Evaluate how secure the functionality of your application is

Evaluate how secure the functionality of your application is

Many websites are affected by web application architecture vulnerabilities, although few webmasters classify or acknowledge them. These issues are planned into a web application and are simple to identify, but because they might merge with the functioning of the site, you might not see them. Hackers can recognise them, although developers, quality assurance (QA) engineers, and security experts might not. This white paper provides information on the unforeseen, prospective security implications of web applications to all players in the software development lifecycle.

Identifying web vulnerabilities in architecture

Internal flaws in an application’s design are known as architecture web vulnerabilities. Without appropriate safeguards, attackers may use capabilities in ways that developers never intended. As with the majority of security flaws on the Internet today, the vulnerabilities cannot be fixed with adequate input validation. Architecture flaws demand that security be built into the programme from the start. Remember that in order to stop hackers from successfully launching exploits, you must think like a hacker. 

Most consumers won’t be aware of architectural flaws. For instance, a product manager can ask for more website features like a subscription mailer. A website developer that may be security mindful incorporates the feature. It is examined by a QA experts in functional testing field who assesses whether it is sufficiently secure and functioning. A simple security engineer typically ignores the new capability from scans since they do not identify security threats.

Verification of vulnerabilities

Why would someone choose not to browse certain parts of a website? The simple explanation is that scanning a particular page might exploit a flaw and harm the website. The scanner is therefore configured to ignore that page. Therefore, unless the scan covers that area, vulnerabilities typically surface after a scan takes place.

Although they have been identified as vulnerabilities, security experts have known about these flaws for years. These flaws are referred to as “gotchas” or problematic regions of the website. Web crawlers browse an application, click on links, fill out forms, and then attack everything they come across. Scanners send too much data or too many times to a form that won’t accept it in order to identify architecture weaknesses. The application is poorly built if a scanner visits a location it shouldn’t or performs an unexpected action.

Administration divisions

On the same server and port as the application, some programmes feature an administration part. Some administration features let you add or delete users, add or remove modules, uninstall modules, change passwords, conduct batch operations, and even shut down the server.

The controls are stored in a random-named directory. Security by obscurity is ineffective in this situation because a hacker can attempt to return data by guessing application pathways and targets. To access the administration part, other sections need a web form. A user name and password are required on the form. If the username and password are both strong, this strategy may work well.

Ideally, you need to combine a few steps:

1. Use a distinct host name or separate server for the administration portion.

2. If at all possible, limit access to the other server and host name to only internal IP addresses from your firm and domain.

3. If it must be external, web server authentication should be used on the management page.

4. Ensure that you defend against attacks on the directory above the administration section:

  1. The hacker can no longer access the directory because of the status code 404 (NOT FOUND). Set it up to return a 404 (NOT FOUND) HTTP status code rather than a 403 (FORBIDDEN), 401 (UNAUTHORIZED), or 200 OK status code.  
  2. Give the directory a unique name that will be difficult for an attack dictionary to decipher. Avoid using “admin” or any variants of it.

Mail vulnerabilities

When a mailer form is hit by a scanner, many people complain. Mailers are widespread on the Internet, but if the right precautions aren’t taken, criminals can abuse them. A web application often features an input box where a user may enter either contact information or an email address to send an email. 

There are various kinds of mailers, including:

• Forms for email subscriptions: Users can enter their email addresses to subscribe to updates.

• Registration forms: An email is sent to the user to verify the information after they generate a username and password to access a website.

• Forms for “Contact Us”. A general email address, such as [email protected], is used to send an enquiry, or the customer support team is contacted using a form that contains an issue. Even though nothing may be found in the scan, the scanner still makes hundreds of requests, which causes the mail server to become overloaded with emails to send.

Forums 

A forum is an online programme that enables users to publish ideas, viewpoints, or inquiries to a discussion board where other users can respond. The majority of forums contain security flaws in their architecture, making them vulnerable to attacks.

Before posting anything on the site, users of many forums must register. A forum may also email users with a link to validate their email addresses in order to authenticate their user information: This is a bug in the mailer architecture. Some websites permit an unlimited number of postings once an account has been created. Attackers can use programmes to flood the server with posts and replies, saturating the website with their content until one of the administrators “cleans up” the site.

On forums, there are various strategies to stop harmful postings. Every posting should have a CAPTCHA to stop script assaults. Additionally, based on the quantity of postings submitted without a warning, you can assign users different trust levels.

Apps performing heavy load

On the Internet, there are a lot of heavy load applications. An airline booking page or a straightforward search box are both examples of heavy traffic applications. Hackers may send 70,000 requests to the programme per minute, each of which seems like it came from a real user. Although you might classify this as a denial of service attack, the real issue is an architecture vulnerability. 

Your application could be vulnerable if it takes a long time to serve a legitimate request. Valid users may notice that the site is operating very slowly when scanners hit these programmes. Make sure to load test the site to prevent applications with high load. There are many load testing tools available, including open source tools. Make certain that your QA team runs tests, including performance analysis, and that load testing is done properly.

Conclusion

Since a while ago, functional testers have examined online apps before scanners are run over them and discovered places where scanners goof up, posing a challenge for application administrators. These are the web application’s vulnerabilities, thus you must carefully inspect them. You have a vulnerability and need to fix it if a scanner damages portions of an application, generates a lot of emails, or shuts down servers. Keep in mind that if a scanner can do it, that means a hacker might too.

Martha Hall
Writer Martha has been with the team since she graduated from college on the top of her class years ago, and has been training new young minds on writing articles that makes it to our web pages today.