASP's top risks list

1. Invalidated parameters: Failure to validate information from a Web
   requests before these are used by a Web application. Attackers can
   use these flaws to attack backend systems through a Web application.

2. Broken access control: Restrictions on what authenticated users
   are allowed to do are often not properly enforced. Attacks use this
   to access other users' accounts, view sensitive files or run
   unauthorised functions.

3. Broken account and session management: Account credentials and
   session tokens left without proper protection, leading to the
   risk that crackers could assume victims' identities.

4. Cross-site scripting flaws: A modern classic - mistakes here mean
   Web applications can be used as a mechanism to steal session tokens,
   attack a local machine or spoof content.

5. Buffer overflows: Arguable the most common type of security risk
   (so why isn't it number one? Ed). Sloppy programming means
   applications fail to properly validate inputs - so maliciously
   constructed, malformed requests can crash a process and be used to
   inject hostile code into target machines.

6. Command injection flaws: If an attacker can embed malicious
   commands in parameters passed to external systems these may be
   executed on behalf of a web application, to unpleasant effect.

7. Error handling problems: If an attacker can cause errors which are
   improperly handled, all manner of mischief (information disclosure,
   system crashes etc.) might be possible.

8. Insecure use of cryptography: Web apps frequently use cryptography.
   If that's not coded properly, sensitive information won't be adequately
   protected.

9. Remote administration flaws: If remote Web admin tools are
   insecure then an attacker stands a chance of gaining full access to
   all aspects of a site.

10. Web and application server misconfiguration: Don't trust out of
    the box security

OWASP says the flaws is highlights are "surprisingly common and can be
exploited by unsophisticated attackers with easily available tools".

"When an organization deploys a web application, they invite the world
to send HTTP requests. Attacks buried in these requests sail past
firewalls, filters, platform hardening, SSL, and IDS without notice
because they are inside legal HTTP requests. Therefore, web
application code is part of the security perimeter and cannot be
ignored," it adds.

Indeed.

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