OWASP TOP 10

1. Broken Access Control

A well-structured access control policy ensures that users can only perform actions within their authorized permissions. For instance, a customer of an organization should only be able to access data relevant to their role, while an administrator or superuser would typically have broader access across multiple directories.

Understanding Broken Access Controls

Access control vulnerabilities arise when authentication mechanisms and session management are poorly implemented. This can expose an organization to cyber threats, allowing malicious actors to gain unauthorized access, modify, or even delete critical data.

Consider a scenario where a user is authorized to access a customer login page. An attacker could manipulate the URL, guessing that appending "admin" might lead to an administrative directory, such as:

https://bigboxes.com/admin/customer_login

This security flaw would allow an unauthorized user to access data meant exclusively for administrators.

How to Prevent Broken Access Controls

To ensure access control remains secure, it should be enforced within trusted server-side code or a serverless API, preventing attackers from tampering with access validation or metadata. Implement the following best practices to minimize risk:

• Default Denial: Restrict access unless explicitly granted.
• Centralized Access Control Mechanisms: Implement them once and consistently apply them throughout the application.
• Logging & Monitoring: Track access failures and notify administrators when unauthorized attempts occur.
• Rate Limiting: Limit access to specific features to reduce exposure to potential vulnerabilities.
• Least Privilege Principle: Assign users only the permissions necessary to perform their tasks.
• Enforce Record Ownership: Users should only be able to create, read, update, or delete records they own.
• Business Logic Enforcement: Ensure that domain models adhere to unique business constraints specific to the application.

By following these measures, organizations can significantly reduce the risk of access control vulnerabilities and strengthen overall security.

OLD

1. Broken Access Control

Effective access control policies ensure that users cannot act outside their intended permissions.

For example, an organization's customer should only have access to data that applies to their business functions, whereas an administrator or superuser would likely have access to many directories.

Broken access controls happen when authentication mechanisms and session management are implemented incorrectly. This, in turn, leaves the organization vulnerable to attacks from malicious hackers who can gain access to and even modify or destroy data.

Let's look at a simple example in which a user is authenticated to access a customer login page:

An attacker could force browse to predict that adding “admin” to the URL would access the admin directory: https://bigboxes.com/admin/customer_login

This broken access control has created a vulnerability wherein an attacker can access data that should only be available to an authenticated admin.

Prevention

Access control is only effective when enforced in trusted server-side code or serverless API, where attackers cannot modify the access control check or metadata.

Follow these measures to prevent broken access control:

• Deny access by default
• Implement access-control mechanisms once and reuse them
• throughout the application
• Log access failures and alert your admins whenever a failure is logged
• Rate limit access to some features to minimize exposure to any problem areas
• Apply the concept of least privilege
• Model access controls should enforce record ownership, not allow users to create, read, update, or delete records they don't own, and
• Domain models should enforce unique application business limit requirements.