The bottom line is this - while this cookie option flag does absolutely nothing to prevent XSS attacks, it does significanly help to prevent the #1 XSS attack goal which is stealing SessionIDs. While HTTPOnly is not a "silver bullet" by any means, the potential ROI of implement it is quite large. Notice I said "potential" as in order to provide the intended protections, two key players have to work together. This article looks at one way you can make your Web cookies more secure by using the Apache's extension called modsecurity. If you are interested in this please read on for more information and how you set this up on your own Apache web server.. The link for this article located at modsecurity is no longer available. . Discover the strategies for enhancing cookie security through the HTTPOnly attribute via Apache's mod_security for improved web safety protocols.. web cookie security, HTTPOnly, Apache ModSecurity, secure cookies, web applications. . Bill Locke
Within one week's time, we stumbled across two different sites using cookies the wrong way. While the attack vectors were a bit different, both sites trusted the cookie data to secure their users. Let's break this cookie down so we can understand its intent. First, you can easily tell who the cookie belongs to . Unpack prevalent cookie setup issues and discover methods to manage cookie information securely for enhanced safeguarding.. Web Cookies, Secure Data Handling, Cookie Best Practices, Cybersecurity Risks. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
Cross site scripting (XSS) errors are generally considered nothing more than a nuisance . As if fate wanted to make it challenging, the maximum size of the HTML input field for the email address was 25 characters, and it only accepted POST data, which is somewhat limiting. As a result, I had to "outsource" my cross-site scripting attack to a third server. The end result was that I had to make a user click on a link that first took the victim to my server. From there, the code on my server directed the victim to the web application with a POST value that included the XSS code, which was then fed into the login script. Finally, the above JavaScript was output into the login page. Once the JavaScript executed, the cookie data was passed back to the third party server, which captured that cookie value, stored it, and redirected the victim back to the real server where they would again be presented with the real and unaltered login page. Since all this happened in a matter of a second, only an educated and knowledgeable user would notice anything out of the ordinary. The link for this article located at Inform IT is no longer available. . As if fate wanted to make it challenging, the maximum size of the HTML input field for the email add. cross, scripting, (xss), errors, generally, considered, nothing, nuisance. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
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