Common Web Application Vulnerabilities

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“No language can prevent insecure code, although there are language features which could aid or hinder a security-conscious developer.” – Chris Shiflett

Web applications are becoming complex and feature-rich due to increasing consumer demand for an ever more engaging web. This has to be attended by an impulsive approach of software developers with which they shall release new versions of web applications. Even though DevOps agility enables faster release cycles, web security becomes harder to scale. Vulnerabilities of web applications are increasingly becoming dangerous for many reasons. Web breaches risk the loss of a company’s reputation and clients’ trust. In an era, where privacy is considered as a priority, regulations such as GDPR are binding privacy concerns and businesses with financial penalties and data breach disclosures.

According to the 2019 edition of the Acunetix Web Application Vulnerability Report, the sites affected are as follows: [1]

46% of websites have high-security vulnerabilities
87% of websites have medium-security vulnerabilities
30% of web applications are vulnerable to XXS (Cross-Site Scripting)

S.No.	Type of Web Application Vulnerability	Brief Description
1.	Application Vulnerabilities	Flaws and weaknesses in an application that could be exploited to compromise the security of the application.
2.	Credentials Management	This attack attempts to compromise username, password, or signup details with an intention to take control of user accounts.
3.	Buffer Overflow	It occurs when the buffer data space is filled, and the extra data is flowing in the adjacent storage.
4.	Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)	CSRF is a type of malicious attack that manipulate a user’s browser and performs actions that are not directed by the authorized user.
5.	Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)	XSS attacks target scripts on a page executed on the client-side and not on the server-side.
6.	CRLF Injection	It is a type of attack that refers to the special character elements “Carriage Return” and “Line Feed.” An attacker injects a CRLF sequence into an HTTP stream.
7.	Encapsulation	It is a programming approach that revolves around functions or data that is encapsulated, designed in a set of operating instructions.
8.	Error Handling	The system reveals error messages from stack traces, in detail, error handling occurs. It is the outcome of a variety of other problems like database dumps, null pointer exceptions, network timeout errors, etc.
9.	Format String	It occurs when an application interprets data and consider it as command of the attacker and allow access to the underlying code base.
10.	LDAP Injection	It can exploit web applications that are based on client-supplied data in LDAP statements without stripping harmful characters from the request in the first step.
11.	SQL Injection	It is a type of database attack where an attacker submits a database SQL command, and the query is executed by a web application, exposing the back-end data.
12.	OS Command Injection	It involves dynamically generated content referring to a critical application vulnerability. The attackers use a vulnerable application to execute an arbitrary command on a host operating system.
13.	Directory Traversal	It is a type of HTTP exploit which allows unauthorized access to the attacker over restricted directories and files.
14.	Insecure Cryptographic Storage	This may occur when sensitive data is not stored securely from internal users.
15.	Malicious Code	Malicious code is injected in any part of a script or software system via analysis tools that may cause undesired output, damages, or security breaches.
16.	Failure to Restrict URL Access	This stand among the top 10 vulnerabilities listed on the Open Web Application Security’s Project (OWASP). It is regarded as the most critical vulnerabilities by OWASP.
17.	Race Condition	An attack when a computer system that is forced to perform two or more operations simultaneously.
18.	Insufficient Transport Layer Protection	It is a security weakness that happens when the applications meant to take security measures to protect network traffic fail to perform.

For many companies, until they experience a security breach, web security practice remains to be far from a priority for them. Being ‘Proactive’ and ‘Defensive’ is a practical approach to web security threats. A bachelor program will help you build your IT security knowledge from the basics to the most critical of the attacks.

EC-Council University offers a two-year Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity (BSCS) that has a course (CIS 405) on internet security and web security. The degree program is entirely online, and it is aimed at dealing with various security attacks.

EC-Council University is dedicated to creating superior educational programs in the field of cybersecurity. The degree programs will equip graduates with the knowledge to assess the latest IT security risks and expert skills to handle them successfully. ECCU has industry practitioners as faculty members who also serve as mentors for the students when they aspire to get into cybersecurity. The iLabs facility from the university helps in gaining hands-on practice to the students.

The university offers Bachelor and Master programs at the degree level. The Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity (BSCS) gives required exposure, builds cybersecurity skills, and develops leadership abilities that help any candidate to grow as a cybersecurity professional. Master of Science in Cybersecurity (MSCS) makes you expertise in desired skills and helps you in gaining domain knowledge to stand ahead in the competition.

ECCU is accredited by Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC) which is a recognized accrediting agency by the U.S. Department of Education and is also an acknowledged member of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).

Source:

[1] https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/4595665/Acunetix_web_application_vulnerability_report_2019.pdf