XSS

Explore our comprehensive article on XSS Attacks; understand the impact, prevention strategies, and the latest trends. Stay informed, secure your digital space against XSS Attacks.

Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attacks are a type of security vulnerability typically found in web applications. XSS attacks enable attackers to inject malicious scripts into content that other users see and interact with.

The goal of such attacks is usually to steal session cookies or other sensitive information from victims, impersonate users, or manipulate the victim's experience on a website to serve the attacker's purpose.

Categories of XSS Attacks

  1. Stored XSS: The malicious script is permanently stored on the target server, such as in a database, and is then presented to end users within the web app.

  2. Reflected XSS: The script is included in a request made to the server and then reflected back in such a way that the script is executed in the user's browser.

  3. DOM-based XSS: The attack occurs within the victim’s browser without involving the web server, typically by manipulating the browser's DOM with client-side scripts.

Defensive Measures

  • Sanitize user inputs by filtering out or encoding special characters such as <, >, and &.

  • Use Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict the sources from which scripts can be executed.

  • Employ security-aware coding practices, library functions, and frameworks that automatically handle some aspects of security.

It's important for developers to remain vigilant and consistently apply security updates to mitigate XSS vulnerabilities. Regular security audits and code reviews can help detect potential XSS vulnerabilities.

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