The Ultimate Top 10 Guide: Uncovering the Best of Everything

If you’re here, you probably want to learn about OWASP Top 10 or web application security but don’t know where to start. Let me assure you that you have arrived at the appropriate location.

I enjoy breaking into the web applications and infrastructure of my clients as a penetration tester. In addition, I instruct developers on secure code writing. They will be shown what hackers can do and how to stop them from exploiting security flaws as part of the training.

I am sharing this information with you so that you can also benefit from it. You will not only learn the OWASP Top 10, but you will also practice them on real-world examples of the best vulnerable web applications in this comprehensive guide. In addition, I have prepared online video guides that will guide you through the hacking procedure step by step. I’ll show you where to go next in your hacking journey once you’ve covered the OWASP Top 10.

The OWASP Top 10 is a standard document that lists the ten most significant threats to web application security. Every three years, the Open Web Application Security Project foundation (OWASP) releases a new version.

Companies that focus on application security provide information to OWASP. It also uses industry surveys to gather information from individuals. The results are ranked according to their impact and prevalence. The top ten risks are finally filtered.

Although the OWASP Top ten does not cover all vulnerabilities, it is a good place to start for organizations, developers, and security testers who want to exploit vulnerabilities and take security precautions.

Sensitive data exposure Your IT assets are vulnerable to sensitive data exposure if they reveal confidential information. This data may, on the one hand, be static, such as in your files or databases. On the other hand, it may be in transit, particularly if you transmit data using weak or unencrypted encryption.

You will not only be embarrassed by the disclosure of your customers’ data, but you will also face penalties for doing so. Consider the GDPR law, which allows for fines of up to 20 million euros.

XML-External Entity (XXE) XXE is a configuration issue with XML parsers. This vulnerability arises specifically when the XML parser is able to evaluate DTDs and external entities. An attacker can use it to list directories and read files from the server, among other exploits. It might even lead to a Denial of Service attack.

Access control that is broken is broken when an application lets a user do things they shouldn’t. This risk is exacerbated by a number of flaws. For instance, the application becomes vulnerable to Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR) if the developer forgets to validate permissions when working with identifiers.

Forced browsing, Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) misconfigurations, and Cross-site Request Forgery (CSRF) are two additional vulnerabilities. In the dedicated blog post, learn more about them.

An IT asset’s weak configurations lead to security misconfigurations, as the name suggests. These misconfigurations reveal vulnerabilities. It doesn’t just affect assets on the web. This flaw can affect any component that needs to be configured. This indicates that email services, hardware, network devices, and so on can be exposed to this danger. A predetermined default administration PIN code may, for instance, be included in your smart door lock. Your device’s configuration can be changed by anyone if you don’t change it.

Directory listing is one feature that can be enabled in web applications, allowing you to list all files and directories. You might also be able to gain a deeper understanding of the vulnerable application’s inner workings if the developer neglected to turn off the debug mode.

One of the most well-known client-side vulnerabilities is Cross-site Scripting (XSS). An attacker can use this to execute any Javascript code they want on the victim’s web browser. When user input is embedded without proper encoding in Javascript code or an HTML page, XSS can occur.

Using components with known flaws You may have completely protected your own code, but what about the dependencies you’re using? Have you just imported them into your code or checked them first? There is a good chance that at least one of them is at risk.

Sadly, utilizing parts with realized weaknesses had prompted numerous serious breaks before, will in any case make many breaks come. However, you already have the equipment to search for them. You can learn more about that in depth in this dedicated article.

Inadequate logging and monitoring When a hacker enters a network, IT systems will typically generate traffic that is not typical—unless, of course, you are dealing with highly skilled hackers who have the time and money to target your IT infrastructure. If you don’t catch this unusual behavior as soon as possible, you’re basically giving them time to get what they want.