Web Application Security Testing
A Web app or Web application is an application program stored on a remote server and delivered through a browser interface over the internet. A web application processes sensitive data of users such as financial information, personal information, etc., so they are always a target of cybercriminals. As web apps are evolving and becoming more and more complex, the range of exploitable vulnerabilities is also increasing. Thus security tests to discover the vulnerabilities of web applications are necessary so that developers can remove the vulnerabilities and protect from cyber-attacks.
What is Web Application Security Testing?
It is the process of testing, analyzing, and assessing a web application for security flaws or security loopholes which are also called vulnerabilities; in order to prevent data breaches, malware, and other forms of cyberattacks.
Security means that only authorized access is granted to protected data and any kind of unauthorized access to the system is denied. So, security has two major aspects namely, the protection of data and second is access to that data.
It is used by security administrators and web developers to test and assess the Web application's security strength using manual or automated security testing techniques.
Why is Web Application Security Testing Important?
Digitization has made our life very easy, the handheld applications on mobile allow us to do many works like banking, shopping, financial investments, etc. very easily. These have many utilities but at the same time, one has to be cautious of hackers and cyber threats, as the hackers are developing more and more sophisticated techniques to bypass the established security standards. As such, regular web security testing is of utmost importance so that we can be warned of any vulnerability that may be used against the apps.
Testing Methodology and Approach
Information Gathering
Gathering information is the first step when a hacker tries to get information about the target. Hackers use different sources and tools to get more information about the target.
Threat Modeling
Threat modeling is a process by which potential threats, such as structural vulnerabilities or the absence of appropriate safeguards, can be identified, enumerated, and mitigations can be prioritized.
Vulnerability Analysis
A vulnerability assessment is an in-depth analysis of the building functions, systems, and site characteristics to identify building weaknesses and lack of redundancy, and determine mitigations or corrective actions that can be designed or implemented to reduce the vulnerabilities.
Exploitation
In computer security, a vulnerability is a weakness that can be exploited by a threat actor, such as an attacker, to perform unauthorized actions within a computer system. To exploit a vulnerability, an attacker must have at least one applicable tool or technique that can connect to a system weakness.
Post Exploitation
As the term suggests, post-exploitation basically means the phases of operation once a victim's system has been compromised by the attacker. The value of the compromised system is determined by the value of the actual data stored in it and how an attacker may make use of it for malicious purposes.
Reporting
Preparation of report as per severity along with a remedial recommendation. evidence against claims and recommendations after successfully exploiting all vulnerabilities we prepare detailed reports including Proof of concept and recommendations.
OWASP Top 10 Risks Scanned in the Report
Testing Controls Assessed During Audit
Configuration Management Testing
- SSL/TLS Testing (SSL Version, Algorithms, Key length, Digital Cert. Validity)
- Application Configuration Management Testing
- Old, backup, and unreferenced files
- Host Header Testing
- Buffer Overflow Testing
- Application Admin Interfaces
Authentication Testing
- Credentials transport over an encrypted channel
- Testing for Guessable (Dictionary) User Account
- Brute Force Testing
- Testing for bypassing authentication schema
- No Rate Limiting Testing
- Testing for reset password
- Testing for CAPTCHA
Session Management
- 2FA Testing
- Session validation Testing
- Testing for Session Fixation
- Testing for CSRF
Authorization Testing
- Testing for Path Traversal
- Testing for bypassing authorization schema
- CORS Testing
- Testing for Privilege Escalation
Business Logic Testing
- Test business logic data validation
- Test Integrity Checks
- Test for Process Timing
- Test Upload of Unexpected File Types
- Test Upload of Malicious Files
Injection Testing
- SQL Injection
- LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) injection
- XML Injection
- XPATH Injection
- CSS Injection
- HTML Injection
Cross-Site Scripting Testing
- Testing for Reflected Cross-Site Scripting
- Testing for Stored Cross Site Scripting
- Testing for DOM based Cross Site Scripting
Sensitive Data Exposure Testing
- HSTS Testing
- Referrer Policy Testing
- Options Method Testing
- Source Code Disclosure Testing
Summary
Web application security pertains to building websites to function as expected even when they are under attack. It involves engineering a collection of security controls into a web application to protect its assets from potentially malicious agents. The aim of web security testing is to find security vulnerabilities in web applications and their configuration.
Test & Secure Your Web Applications
Schedule an OWASP Top 10 Web Application Security Test with Jinnicore to detect vulnerabilities, prevent data breaches, and receive detailed remediation reports.