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Common Weakness Enumeration - CWE

CWE stands for "Common Weakness Enumeration." It is a standardized list of known security vulnerabilities and weaknesses commonly found in software applications and systems. Managed and maintained by the MITRE Corporation, a nonprofit organization, CWE serves as a reference for security professionals, developers, and organizations to identify, understand, and address vulnerabilities.

CWE contains several hundred entries, each with a unique number and description, categorized into various groups, including injection flaws, cross-site scripting (XSS), authentication issues, sensitive data exposure, and cryptographic weaknesses.

It serves as a valuable tool for risk assessment, security analysis, and software development, helping developers understand and mitigate security vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. CWE is often used in conjunction with other security standards and guidelines, such as the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) and the OWASP Top Ten.

 


HTTP-Amplification

HTTP Amplification is a term often used in the context of cyber attacks and internet security. It refers to a type of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack where the attacker uses HTTP requests to redirect excessive traffic to a server or website.

Essentially, the attacker exploits a variety of HTTP requests to overwhelm the server, making it inaccessible to legitimate users. This is often done by exploiting vulnerabilities in web server configurations or utilizing botnets to send a large number of requests.

The term "Amplification" refers to how the attacker "amplifies" the traffic by sending small requests, which are then responded to by the server in much larger replies. This can cause the server to expend a significant amount of resources processing these requests, rendering it unreachable for legitimate users.

To protect against HTTP Amplification attacks, web servers can be configured to limit requests or implement filters to identify and block suspicious requests. Additionally, Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) and DDoS protection services can be employed to monitor traffic and mitigate attacks before they reach the server.

 


Slowloris Attack

A Slowloris attack is a form of a "Low-and-Slow" attack that aims to overload a web server and prevent access to it by tying up all available connections to the server. In a Slowloris attack, the attacker sends many HTTP requests to the server, but does so extremely slowly by intentionally delaying the data transfer.

Typically, the attacker opens many connections to the server and keeps them open by sending only part of the request and then leaving the connection open by sending additional parts of the request slowly or simply not sending any further data. This way, all available connections to the server are tied up, preventing legitimate users from establishing a connection since there are no free connections available.

This attack is particularly effective against web servers that do not enforce a limited number of connections per user or IP address and rely on the server's resource availability to serve requests. However, a well-configured web server can detect and mitigate such attacks.

 


HTTP Flood Attack

A HTTP flood attack is a type of Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack that aims to overwhelm a web server or web application by sending a large number of HTTP requests, thereby disrupting normal operations or rendering the service inaccessible. This is achieved by the attacker sending a large volume of HTTP requests to the target, depleting server resources such as CPU, memory, or network bandwidth.

There are various types of HTTP flood attacks, including:

  1. HTTP GET Flood: In this attack, the attacker sends a large number of HTTP GET requests to the web server. Each request requests a specific resource or URL from the server, potentially overwhelming the server as it attempts to process all requests simultaneously.

  2. HTTP POST Flood: Here, the attacker sends a large number of HTTP POST requests to the web server. Unlike GET requests, where the content is included in the URL, the POST request carries data in the HTTP body, potentially requiring the server to consume more resources to process.

  3. Slowloris Attack: In this attack, the attacker sends a series of HTTP requests to the web server but keeps the connections open by sending the HTTP headers slowly over an extended period. This consumes the limited connections on the web server, preventing legitimate users from accessing the service.

  4. HTTP Amplification: Here, the attacker manipulates HTTP requests or responses to send a large amount of data to the victim and overwhelm server resources.

HTTP flood attacks can have significant impacts on the availability of web services by slowing down or completely halting the service. To protect against such attacks, organizations often deploy firewalls, intrusion detection systems (IDS), content delivery networks (CDNs), and specialized anti-DDoS services to monitor traffic, detect suspicious activity, and maintain normal operations.

 


SYN Flood attack

A SYN Flood attack is a specific type of DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack aimed at overwhelming the resources of a target computer, service, or network. The term "SYN" refers to the SYNchronization bit in TCP/IP communication, used for establishing a connection between a client and a server.

In a SYN Flood attack, the attacker sends a large number of SYN requests (Synchronization requests) to the target system but never completes the connection by sending the corresponding ACK responses (Acknowledgement) to the SYN-ACK packets (Synchronization-Acknowledgement) from the target system. The target system then waits for the final acknowledgment and reserves resources for these open connections. However, since the attacker doesn't send final acknowledgments, these connections remain open and consume resources on the target system. When enough open connections are generated, the resources of the target system are depleted, leading to a denial of service and making it inaccessible to legitimate users.

A SYN Flood attack exploits the way the TCP/IP protocol operates and is one of the most common techniques used in DDoS attacks. Countermeasures such as SYN cookies and SYN proxying can help mitigate the effects of SYN Flood attacks.

 


Distributed Denial of Service - DDoS

A DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack is a type of cyber attack where a large number of computer resources are used to overwhelm a service, website, or network, rendering it inaccessible to legitimate users. In a DDoS attack, attackers simultaneously send requests from many different computers or devices to the target, depleting the target's resources and making it unreachable for legitimate users.

The term "distributed" refers to the fact that the requests come from a multitude of sources, making it more difficult to block the attack as it doesn't originate from a single source. Often, botnets are utilized to generate the requests. These botnets consist of many infected computers or devices under the control of the attacker.

DDoS attacks can cause significant damage by taking the affected services or websites offline, resulting in revenue loss, reputation damage, and other negative impacts. They pose a serious threat to businesses, governments, and other organizations reliant on online services.

 


Denial of Service - DoS

DoS stands for "Denial of Service" and refers to a type of cyberattack where an attacker attempts to render a service, resource, or infrastructure inaccessible or non-functional by disrupting or interrupting normal operation. The main goal of a DoS attack is to deny legitimate users access to a service or resource by impairing the availability of the service.

There are various types of DoS attacks, including:

  1. Volumetric Attacks: These attacks overwhelm the target with a large volume of traffic or requests to exhaust its resources and make it unreachable. An example of a volumetric DoS attack is a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, where attackers use a multitude of compromised devices to simultaneously flood the target with traffic.

  2. Protocol Flood Attacks: These attacks exploit vulnerabilities in network protocols to overwhelm the target's resources. An example is a SYN Flood attack, where the attacker sends a large number of TCP SYN requests without responding to them, causing the target to exhaust resources processing these requests.

  3. Application Layer Attacks: These attacks target vulnerabilities in applications or services, attempting to crash or overload them by sending specially crafted requests or payloads. An example is an HTTP Flood attack, where the attacker sends a large number of HTTP requests to a website to exhaust its resources.

The impact of DoS attacks can be significant, including service outages, disruption of business operations, financial losses, and reputational damage. Organizations implement various measures to protect against DoS attacks, including the deployment of firewalls, Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems (IDS/IPS), load balancers, Content Delivery Networks (CDNs), and specialized DoS protection services.

 


XML External Entity Injection - XEE

XML External Entity (XXE)-Injection is a type of attack targeting XML processing vulnerabilities in applications. In an XXE attack, an attacker attempts to introduce malicious external entities into XML documents and persuade the application to process these entities. This can lead to security issues, including theft of sensitive data, remote code execution, or denial of services.

Here's a basic explanation of how an XXE attack works:

  1. An attacker manipulates an XML document being processed by the targeted application by inserting malicious external entities into the document. An external entity is a reference to an external resource typically defined in a Document Type Definition (DTD) or XML Schema.

  2. The attacker attempts to coax the application into processing the malicious external entities, for example, by sending a specially crafted HTTP request or XML data to the application.

  3. When the application processes the malicious external entities, it can have various effects, including accessing sensitive files or data on the server, executing remote code, or denying services.

A typical example of an XXE attack is stealing sensitive files, such as the contents of configuration files or password files on the server. Through clever manipulation of the XML document, an attacker can persuade the application to disclose the contents of these files.

To protect against XXE attacks, developers need to carefully examine how XML data is processed in their applications. They should ensure they use secure XML parsers, disable external entities, avoid using XML data directly in conjunction with confidential files or data, and thoroughly validate and filter incoming XML data to remove unwanted entities. Enabling XML schema validation and using Content Security Policies can also help prevent XXE attacks. It's also important for administrators to regularly audit their systems and applications for known XXE vulnerabilities and install security updates to minimize potential attack vectors.

 


Command Injection

Command Injection is a type of attack in cybersecurity where an attacker injects malicious commands into the input variables of a system. These input variables are typically interpreted by an application or program and passed to the operating system to execute commands. A successful Command Injection attack allows the attacker to execute undesired commands, leading to various types of damage, such as:

  1. Executing system commands: The attacker can inject system commands to create, delete, or modify files, start or stop processes, perform network communication, or carry out other malicious actions.

  2. Stealing confidential information: By executing commands, the attacker can access confidential information stored on the affected system. This may include user accounts, passwords, sensitive files, and other critical data.

  3. Compromising the system: A successfully executed Command Injection attack can result in the attacker gaining full control over the affected system. This can lead to the installation of backdoors, takeover of administrator privileges, or execution of other malicious activities.

Command Injection attacks are commonly found in web applications, scripts, and other software applications that process user input and pass it to the operating system. To prevent such attacks, it is essential to thoroughly validate inputs, ensure that user data is not directly concatenated into commands, and implement security mechanisms such as using secure APIs and adhering to the principle of least privilege.

 


Cross-Site Scripting - XSS

Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) is a security vulnerability in web applications where attackers inject malicious code (typically JavaScript) into web pages that are then executed by other users of that website. This often occurs by the attacker inserting the malicious code into input fields or parameters of a web page, which is then passed on to other users without proper filtering.

There are various types of XSS attacks, including:

  1. Reflected XSS: The malicious code is inserted into a URL and passed on to a user who then clicks on that URL. The application processes the input and executes the code, resulting in an attack.

  2. Persistent XSS: The malicious code is stored permanently in the database or on the server and is served to all users visiting the affected page.

The impacts of XSS attacks can be diverse, including:

  • Theft of cookies and session information to access user accounts.
  • Redirection to phishing pages or malware downloads.
  • Manipulation of content on the website to display fake messages or deceive users.
  • Exploitation of browser vulnerabilities to take over user accounts or execute further malicious code.

To protect against XSS attacks, web developers should properly validate and sanitize user inputs before displaying them on the website. Additionally, security mechanisms like Content Security Policy (CSP) can be implemented to prevent the execution of malicious code. Users should also exercise caution and avoid clicking on suspicious links or entering information on insecure websites.