This document discusses the OWASP Top 10 security exploits and provides prevention strategies. It covers injection flaws like SQL injection and command injection, broken authentication and session management, cross-site scripting (XSS), insecure direct object references, security misconfiguration, sensitive data exposure, missing access controls, cross-site request forgery (CSRF), using outdated components with known vulnerabilities, and unvalidated redirects/forwards. The document emphasizes input validation, output encoding, access control, secure configurations, encryption, and updating components to avoid these common vulnerabilities.

1. AVOIDING THE OWASP
Top 10 security exploits
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2. ME
Illustrator turned developer
PHP developer for 8 years
Architect/Developer at FreshBooks
Lead developer of CakePHP
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3. SECURITY
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4. SECURITY CONTINUUM
(
unusable
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)
unrestricted

5. OWASP
Open Web Application Security Project
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6. OWASP TOP 10
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7. 1
INJECTION
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‘ OR 1=1 ‘--

8. RISKS
Command - Permits arbitrary shell commands.
SQL - Permits query manipulation, and arbitrary SQL.
Bad guys can run arbitrary code/queries.
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9. SQL INJECTION EXAMPLE
$username = $_POST[‘username’];
$password = $_POST[‘password’];
$query = “SELECT * FROM user
WHERE username = ‘$username’
AND password = ‘$password’”;
$user = $db->query($query);
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10. USER INPUT
$username = “root”;
$password = “‘ OR 1 = 1 --”;
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11. FINAL QUERY
$query = “SELECT * FROM user
WHERE username = ‘root’
AND password = ‘‘ OR 1 = 1 --”;
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12. FINAL QUERY
$query = “SELECT * FROM user
WHERE username = ‘root’
AND password = ‘‘ OR 1 = 1 --”;
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13. PREVENTION
Use an ORM or Database abstraction layer that
provides escaping. Doctrine, ZendTable, and
CakePHP all do this.
Use PDO and prepared statements.
Never interpolate user data into a query.
Never use regular expressions, magic quotes, or
addslashes()
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14. EXAMPLE (PDO)
$query = “SELECT * FROM user
WHERE username = ?
AND password = ?”;
$stmt = $db->prepare($query);
$stmt->bindValue($username);
$stmt->bindValue($password);
$result = $db->execute();
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15. COMMAND INJECTION
$file = $_POST[‘file’];
$res = file_get_contents($file);
echo $res;
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16. USER INPUT
$f = “../../../../../../etc/passwd”;
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17. PREVENTION
Escape and validate input.
Check for ..
Check for ;
Ensure the realpath resolves to a file that is allowed.
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18. 2
BROKEN AUTHENTICATION
& SESSION MANAGEMENT
/index.php?PHPSESSID=pwned
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19. RISKS
Identity theft.
Firesheep was an excellent example.
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20. SESSION FIXATION EXAMPLE
<?php
session_start();
if (isset($_GET[‘sessionid’]) {
session_id($_GET[‘sessionid’]);
}
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21. SESSION FIXATION EXAMPLE
<?php
session_start();
if (isset($_GET[‘sessionid’]) {
session_id($_GET[‘sessionid’]);
}
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22. PREVENTION
Rotate session identifiers upon login/logout
Set the HttpOnly flag on session cookies.
Use well tested / mature libraries for authentication.
SSL is always a good idea.
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23. 3
XSS
<script>alert(‘cross site scripting’);</script>
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24. RISKS
Allows bad guys to do things as the person viewing a
page.
Steal identities, passwords, credit cards, hijack pages
and more.
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25. XSS EXAMPLE
<p>
<?php echo $user[‘bio’]; ?>
</p>
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26. XSS EXAMPLE
<p>
<?php echo $user[‘bio’]; ?>
</p>
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27. I know, I can use regular expressions!
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28. NO
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29. PREVENTION
Regular expressions and strip_tags leave you
vulnerable.
The only robust solution is output encoding.
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30. EXAMPLE
<p>
<?php echo htmlentities(
$user[‘bio’],
ENT_QUOTES,
‘UTF-8’
); ?>
</p>
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31. DANGERS
Manually encoding is error prone, and you will make
a mistake.
Using a template library like Twig that provides autoescaping reduces the chances of screwing up.
Encoding is dependent on context.
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32. 4
INSECURE DIRECT OBJECT
REFERENCE
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33. RISKS
Bad guys can access information they shouldn’t
Bad guys can modify data they shouldn’t.
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34. BROKEN PASSWORD UPDATE
<form action=”/user/update” method=”post”>
<input type=”hidden” name=”userid” value=”4654” />
<input type=”text” name=”new_password” />
<button type=”submit”>Save</button>
</form>
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35. PREVENTION
Remember hidden inputs are not really hidden, and
can be changed by users.
Validate access to all things, don’t depend on things
being hidden/invisible.
If you need to refer to the current user, use session
data not form inputs.
Whitelist properties any form can update.
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36. 5
SECURITY
MISCONFIGURATION
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37. RISKS
Default settings can be insecure, and intended for
development not production.
Attackers can use misconfigured software to gain
knowledge and access.
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38. PREVENTION
Know the tools you use, and configure them
correctly.
Keep up to date on vulnerabilities in the tools you
use.
Remove/disable any services/features you aren’t using.
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39. 6
SENSITIVE DATA EXPOSURE
4012 8888 8888 1881
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40. RISKS
Bad guys get credit cards, personal identification,
passwords or health records.
Your company could be fined or worse.
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41. ASSESSING RISK
Do you have sensitive data?
Is it in plaintext?
Any old/bad crypto in use?
Missing SSL?
Who can access sensitive data?
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42. 7
MISSING FUNCTION LEVEL
ACCESS CONTROL
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43. RISKS
Anyone on the internet can request things.
Missing access control could mean bad guys can do
things they shouldn’t be able to.
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44. PREVENTION
No simple solutions sadly.
Good automated tests help.
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45. 8
CROSS SITE REQUEST
FORGERY
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(CSRF)

46. RISKS
Evil websites can perform actions for users logged
into your site.
Side effects on GET can be performed via images or
CSS files.
Remember the Gmail contact hack.
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47. CSRF EXAMPLE
Your app
Evil site
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48. CSRF EXAMPLE
Your app
Evil site
Login
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49. CSRF EXAMPLE
Your app
Evil site
Login
Accidentally visit
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50. CSRF EXAMPLE
Your app
Submit form for evil
Evil site
Login
Accidentally visit
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51. PREVENTION
Add opaque expiring tokens to all forms.
Requests missing tokens or containing invalid tokens
should be rejected.
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52. SAMPLE CSRF VALIDATION
<?php
if (!$this->validCsrfToken($data, ‘csrf’)) {
throw new ForbiddenException();
}
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53. 9
USING COMPONENTS WITH
KNOWN VULNERABILITIES
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CVE bingo

54. RISK
Using old busted software can expose you to
documented issues.
CVE databases are filled with version numbers and
matching exploits.
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55. PREVENTION
Do routine upgrades. Keep up to date with all your
software.
Read mailing lists and keep an eye out for security
releases.
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56. PREVENTION
Several vulnerability databases around.
https://cve.mitre.org/cve/
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57. 10
UNVALIDATED REDIRECTS &
FORWARDS
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58. RISKS
Trusting user input for redirects opens phishing
attacks.
Breach of trust with your users.
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59. PREVENTION
Don’t trust user data when handling redirects.
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60. THANK YOU
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