Basically a session is a series of HyperText Transmission Protocol(HTTP) requests, and response deals created by the same user. For any website, Session management would request the user to re-login, if the session has expired. The primary aim of session management is to establish secure interactions between users and applications or services. A session initiates upon user login, retaining information or attributes until logout. Also, finding Session Management Vulnerabilities is essential for securing web applications.
So, as we got a basic understanding of Session Management, now let us understand how to find Session Management Vulnerabilities.
How to test Session Management Vulnerabilities:
- The Session identifier is confidential: During session establishment, ensure all session identifier token transmissions are encrypted. Failure to transmit cookies securely over HTTPS leads to Session Management Vulnerability.
- The Session identifier should be non-specific: Applications are often developed using frameworks like PHP, J2EE, .NET, etc., to generate session identifier token values. These frameworks ensure secure generation of session identifiers with long, unpredictable strings.
Session fixation happens when a session identifier is used pre-authentication, without changing the value post-authentication.
- The Session must End on Logout: Follow these steps to verify if the logout is properly handled:
- Log into the application
- Execute any previous action that requires earlier authentication and capture the request using a web proxy
- Logout from the application
- Resubmit the captured request
If the application displays a response other than the login page or an error message, it indicates a session management vulnerability.
- There should be a non-activity timeout: To verify the implementation of a non-activity timeout, follow these steps.
- Log into the application
- Take an interval with no activity on the application
- After the interval perform an activity that requires the earlier authentication
Successful action without setting the inactivity timeout indicates Session Management Vulnerability.
- Closing the browser indicates you are done: Be cautious while assigning session handling tasks to their browsers. Improper logout, such as closing the browser without logging out, could lead to hacking. Attackers may exploit this by reopening the browser and accessing the previous user’s session through browsing history. Let us check through the following steps.
- Log into the application
- Execute a previous authentication action and capture the request in the web proxy
- Close the browser and reopen
- Try to replay the captured request.
Failure to terminate the session upon browser closure indicates a Session Management Vulnerability due to request rejection failure.
Conclusion:
Finding session management vulnerabilities ensures secure exchanges between users and applications, safeguarding data. Krify’s adept developers prioritize quality testing for robust applications.
