Tagged Questions

3
votes
2answers
91 views

User privileges for unsanatized code

We all know there are still vulnerable code out there even though they may or may not get exploited and found for hacking attempts. I've seen people do it countless times and have a possibly plausible ...
7
votes
4answers
678 views

Is $_SERVER[ ] a safe source of data in PHP?

Can I 100% rely on $_SERVER[] to be a safe source of data that I do not need to sanitized like I do $_GET[] and $_POST[]? Thanks. OVERVIEW OF RESPONSES: So it seems there is a consensus that some ...
2
votes
4answers
264 views

When logging out of a website is anything else required then destroying the session?

In PHP, I'm not sure if I should start the session before destroying it when a user wants to log out. session_start(); session_destroy(); Is there anything else that needs to be done? EDIT: I ...
4
votes
1answer
151 views

What are possible consequences for applications that depends on Safe Mode for security?

PHP finally removed safe_mode feature: Safe Mode Warning This feature has been DEPRECATED as of PHP 5.3.0 and REMOVED as of PHP 5.4.0. The PHP safe mode is an attempt to solve the ...
-1
votes
3answers
207 views

Unable to secure my site [closed]

I am php developer. I have enabled Captcha and CSRF tokens but still some one is inserting random values in my database. Please give me an idea about how anyone can insert junk values in my database ...
-2
votes
1answer
383 views

Changing user account passwords from PHP script - vulnerabilities? [closed]

I started a thread a while back asking for suggestions on a good (good=fairly secure) way to allow users to change their account passwords via a PHP script. (WHY? because on this particular server, I ...
1
vote
1answer
55 views

sigsegv in php5.3.10

I found an overflow situation in php5.3.10. Probably it's not 'something new', but if I can understand this, it will help me to find this kind of bug faster in the future. What can I do to check ...
5
votes
4answers
564 views

Protecting against CSRF when a form is being submitted via an AJAX call

I'm using anti-CSRF tokens on all my forms to prevent CSRF attacks. Also, the tokens are being saved in the $_COOKIE variable to validate against the value I get from the form. I'm resetting the token ...
6
votes
2answers
274 views

Security issues with PHP Sandbox

I am working on a PHP sandbox for a Web Application Honeypot. The PHP sandbox will analyze a PHP file that may have been injected as part of an RFI attack. It should run the file in a safe environment ...
2
votes
4answers
511 views

Without using SSL, what's the most secure way to make an AJAX request to a PHP page?

It was suggested over at stackoverflow that I try my question here. This is it verbatim: So, it's impossible to do AJAX requests securely without using SSL. I get it. You can either view-source the ...
2
votes
3answers
225 views

Securing dropdown boxes

I have been creating selection boxes for years, yet I never knew you could modified it with firebug and submit them with nonpermitted values, of course this wouldn't happened if the code was secured. ...
6
votes
2answers
136 views

What to consider when generating random code as part of two-factor authentication?

I want to write a patch for a two factor authentication system that someone else has started. The code is a module for a PHP content management system and sends an SMS message to a user's phone, after ...
5
votes
1answer
316 views

question for pentesters: PHP proc_open() in safe_mode

Can anybody explain to me how proc_open() is affected when PHP is running in safe_mode? As far as i have noticed, the command to execute is appended to a '/' - is there anything else and is it ...
3
votes
1answer
482 views

Which encryption algo should be best for an Android application [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Which type of encryption algorithms android supports, and which would be better? I am confused about to use of DES. Triple DES, RSA and AES algorithms, I think I ...
4
votes
3answers
378 views

How do I protect myself against the attacks in this php script?

Due to a vulnerability in how PHP was installed (Shared VPS with PHP installed as an Apache module instead of CGI) and hence how OSCommerce was configured (with security of 777 on certain ...
10
votes
1answer
331 views

Public XSLT & XML playground (with PHP DOMDocument, etc.) Security Risks?

Let's say I want to set up a sandbox or playground in PHP that users can use to create (or paste in) XML and XSLT, then transform the XML via the XSLT (by means of PHP 5's DOMDocument and related ...
4
votes
2answers
266 views

Attack vectors in POSTing variables from one php script to the next?

I have an application which is structured in the following way for its signup page. After this signup, the user is directly granted access into the system - there is no email verification (as ...
5
votes
6answers
718 views

How to defend vs. Image Remote File Inclusion, e.g. RFI using a .gif file (Apache/PHP)?

To defend versus Remote File Inclusion where attackers try to abuse image files, I usually recommend to never use include to include image files into PHP code. Sometimes though, the avoidance of ...
11
votes
4answers
448 views

what to do after suspected intrusion on hobby webserver

I maintain a server to host my files and a number of websites for hobbies and friends. I just noticed that the site summary being returned in google for one of my domains were all porn related ...
3
votes
2answers
3k views

Testing PHP form injection

I'm writing a very small PHP app that takes input via a form. As could be expected for a first revision, the code does no escaping or sanitisation of input: if( $_POST["var"] != "" ) { print ...
12
votes
2answers
1k views

How to do Ajax securely?

This question is inspired by this security question http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/1707 What are the threats in using Ajax? (Please note I am talking about security threats, not ...
15
votes
4answers
3k views

How to hijack a session?

Despite the blatant title of the question, this is actually for a genuine purpose. My site uses PHP code like this: $select="select id from tableA where user_id='".$_SESSION['sess_user_id']."'"; ...
3
votes
3answers
787 views

Altering a $_SESSION variable in PHP via XSS?

Not sure if what I'm saying makes sense... but is it possible for me to alter a $_SESSION variable from outside the target PHP script? One of our scripts uses a $_SESSION variable and I'm not sure if ...
7
votes
3answers
505 views

Security attacks on PHP web applications

I know about following security attacks on php applications (html,php,js). XSS SQL Injection CSFR Session Hijacking /Fixation Code Injection Remote file injection Should i know about any other or ...
5
votes
1answer
384 views

Good Security tool for PHP- Suhosin vs Spike vs PHPIDS

Do I have to check/test my code beforehand, or do these tools inform me when an attempt is being made in real time? Secondly, which one should I go for -- Suhosin or Spike or PHPIDS or a combo? What ...
6
votes
8answers
590 views

What is the vulnerability in my PHP code?

A website of mine was recently hacked. Although the actual website remain unchanged, they were somehow able to use the domain to create a link that re-directed to an ebay phishing scam. I've taken ...
4
votes
1answer
446 views

How to prevent CSRF if you want to include Flash plugins in your form like Uploadify in your form?

What is CSRF? I need a basic definition that is not just lifted from Wikipedia. I understand SQL injection, XSS, cookie poisoning, but I just cannot wrap my mind around this. I am using a ...
6
votes
1answer
276 views

how to configure edit-restricted mediawiki

I am planning to setup a public wiki using mediawiki, but I never used mediawiki for a public site before and I am not experienced with it, even as a user. I am planning to create a very restricted ...
9
votes
2answers
2k views

How to address XSS security issues in FCKeditor / CKeditor?

A security report we conducted through an outside company reported XSS vulnerabilities in FCKeditor which we're using in our PHP application. They pointed out that accessing URLs such as: ...
12
votes
5answers
3k views

Disable insecure/dangerous PHP functions

Typically my job description limits me to code-review of web applications. More recently I've been asked to assist with some server-side PHP optimization where, although I am familiar with it, I lack ...
6
votes
2answers
506 views

GET with additional parameters leads to “code injection” in html displayed

We got a security review done of our PHP code and the security company sent this in their report: Request GET ...
10
votes
6answers
1k views

Security review: “HTTP header user-agent has been set to (something)”

We got a security review done of our PHP code and they team advised this in their report (amongst other things): /appdir/ Details The HTTP header user-agent has been set to \" . Request GET ...
6
votes
3answers
863 views

PHP mail() Header Injection Prevention

This site nicely explains the problem. Essentially, nearly all php mail() examples that are given are vulnerable to header injection attacks. The referenced site gives a regex sanitation solution ...
7
votes
5answers
589 views

Scripting a search through php files for dangerous calls for manual review

I'm automating a script which searches through all php files on a big site for dangerous commands. The files which are found will be manually code reviewed. Does anyone have any recommendations for ...
7
votes
3answers
386 views

Finding security consultant for doing in-depth code review?

We have a PHP application that we know has poor coding practices (because the developers did not have a good understanding of PHP / programming fundamentals). This could lead to the scenario where we ...
11
votes
3answers
497 views

Getting a manual security code review done - What to watch out for?

We have a PHP application that we want to get code reviewed from an external security consultant, but I'm not clear on "how to" go about that process. We did specify what kind of tests he should be ...
6
votes
5answers
1k views

Why do people say that PHP is inherently insecure?

I've heard it said that PHP is inherently insecure. Is this true? Why?
17
votes
3answers
3k views

What are the best practices for hardening a php.ini file?

In order to secure a PHP installation, what are the best settings for a php.ini file? What is absolutely vital in terms of security? What is recommended for most use cases?
7
votes
3answers
316 views

What security features should be present in every web-based CMS?

What are the most important security features that a web-based CMS should offer? What's vital? What would be nice to have? What features should the CMS not attempt to do? Please note: I'm looking ...
9
votes
3answers
548 views

What steps should be taken to validate user uploaded images within an application?

Recently I have worked on a number of applications that need to process user uploaded images steps have been taken to validate the extension and the mime type. But what else can be done to ensure ...
25
votes
5answers
2k views

How to Securely Implement a “Remember Me” Feature?

Assuming you already have a website that implements all of the standard login stuff, what is the correct and most secure way to allow users to automatically be logged in for a certain time period ...
16
votes
5answers
1k views

Should I use Suhosin for PHP?

Suhosin can be used to increase the security of your php application. I can really see the use of it when you are using shared hosts, with multiple (possibly evil) people running their PHP apps ...
21
votes
5answers
2k views

How to perform a security audit for a PHP application?

I have a PHP application that I would like to have audited for security. I'm familiar with most of the general security issues, but want to make sure I didn't miss anything. What steps should I take ...