Mitigate Web Application Vulnerabilities and Attacks Flashcards
An injection attack occurs when the attacker inserts malicious code through an
application interface
Directory Traversal
A web application vulnerability that allows an attacker either to download a file
from an arbitrary location on the host file system or to upload an executable or
script file to open a backdoor
File Inclusion
An attacker executes a script to inject a remote file into the web app or website
Remote File Inclusion
An attacker adds a file to the web app or website that already exists on the
hosting server
Local File Inclusion
A malicious script hosted on the attacker’s site or coded in a link injected onto a
trusted site designed to compromise clients browsing the trusted site,
circumventing the browser’s security model of trusted zones
Cross-Site Scripting
An attack that inserts code into a back-end database used by the trusted site
Persistent XSS
An attack that exploits the client’s web browser using client-side scripts to modify
the content and layout of a web page
Document Object Model (DOM) XSS
Structured Query Language (SQL) is used to select, insert, delete, or update data within a database
SQL Injection
Insertion of additional information or code through data input from a client to an
application
Injection Attack
Attack consisting of the insertion or injection of an SQL query via input data from
the client to a web application
SQL Injection
XML data submitted without encryption or input validation is vulnerable to spoofing,
request forgery, and injection of arbitrary code
XML Vulnerabilities
XML encodes entities that expand to exponential sizes, consuming memory on
the host and potentially crashing it
XML Bomb (Billion Laughs Attack)
An attack that embeds a request for a local resource
XML External Entity (XXE)
Any technique used to ensure that the data entered into a field or variable in an
application is handled appropriately by that application
Input Validation
A string is stripped of illegal characters or substrings and converted to the
accepted character set
Normalization
Attack method where input characters are encoded in such a way as to evade
vulnerable input validation measures
Canonicalization Attack
Coding methods to sanitize output by converting untrusted input into a safe form
where the input is displayed as data to the user without executing as code in the
browser
Output Encoding
A technique that defends against SQL injection and insecure object references by
incorporating placeholders in a SQL query
Parameterized Queries
A software-based attack where the goal is to assume the identity of a user,
process, address, or other unique identifier
Spoofing
An attack where the attacker sits between two communicating hosts and
transparently captures, monitors, and relays all communication between the
hosts
Man-in-the-Middle Attack
Brute force attack in which multiple user accounts are tested with a dictionary of
common passwords
Password Spraying
Brute force attack in which stolen user account names and passwords are tested
against multiple websites
Credential Stuffing
A software vulnerability where the authentication mechanism allows an attacker
to gain entry
▪ Weak password credentials
▪ Weak password reset methods
▪ Credential exposure
▪ Session hijacking
Broken Authentication
Session management is a fundamental security component in web applications
Session Management
Text file used to store information about a user when they visit a website
Cookie
Cookies that are stored in the browser cache until they are deleted by the user or
pass a defined expiration date
Persistent Cookie
A type of spoofing attack where the attacker disconnects a host then replaces it
with his or her own machine, spoofing the original host’s IP address
Session Hijacking
A type of spoofing attack where the attacker attempts to predict the session
token to hijack a session
Session Prediction Attacks
A malicious script hosted on the attacker’s site that can exploit a session started
on another site in the same browser
Cross-Site Request Forgery (XSRF/CSRF)
Modifies the contents of a cookie after it has been generated and sent by the web
service to the client’s browser so that the newly modified cookie can be used to
exploit vulnerabilities in the web app
Cookie Poisoning
A software vulnerability where an attacker is able to circumvent access controls and
retrieve confidential or sensitive data from the file system or database
Sensitive Data Exposure
A type of hijacking attack that forces a user to unintentionally click a link that is embedded in or
hidden by other web page elements
Clickjacking
