por Do you know what it is cross site scripting, also known as XSS? The malicious code injections into web applications They are one of the most common types of threats in the hacking world. However, injections of script Malicious attacks are not necessarily done through SQL and NoSQL queries in databases. There are other methods, such as XSS.
In this post, we will talk to you about this type of failure and how to avoid it in your systems. Next, we will explain what is cross site scripting.
What is cross-site scripting?
He cross site scripting (XSS) is the injection of JavaScript code into web applications through the exploitation of three types of vulnerabilities. This cyberattack allows the theft of cookies of the user’s session, redirect him to pages of phishing, pharming or even crash the application.
exist three types of attack cross site scripting (DOM-based XSS, Reflected XSS, and Persistent XSS) which we will delve into below:
DOM-based XSS
He Document Object Model (DOM) is an application programming interface that offers a set of objects that facilitate the representation of HTML, XML and XHTML code.
The DOM has a logical tree-shaped structure, which represents the syntax of the HTML code. DOM-based XSS attack is performed carefully reviewing the JavaScript code of the application source codewhich can be read in the frontend of the page. In this way, functions can be found that the attacker can use to execute malicious code.
reflected XSS
A reflected XSS occurs when malicious JavaScript code is inserted at the end of a web application URL. To carry out this type of attack, the victim must directly click on this link. Therefore, it is a cyber attack that has a moderate risk. However, upon opening this URL, the user executes the code with the script defined by the attacker.
Persistent XSS
Persistent XSS is the type of attack cross site scripting more dangerous for a web application, because It is stored directly on your server. Each user who enters the page will execute the malicious JavaScript code found on said page. This type of cross site scripting It can commonly be found in blog comments, whose entries are concatenated to the execution of HTML code in the victim’s browser.
How to prevent cross-site scripting attacks?
We have already seen what it is cross site scripting and the three different ways to carry out this attack. Now, we will review some tools that are used to detect, prevent and eliminate these types of attacks.
The tools of software Most used to track and stop XSS attacks are:
XSS Strike– Enables the detection of XSS attacks through functions such as fuzzing and crawling.Xspear: used to perform static (source code analysis) and dynamic (function testing of the software) exams. software).KNOXSS: It has a free version and a much more powerful paid version, which has very complete inspection functions for this type of vulnerabilities.Acunetix: It is a scanner in which, among the types of vulnerabilities it explores, there are also XSS. His software has proven to be useful in preventing these failures.Burp Suite: serves to intercept the network traffic of a web page and analyze its requests in detail. It is one of the most popular tools for tracking vulnerabilities present in web applications.OWASP ZAP: It is an open source tool that, like Burp Suite, allows you to intercept and analyze traffic. It also tracks web vulnerabilities, including cross-site scripting. In addition, it is one of the flagship projects of the OWASP organization.
Know what it is cross site scripting and how to implement these tools is important to evade XSS attacks. Nevertheless, learn to perform these attacks yourself, within the legal frameworks of ethical hacking, is the best way to understand how they work and avoid them. Remember that automated functions will not always give you the results you want and are more likely to be bypassed in a cyberattack. To understand 100% what it is cross site scriptingit is necessary to learn to execute the attack yourself.
How to learn more?
Now you know what it is cross site scriptingwhat types exist and what are the main tools to detect these security flaws, it is time to continue learning and specialize in cybersecurity. To do this, at we offer you our Full Stack Cybersecurity Bootcamp, an intensive theoretical and practical training with which you will become a expert in less than 7 months. What are you waiting for? Sign up now and stand out in the technology sector!