Lesson 25: Web App Defense — Common Weaknesses and Fixes

Micro-Topic 25.1: Broken Access Control – When Anyone Can Walk In

·       Learning Goal: Understand how missing or weak permission checks (broken access control) let attackers reach off-limits data, and learn ways to lock those “doors” against intruders.

Micro-Topic 25.2: Injection Flaws – Poisoning the Input

·       Learning Goal: Grasp how injection vulnerabilities (like SQL injection and Command injection) allow attackers to “poison” an application’s inputs and execute malicious commands or queries, and outline basic fixes to neutralize these attacks.

Micro-Topic 25.3: Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) – Tricking the Browser

·       Learning Goal: Explain how XSS allows attackers to inject malicious scripts into webpages viewed by other users, and identify strategies to prevent these sneaky attacks (like output encoding and content security policies).

Micro-Topic 25.4: Weak Authentication & Session Management – Keys to the Kingdom

·       Learning Goal: Recognize how flawed authentication (login) and session handling can let attackers impersonate others, and learn best practices like strong password handling, multi-factor auth, secure session cookies, etc., to safeguard user accounts.

Micro-Topic 25.5: Security Misconfigurations & Outdated Components – Low-Hanging Fruit for Hackers

·       Learning Goal: Highlight how default settings, misconfigured servers, or unpatched vulnerable components open the door to attacks, and emphasize the importance of secure configuration and timely updates as defense.

Micro-Topic 25.6: Cryptographic Failures – Leaky and Weak Encryption

·       Learning Goal: Understand how improper use of cryptography (or not using encryption when needed) leads to data exposure – for instance, not encrypting sensitive data, using weak algorithms, or poor key management – and learn baseline practices to keep data encrypted and safe.