Other JavaScript methods which take code as a string types will have a similar problem as outline above (setTimeout, setInterval, new Function, etc.). Sometimes users need to author HTML. In a DOM-based attacks, the HTTP response on the server side does not change. DOM XSS stands for Document Object Model-based Cross-site Scripting. For example if you want to use user input to write in a div tag element don't use innerHtml, instead use innerText or textContent. In a few clicks we can analyze your entire application and see what components are vulnerable in your application, and suggest you quick fixes. Encode all characters using the \xHH format. Validate all data that flows into your application from the server or a third-party API. HTML Validation (JSoup, AntiSamy, HTML Sanitizer). The DOM is a programming interface. One example of an attribute which is thought to be safe is innerText. Avoid populating the following methods with untrusted data. DOM-based Cross-site Scripting (DOM XSS) is a particular type of a Cross-site Scripting vulnerability. Never put untrusted data into your HTML input, unless you follow the rest of the steps below. An attacker can construct a link to send a victim to a vulnerable page with a payload in the query string and fragment portions of the URL. However, depending on the tag which innerText is applied, code can be executed. For instance, jQuery's attr() function can change the attributes of DOM elements. Definition DOM Based XSS (or as it is called in some texts, "type-0 XSS") is an XSS attack wherein the attack payload is executed as a result of modifying the DOM "environment" in the victim's browser used by the original client side script, so that the client side code runs in an "unexpected" manner. There are also TrustedScript and TrustedScriptURL objects for other sensitive sinks. If you need to render different content, use innerText instead of innerHTML. Now that you know more about cross-site scripting attacks and their impact, let's take a look at how you can prevent cross-site scripting or XSS attacks. Each parser has distinct and separate semantics in the way they can possibly execute script code which make creating consistent rules for mitigating vulnerabilities in various contexts difficult. Parsing HTML input is difficult, if not impossible. Some XSS vulnerabilities are caused by the server-side code that insecurely creates the HTML code forming the website. Use one of the following approaches to prevent code from being exposed to DOM-based XSS: createElement () and assign property values with appropriate methods or properties such as node.textContent= or node.InnerText=. It is possible if the web application's client-side scripts write data provided by the user to the Document Object Model (DOM). Don't use untrusted input as part of a URL path. For example, using the default configuration you might use a Razor HtmlHelper like so; When you view the source of the web page you will see it has been rendered as follows, with the Chinese text encoded; To widen the characters treated as safe by the encoder you would insert the following line into the ConfigureServices() method in startup.cs; This example widens the safe list to include the Unicode Range CjkUnifiedIdeographs. The DOM-based cross-site scripting requires the user to open an infected page. Now only JavaScript encoding on server side. It is the process of converting untrusted . The following are some of the main sinks that can lead to DOM-XSS vulnerabilities: The following jQuery functions are also sinks that can lead to DOM-XSS vulnerabilities: In addition to the general measures described on the DOM-based vulnerabilities page, you should avoid allowing data from any untrusted source to be dynamically written to the HTML document. In Chrome's developer tools, you can use Control+Shift+F (or Command+Alt+F on MacOS) to search all the page's JavaScript code for the source. Common injection vectors include document.url, document.location, and document.referrer objects. URL Contexts refer to variables placed into a URL. JavaScript encoding all untrusted input, as shown in these examples: Enclosed within a closure or JavaScript encoded to N-levels based on usage. When a browser is rendering HTML and any other associated content like CSS or JavaScript, it identifies various rendering contexts for the different kinds of input and follows different rules for each context. The enterprise-enabled dynamic web vulnerability scanner. In JavaScript code, the main context is JavaScript but with the right tags and context closing characters, an attacker can try to attack the other 4 contexts using equivalent JavaScript DOM methods. WAFs are unreliable and new bypass techniques are being discovered regularly. The most common one would be adding it to an href or src attribute of an
tag. Variables should not be interpreted as code instead of text. CSS is surprisingly powerful and has been used for many types of attacks. Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attacks are a type of injection, in which malicious scripts are injected into otherwise benign and trusted websites. HTML encoding takes characters such as < and changes them into a safe form like < Before putting untrusted data into an HTML attribute ensure it's HTML encoded. This view outputs the contents of the untrustedInput variable. Quoting makes it difficult to change the context a variable operates in, which helps prevent XSS. For more information on other types of XSS attacks: reflected XSS and stored XSS, see the following article: Types of XSS: Stored XSS, Reflected XSS, and DOM-based XSS. Cross-site Scripting (XSS) can seriously threaten individual users and companies whose websites may be infected. This site is our home for content to help you on that journey, written by members of the Chrome team, and external experts. What would be displayed in the input text field would be "Johnson & Johnson". DOM-based vulnerabilities occur in the content processing stage performed on the client, typically in client-side JavaScript. Before putting untrusted data into JavaScript place the data in an HTML element whose contents you retrieve at runtime. Record your progression from Apprentice to Expert. To test for DOM XSS in an HTML sink, place a random alphanumeric string into the source (such as location.search), then use developer tools to inspect the HTML and find where your string appears. In the case above, JavaScript encoding does not mitigate against DOM based XSS. If these methods are provided with untrusted input, then an XSS vulnerability could result. Misconceptions abound related to the proper encoding that is required. This should never be used in combination with untrusted input as this will expose an XSS vulnerability. It is almost impossible to detect DOM XSS only from the server-side (using HTTP requests). There are some further things to consider: Security professionals often talk in terms of sources and sinks. . If you have to use user input on your page, always use it in the text context, never as HTML tags or any other potential code. Use a trusted and verified library to escape HTML inputs. Trusted Types force you to process a value somehow, but don't yet define what the exact processing rules are, and whether they are safe. The only safe location for placing variables in JavaScript is inside a quoted data value. This could lead to an attack being added to a webpage.. for example. If you sanitize content and then send it to a library for use, check that it doesnt mutate that string somehow. Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) is a misnomer. The following article describes how to exploit different kinds of XSS Vulnerabilities that this article was created to help you avoid: Discussion on the Types of XSS Vulnerabilities: How to Review Code for Cross-site scripting Vulnerabilities: How to Test for Cross-site scripting Vulnerabilities: Copyright 2021 - CheatSheets Series Team - This work is licensed under a, Output Encoding for HTML Attribute Contexts, Output Encoding for JavaScript Contexts, Insecure Direct Object Reference Prevention, OWASP Java Encoder JavaScript encoding examples, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. There are a couple of options for fixing a Trusted Type violation. Trusted Types heavily reduce the DOM XSS attack surface of your application. The primary difference is where the attack is injected into the application. Looking to understand what cross-site scripting (XSS) is and the various techniques used by attackers? Many security training curriculums and papers advocate the blind usage of HTML encoding to resolve XSS. The OWASP Cheat Sheet Series was created to provide a concise collection of high value information on specific application security topics. Most commonly, a developer will add a parameter or URL fragment to a URL base that is then displayed or used in some operation. This helps quickly identify a large chunk of violations. In the case above, the attribute name is an JavaScript event handler, so the attribute value is implicitly converted to JavaScript code and evaluated. The primary rule that you must follow to prevent DOM XSS is: sanitize all untrusted data, even if it is only used in client-side scripts. Learn the details here including XSS prevention methods. Note that the browser's "View source" option won't work for DOM XSS testing because it doesn't take account of changes that have been performed in the HTML by JavaScript. The best way to fix DOM based cross-site scripting is to use the right output method (sink). Dangerous contexts include: Don't place variables into dangerous contexts as even with output encoding, it will not prevent an XSS attack fully. For example, you might need to close some existing elements before using your JavaScript payload. The best manual tools to start web security testing. If you use Burp's browser, however, you can take advantage of its built-in DOM Invader extension, which does a lot of the hard work for you. Finally, to fix the problem in our initial code, instead of trying to encode the output correctly which is a hassle and can easily go wrong we would simply use element.textContent to write it in a content like this: It does the same thing but this time it is not vulnerable to DOM based cross-site scripting vulnerabilities. A better approach would be to use the following: Run your JavaScript in a ECMAScript 5 canopy or sandbox to make it harder for your JavaScript API to be compromised (Gareth Heyes and John Stevens). DOM-based XSS Examples. A script on the page then processes the reflected data in an unsafe way, ultimately writing it to a dangerous sink. (It's free!). Therefore there is little change in the encoding rules for URL attributes in an execution (DOM) context. This cushions your application against an XSS attack, and at times, you may be able to prevent it, as well. This can be done via a function such as: Most DOM XSS payloads are never sent to the server because they are prepended by the # symbol. - owasp-CheatSheetSeries . Examples of safe attributes includes: align, alink, alt, bgcolor, border, cellpadding, cellspacing, class, color, cols, colspan, coords, dir, face, height, hspace, ismap, lang, marginheight, marginwidth, multiple, nohref, noresize, noshade, nowrap, ref, rel, rev, rows, rowspan, scrolling, shape, span, summary, tabindex, title, usemap, valign, value, vlink, vspace, width. Cookie attributes try to limit the impact of an XSS attack but dont prevent the execution of malicious content or address the root cause of the vulnerability. On the client side, the HTTP response does not change but the script executes in malicious manner. For example, a JavaScript encoded string will execute even though it is JavaScript encoded. For XSS attacks to be successful, an attacker needs to insert and execute malicious content in a webpage. Always pass untrusted input as a query string value. Browsers change functionality and bypasses are being discovered regularly. However the opposite is the case with HTML encoding. Now, no matter how complex your web application is, the only thing that can introduce a DOM XSS vulnerability, is the code in one of your policies - and you can lock that down even more by limiting policy creation. Java Encoder is an active project providing supports for HTML, CSS and JavaScript encoding. Already got an account? In other words, add a level of indirection between untrusted input and specified object properties. You might find that the source gets assigned to other variables. Customization of the safe list only affects encoders sourced via DI. RULE #1 - HTML Escape then JavaScript Escape Before Inserting Untrusted Data into HTML Subcontext within the Execution Context, RULE #2 - JavaScript Escape Before Inserting Untrusted Data into HTML Attribute Subcontext within the Execution Context, RULE #3 - Be Careful when Inserting Untrusted Data into the Event Handler and JavaScript code Subcontexts within an Execution Context, RULE #4 - JavaScript Escape Before Inserting Untrusted Data into the CSS Attribute Subcontext within the Execution Context, RULE #5 - URL Escape then JavaScript Escape Before Inserting Untrusted Data into URL Attribute Subcontext within the Execution Context, RULE #6 - Populate the DOM using safe JavaScript functions or properties, RULE #7 - Fixing DOM Cross-site Scripting Vulnerabilities, Guidelines for Developing Secure Applications Utilizing JavaScript, GUIDELINE #1 - Untrusted data should only be treated as displayable text, GUIDELINE #2 - Always JavaScript encode and delimit untrusted data as quoted strings when entering the application when building templated JavaScript, GUIDELINE #3 - Use document.createElement(""), element.setAttribute("","value"), element.appendChild() and similar to build dynamic interfaces, GUIDELINE #4 - Avoid sending untrusted data into HTML rendering methods, GUIDELINE #5 - Avoid the numerous methods which implicitly eval() data passed to it, Utilizing an Enclosure (as suggested by Gaz), GUIDELINE #6 - Use untrusted data on only the right side of an expression, GUIDELINE #7 - When URL encoding in DOM be aware of character set issues, GUIDELINE #8 - Limit access to object properties when using object[x] accessors, GUIDELINE #9 - Run your JavaScript in a ECMAScript 5 canopy or sandbox, GUIDELINE #10 - Don't eval() JSON to convert it to native JavaScript objects, Common Problems Associated with Mitigating DOM Based XSS, Insecure Direct Object Reference Prevention, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. It's important to remember that some of these are also potential sources and sinks for DOM XSS. The payload can be manipulated to deface the target application using a prompt that states: Your session has expired. Sometimes it's not possible to remove the functionality, and there is no library to sanitize the value and create a Trusted Type for you. : You can customize the encoder safe lists to include Unicode ranges appropriate to your application during startup, in ConfigureServices(). Consider adopting the following controls in addition to the above. Any application is vulnerable to DOM-based cross-site scripting if there is an executable path via which data can develop from source to sink. Except for alphanumeric characters, encode all characters with the HTML Entity, Except for alphanumeric characters, encode all characters with the, Out of date framework plugins or components, Where URLs are handled in code such as this CSS { background-url : javascript:alert(xss); }. The reflected data might be placed into a JavaScript string literal, or a data item within the DOM, such as a form field. For example, this is the case if you're loading a third-party library from a CDN. Catch critical bugs; ship more secure software, more quickly. Some pure DOM-based vulnerabilities are self-contained within a single page. Even newer versions of jQuery can still be vulnerable via the $() selector sink, provided you have full control over its input from a source that doesn't require a # prefix. The following charts details a list of critical output encoding methods needed to stop Cross Site Scripting. Use a CSP as an additional layer of defense and have a look at the. Directly setting event handler attributes will allow JavaScript encoding to mitigate against DOM based XSS. DOM-based cross-site scripting happens when data from a user controlled, Most of the violations like this can also be detected by running a code linter or, If the sanitization logic in DOMPurify is buggy, your application might still have a DOM XSS vulnerability. Get started with Burp Suite Enterprise Edition. Input validation. Here is an example of the problem using map types: The developer writing the code above was trying to add additional keyed elements to the myMapType object. To prevent DOM-based cross-site scripting, sanitize all untrusted data, even if it is only used in client-side scripts. For example, websites often reflect URL parameters in the HTML response from the server. Since then, it has extended to include injection of basically any content, but we still refer to this as XSS. Additionally, the website's scripts might perform validation or other processing of data that must be accommodated when attempting to exploit a vulnerability. One scenario would be allow users to change the styling or structure of content inside a WYSIWYG editor. Ensure JavaScript variables are quoted, JavaScript Hex Encoding, JavaScript Unicode Encoding, Avoid backslash encoding (. ESAPI is one of the few which works on an allow list and encodes all non-alphanumeric characters. How to detect DOM-based cross-site scripting? Read more about DOM-based cross-site scripting. JavaScript encoding takes dangerous characters for JavaScript and replaces them with their hex, for example < would be encoded as \u003C. Enhance security monitoring to comply with confidence. Download the latest version of Burp Suite. The HTML parser of the rendering context dictates how data is presented and laid out on the page and can be further broken down into the standard contexts of HTML, HTML attribute, URL, and CSS. See how our software enables the world to secure the web. placed in an HTML Attribute. If your code looked like the following, you would need to only double JavaScript encode input data. XSS is serious and can lead to account impersonation, observing user behaviour, loading external content, stealing sensitive data, and more. An important implementation note is that if the JavaScript code tries to utilize the double or triple encoded data in string comparisons, the value may be interpreted as different values based on the number of evals() the data has passed through before being passed to the if comparison and the number of times the value was JavaScript encoded. DOM XSS in jQuery selector sink using a hashchange event, DOM XSS in AngularJS expression with angle brackets and double quotes HTML-encoded. Use the default policy sparingly, and prefer refactoring the application to use regular policies instead. View the source code of this file and note the following JavaScript code snippet: Essentially, the exploit uses the window.location.hash source, which is evaluated in an HTML element sink. The innerHTML sink doesn't accept script elements on any modern browser, nor will svg onload events fire. DOMPurify supports Trusted Types and will return sanitized HTML wrapped in a TrustedHTML object such that the browser does not generate a violation.CautionIf the sanitization logic in DOMPurify is buggy, your application might still have a DOM XSS vulnerability. It is particularly common when applications leverage common JavaScript function calls such as document.baseURI to build a part of the page without sanitization. Using the wrong encoding method may introduce weaknesses or harm the functionality of your application. Its easy to make mistakes with the implementation so it should not be your primary defense mechanism. Types of XSS attacks since mid-2012: DOM-based XSS attacks in React. Encode all characters with the %HH encoding format. HTML Context refers to inserting a variable between two basic HTML tags like a or . "\u0061\u006c\u0065\u0072\u0074\u0028\u0032\u0032\u0029", "\u0061\u006c\u0065\u0072\u0074\u0028\u0031\u0029". If this isn't possible, then ensure the data is JavaScript encoded. There will be times where you need to do something outside the protection provided by your framework. Read about other types of cross-site scripting attacks. Also, keep in mind that DOM XSS and other types of XSS are not mutually exclusive. The name originated from early versions of the attack where stealing data cross-site was the primary focus. It is an informational message with a simple alert. To detect the possibility of a DOM XSS, you must simulate the attack from the client-side in the users browser using a web application scanner like Acunetix (with DOM-based XSS scanner functionality). //any code passed into lName is now executable. The guidelines below are an attempt to provide guidelines for developers when developing Web based JavaScript applications (Web 2.0) such that they can avoid XSS. For each potential source, such as location, you first need to find cases within the page's JavaScript code where the source is being referenced. This would be like a DOM Based XSS attack as it is using rendered JavaScript rather than HTML, however, as it passes though the server it is still classed as reflected or stored XSS depending on where the value is initially set. For information on sources and sinks, read the following article: Finding the Source of a DOM-based XSS Vulnerability with Acunetix. This brings up an interesting design point. The data is subsequently read from the DOM by the web application and outputted to the browser. Output encoding here will prevent XSS, but it will break the intended functionality of the application. In a reflected DOM XSS vulnerability, the server processes data from the request, and echoes the data into the response. For example if you want to use user input to write in a div tag element don't use innerHtml, instead use innerText or textContent. I will show you three examples of DOM-based XSS attacks in this article. Websites may also store data on the server and reflect it elsewhere. DOM-based Cross-site Scripting (DOM XSS) is a particular type of a Cross-site Scripting vulnerability. innerHTML, outerHTML,insertAdjacentHTML, <iframe> srcdoc, document.write, document.writeln, and DOMParser.parseFromString, Executing plugin content: <embed src>, <object data> and <object codebase>, Runtime JavaScript code compilation: eval, setTimeout, setInterval, new Function(). Some papers or guides advocate its use as an alternative to innerHTML to mitigate against XSS in innerHTML. . With Reflected/Stored the attack is injected into the application during server-side processing of requests where untrusted input is dynamically added to HTML. eval For example.. An attacker could modify data that is rendered as $varUnsafe. For a detailed explanation of the taint flow between sources and sinks, please refer to the DOM-based vulnerabilities page. We want to help you build beautiful, accessible, fast, and secure websites that work cross-browser, and for all of your users. Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) is a security vulnerability which enables an attacker to place client side scripts (usually JavaScript) into web pages. //The following does NOT work because the event handler is being set to a string. When you find a sink that is being assigned data that originated from the source, you can use the debugger to inspect the value by hovering over the variable to show its value before it is sent to the sink.