OWASP Top 10 Security Risks in 2024
Understanding the most critical web application security risks and how to protect against them
The OWASP Top 10 represents the most critical security risks to web applications. Understanding these vulnerabilities is essential for any organization looking to protect their digital assets. In 2024, the landscape has evolved with new threats emerging while some classic vulnerabilities remain prevalent.
1. Broken Access Control
Access control enforces policy such that users cannot act outside of their intended permissions. Failures typically lead to unauthorized information disclosure, modification, or destruction of data. Common vulnerabilities include bypassing access control checks by modifying the URL, internal application state, or the HTML page.
Prevention: Implement proper authentication and session management, deny by default, and enforce record ownership rather than accepting user-provided IDs.
2. Cryptographic Failures
Previously known as Sensitive Data Exposure, this category focuses on failures related to cryptography. This includes transmitting sensitive data in clear text, using weak or outdated cryptographic algorithms, and improper key management.
Prevention: Encrypt all sensitive data at rest and in transit using strong, up-to-date algorithms. Implement proper key management and avoid deprecated protocols like TLS 1.0 and 1.1.
3. Injection
Injection flaws, such as SQL, NoSQL, OS, and LDAP injection, occur when untrusted data is sent to an interpreter as part of a command or query. The attacker's hostile data can trick the interpreter into executing unintended commands or accessing data without proper authorization.
Prevention: Use parameterized queries, ORMs, and input validation. Apply the principle of least privilege to database accounts and implement proper output encoding.
4. Insecure Design
A new category for 2024, insecure design refers to flaws in the design and architecture of applications. These are different from insecure implementation - you can perfectly implement an insecurely designed feature. This emphasizes the need for threat modeling, secure design patterns, and reference architectures.
5. Security Misconfiguration
Security misconfiguration is the most commonly seen issue. This is commonly a result of insecure default configurations, incomplete or ad hoc configurations, open cloud storage, misconfigured HTTP headers, and verbose error messages containing sensitive information.
Prevention: Implement a repeatable hardening process, remove unnecessary features and frameworks, and regularly review configurations as part of the patch management process.
Conclusion
The OWASP Top 10 provides a powerful awareness framework for web application security. While this list covers the most critical risks, it's important to remember that security is an ongoing process. Regular security assessments, penetration testing, and staying informed about emerging threats are crucial for maintaining a strong security posture.
At All Web Security, we specialize in identifying and remediating these vulnerabilities through comprehensive penetration testing and security audits. Contact us to learn how we can help secure your applications.