CSC/ECE 517 Fall 2014/ch1a 23 ss: Difference between revisions
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= | = Threats Against Web Applications = | ||
==Background== | ==Background== | ||
Web applications can be challenging for a developer to properly secure against threats. There are many attack vectors against web applications that must be carefully considered and mitigated. The developer must be responsible to understand these threats and take the necessary steps to secure the application and data. A web application may be | Web applications can be challenging for a developer to properly secure against threats. There are many attack vectors against web applications that must be carefully considered and mitigated. The developer must be responsible to understand these threats and take the necessary steps to secure the application and data. A web application may be vulnurable due to misconfiguration, poorly written code, or through un-patched vulnerabilities.The threats against web applications include | ||
==Cookie Management== | ==Cookie Management== | ||
Cookies are used to maintain stateful sessions in HTTP. The cookies typically contain the user's session id which is used to identify the user. By stealing it, the attacker can use the application in the victim's name. | Cookies are used to maintain stateful sessions in HTTP. The cookies typically contain the user's session id which is used to identify the user. By stealing it, the attacker can use the application in the victim's name. | ||
Revision as of 03:25, 18 September 2014
Security Features in Rails 4.x
This wiki aims to highlight all the security features in a popular web application framework: Rails 4.x
Threats Against Web Applications
Background
Web applications can be challenging for a developer to properly secure against threats. There are many attack vectors against web applications that must be carefully considered and mitigated. The developer must be responsible to understand these threats and take the necessary steps to secure the application and data. A web application may be vulnurable due to misconfiguration, poorly written code, or through un-patched vulnerabilities.The threats against web applications include
Cookie Management
Cookies are used to maintain stateful sessions in HTTP. The cookies typically contain the user's session id which is used to identify the user. By stealing it, the attacker can use the application in the victim's name. Hence programmers should not store sensitive data in cookies. The fix is
Use SSL
SSL prevents the attacker from sniffing the cookie from the network. config.force_ssl = true
New Session Identifier
Configure Rails to issue a new session identifier and declare the old one invalid after a successful login. This prevents "Session Fixation".
Timeout Cookies
Set the expiry time stamp of the cookie to a small value.
Injection
An attacker can inject client site executable code. When the victim renders it, it can steal the cookie, hijack the session and redirect the victim to a different page.
Cross Site Scripting (XSS)
SQL Injection
Ajax Injection
Header Injection
Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
This attack method works by including malicious code or a link in a page that accesses a web application that the user is believed to have authenticated. If the session for that web application has not timed out, an attacker may execute unauthorized commands.
Security Token
All non GET request should use a security token.
Redirection
File Upload
User Security Policies
Password Protection
Good passwords
Brute Force attack
CAPTCHAs
Security Enhancements
CSRF via Leaky #match Routes
Regular Expression Anchors in Format Validations
Clickjacking
User-Readable Sessions
Unresolved Issues
Verbose Servers Headers
Binding to 0.0.0.0
Versioned Secret Tokens
Logging Values in SQL statements
Offsite Redirects
Reference
http://blog.codeclimate.com/blog/2013/03/27/rails-insecure-defaults/