What are the most common web content security risks?

1 Cross-site scripting (XSS)

Cross-site scripting (XSS) is a type of injection attack that allows an attacker to inject malicious code into your web pages, which can then execute in the browser of your users. This can lead to stealing cookies, session tokens, personal information, or redirecting users to phishing or malware sites. To prevent XSS, you should always validate and sanitize user input, escape output, use Content Security Policy (CSP) headers, and implement anti-CSRF tokens.

2 SQL injection (SQLi)

SQL injection (SQLi) is another type of injection attack that allows an attacker to manipulate your database queries by inserting malicious SQL statements into your web forms or URLs. This can lead to data leakage, data corruption, or even complete takeover of your database. To prevent SQLi, you should never concatenate user input into your SQL queries, use parameterized queries or prepared statements, limit database privileges, and use firewall rules.

3 Cross-site request forgery (CSRF)

Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) is a type of attack that forces your users to perform unwanted actions on your website, such as changing their password, transferring funds, or deleting their account. This can happen when an attacker tricks your users into clicking a link or visiting a site that contains a hidden request to your website, which is then executed with their credentials. To prevent CSRF, you should use anti-CSRF tokens, validate the origin and referer headers, and use SameSite cookies.

4 Broken authentication and session management

Broken authentication and session management is a type of vulnerability that allows an attacker to gain unauthorized access to your users' accounts or sessions, by exploiting weak or stolen credentials, session hijacking, session fixation, or brute force attacks. This can lead to identity theft, fraud, or data compromise. To prevent broken authentication and session management, you should use strong passwords, enforce password policies, implement multi-factor authentication, use secure cookies, and expire sessions.

5 Insecure direct object references (IDOR)

Insecure direct object references (IDOR) is a type of vulnerability that allows an attacker to access or modify resources that they are not authorized to, by manipulating the parameters or URLs that refer to those resources. For example, an attacker can change the user ID or order ID in the URL to access or modify another user's profile or order. To prevent IDOR, you should use indirect references, such as UUIDs or hashes, instead of direct references, such as IDs or names, and implement access control checks.

6 Sensitive data exposure

Sensitive data exposure is a type of vulnerability that allows an attacker to access or intercept your users' sensitive data, such as personal information, credit card numbers, passwords, or tokens, by exploiting weak encryption, insecure storage, or improper transmission. This can lead to data breach, identity theft, or fraud. To prevent sensitive data exposure, you should encrypt data at rest and in transit, use HTTPS and SSL/TLS, avoid storing sensitive data unnecessarily, and follow the principle of least privilege.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?