BrowserSecurity1-IssuesandBestPractices.pptx

Bowser Security – Issues and Best Prarctices

ITC 766-899

WEB APPLICATION SECURITY

Spring 2022

Outline

Intro to Browser Security

Need for Browser Security

Browser Security Fundamentals

Browser Security Issues

OWASP Top 10 – A7:2017– Cross-Site Scripting XSS

OWASP Top 10 – A3:2017– Sensitive Data Exposure

Attacks against Browser Security Mechanisms

Browser Security Best Practices

Intro to Browser Security

How does a web application work?

Client

Server

Involves browsers

Browser

A browser is “an application that finds and displays web pages”.

It coordinates communication between your computer and the web server where a particular website “lives” by:

Accepting a website address as a URL

Submitting a request to the server to retrieve the content for the page

Processing the code (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc.) from the server

Loading active content (Flash, ActiveX, etc.) needed by the page

Displaying the complete, formatted web page

Repeating the process for every single user interaction with the page

Source: Understanding Your Computer: Web Browsers – U.S. CERT –

Intro to Browser Security (contd.)

Examples:

Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari, Opera, etc.

Browser Market Share as of February 2022:

Intro to Browser Security (contd.)

Source: Global Web Stats – W3Counter–

Browser security refers to “how differences in design and implementation of various security technologies in modern web browsers might affect their security” ()

Browser security involves the following:

Protection against common client-side attacks

Protection against phishing

Management of browser extensions

Use of adequate cryptography protocols

Intro to Browser Security (contd.)

Source: X41 Browser Security White Paper –

Browser security also involves the following:

Protection against active content

Active content refers to scripts that execute programs within the browser

e.g.: scripts used to create splash pages or options like drop-down menus

JavaScript is widely used to create active content

ActiveX controls reside on your computer and can be used as spyware

Protecting cookies

Cookies store information such as IP address, domain names, browser info, browsing habits, etc.

Both session cookies and persistent cookies must be protected from security attacks by adjusting the browser’s to block or limit access to cookie information

Intro to Browser Security (contd.)

Source: U.S. CERT – Browsing Safely: Understanding Active Content and Cookies –

Browser-specific security features:

security features

Intro to Browser Security (contd.)

Your Browser’s Security Features – GCFLearnFree.org

Intro to Browser Security (contd.)

Source: GCFLearnFree.org – Internet Safety: Your Browser’s Security Features –

Need for Browser Security

As per :

Browsers such as Firefox, Chrome, Edge, and Safari are installed on almost all computers

Default browsers that come with the Operating Systems are not setup using secure default configurations

Unsecure browsers can lead to spyware being installed on your computers allowing intruders to take control

There is an increasing threat from attacks that take advantage of vulnerable web browsers

Hackers are using compromised or malicious websites to exploit vulnerabilities in browsers

Need for Browser Security

As per , the problem is made worse by a number of factors including the following:

Need for Browser Security (contd.)

As per the Vulnerability Statistics Report:

Need for Browser Security (contd.)

19% of all vulnerabilities were associated with Layer 7 web applications

However, the risk density is much higher for web application vulnerabilities compared to network vulnerabilities

As per the Vulnerability Statistics Report, the most common browser-related vulnerabilities are:

Cross-Site Scripting – 14.69%

Other Injection – 8.18%

DOM-based Vulnerability – 1.82%

Cross-Site Request Forgery – 1.75%

Need for Browser Security (contd.)

Hackers are increasingly using browsers to cause data breaches ()

Need for Browser Security (contd.)

Hackers are increasingly using browsers to cause data breaches ()

Need for Browser Security (contd.)

Browser Security Fundamentals

How Web Browsers Function – Open Canvas

Browser Security Fundamentals

Source: OpenCanvas – How Web Browsers Function –

As per , web browsers use the following architectural components:

User interface

Rendering engine

Browser engine

Networking

JavaScript interpreter

Data storage – cookies, local storage, etc.

Browser Security Fundamentals (contd.)

Google Chrome Architecture

Browser Security Fundamentals (contd.)

Source: Google Chrome Developers – Anatomy of the Browser 101 (Chrome University) –

Google Chrome Architecture:

Browser Process

Includes the User Interface (UI), networking, and storage

GPU Process

Handles rich web page content built using features like WebGL

Is a separate process to ensure stability and security

Utility Process

Runs untrusted code on behalf of browser in a sandbox

e.g.: installing an extension, processing JSON

Is a short-lived process

Browser Security Fundamentals (contd.)

Source: Google Chrome Developers – Anatomy of the Browser 101 (Chrome University) –

Google Chrome Architecture (continued):

Process

Ensures extensions have limited access to browser, page, & system

Stops poorly written extension code from adversely affecting pages

Handles plugin code not controlled by Google (Flash, PDF, etc.)

Uses new plugin API that is sandboxed

Renderer – rendering engine

JavaScript Interpreter – JavaScript engine

Browser Security Fundamentals (contd.)

Source: Google Chrome Developers – Anatomy of the Browser 101 (Chrome University) –

Google Chrome Security:

Sandboxing

Limits the impact of many browser vulnerabilities by isolating different components of an application from the rest of the system

Components are run with their access privileges to system resources and/or other components limited to the bare essentials needed to perform its function

Thus, the privileges an attacker can gain by exploiting a security issue in these components is fairly limited

Process and Origin Isolation

Chrome uses Site Isolation to isolate websites with different origins

Browser Security Fundamentals (contd.)

Source: X41 – Browser Security White Paper –

Google Chrome Security:

Hardening and Exploit Mitigation

Supports /GS, ASLR, DEP, no direct win32k syscalls, SEHOP, etc.

Web Security

Same Origin Policy Enforcement

Restricts interaction between websites of different origins

Port Banning Enforcement

Denies connections to non-standard TCP ports

Content Security Policy Enforcement

Limits what sources of scripts are acceptable

HTML5 Features Support

Supports Service Workers, WebRTC, History API, WebGL, Web Notifications, etc.

Browser Security Fundamentals (contd.)

Source: X41 – Browser Security White Paper –

Browser Security Issues

Specific browser security issues include the following:

Client-side JavaScript code for checking user input is not enough

Information sent from the browser can be modified before it reaches the server

Plenty of HTTP/HTTPS proxy tools are available to hackers for this very purpose

Protocols such as SSL that browsers rely on have their own issues

Likewise, attackers can use browser mechanisms such as cache, cookies, session IDs, etc. to steal sensitive information

Java applets are susceptible to Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attacks

Java servlets may be vulnerable to SQL injection

Browser Security Issues

Source: OWASP – Application Security FAQ –

Specific browser security issues include the following:

Browsers pose a unique risk to the enterprise infrastructure because of their frequent exposure to untrusted dynamic content

Configuring browser security settings is challenging due to uncertainty of both attack mitigation effectiveness and impact on end users

Administrator-driven manual patching often incurs significant lag time before patches are deployed

Administrators are often hesitant to enable automatic updating out of fear that patches will break existing functionality

88% of publicly disclosed vulnerabilities exploited within a day of release

Browser plugins accounted for 34.5% of browser-related vulnerabilities

Browser Security Issues (contd.)

Source: NSA.gov – Steps to Secure Web Browsing –

OWASP Top 10 – A7:2017 – Cross-Site Scripting XSS

Browser Security Issues (contd.)

Source: OWASP Top 10 2017 A7 – Cross Site Scripting XSS –

Common browser security vulnerabilities:

Browser Security Issues (contd.)

Source: OWASP Top 10 2017 A7 – Cross Site Scripting XSS –

Cross-Site Scripting – XSS – Professor Messer

Browser Security Issues (contd.)

Source: Cross-Site Scripting – XSS – CompTIA Security+ Sy0-501 – 1.2 –

OWASP Top 10 – A3:2017–Sensitive Data Exposure

Browser Security Issues (contd.)

Source: OWASP Top 10 2017 A3-Sensitive Data Exposure –

Common browser security vulnerabilities:

Browser Security Issues (contd.)

Source: OWASP Top 10 2017 A3-Sensitive Data Exposure –

Browser Security Attacks

Most common browser security attacks:

Browser Security Attacks

Source: OWASP – Attacks –

Attack Type	Description
Cache Poisoning	A maliciously constructed response is cached by the browser
Clickjacking	The attacker hijacks clicks meant for their own page and routes them to another page
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)	An attack that forces an end user to execute unwanted actions on a web application in which they’re currently authenticated
Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)	A type of injection in which malicious scripts are injected into otherwise benign and trusted websites

Most common browser security attacks (continued):

Browser Security Attacks (contd.)

Attack Type	Description
Man-in-the-Browser	A previously installed Trojan horse is used to act between the browser and the browser’s security mechanism, sniffing or modifying transactions as they are formed on the browser, but still displaying back the user’s intended transaction
Session Hijacking	An attack that compromises the session token by stealing or predicting a valid session token to gain unauthorized access to the Web Server
Spyware	A program that captures statistical information from a user’s computer and sends it over internet without user acceptance. This information is usually obtained from cookies and the web browser’s history.

Source: OWASP – Attacks –

Browser Security Best Practices

Best practices for web browser security include :

Setting up browsers to Auto Update

Disabling malicious browser plugins such as Adware

Connecting to websites only using HTTPS

Clearing the browser history including cookies

Disabling the browser’s auto-complete of forms (including stored passwords) functionality

Blocking browser pop-ups using extensions such as AdBlock

Using VPN or proxy servers

Source: InfoSec Institute – Best Practices for Web Browser Security –

Browser Security Best Practices (contd.)

Best practices for web browser security include :

Enabling automatic updates

Mitigates 91% of publicly known vulnerabilities

Enabling reputation services such as or

Prevents 87.7% of socially engineered malware and phishing attempts

Disable unsafe plugins and extensions

Use advanced mitigation techniques/tools

Browser isolation, Cloud Browsers, O/S level mitigations, etc.

Source: NSA.gov – Steps to Secure Web Browsing –

Use the following best practices to protect against XSS:

Browser Security Best Practices (contd.)

Source: OWASP Top 10 2017 A7-Cross Site Scripting XSS –

Browser security issues continue to be among the OWASP Top 10 list of web application security risks

This is due to weaknesses in browser mechanisms such as browser processes, renderers, plugins, extensions, etc.

Hackers are able to exploit the weaknesses using attacks such as cache poisoning, clickjacking, CSRF, XSS, MITM, session hijacking, spyware, etc.

Best practices to protect browsers include using auto update, HTTPS, pop-up blockers, VPNs or proxy servers, reputation services, sandboxing, isolation, hardening, same origin policy, port banning, content security policy, cloud browsers, etc.

Recap

Thank you!!!