Broken Authentication

This refers to security vulnerabilities in authentication and session management. Attackers can exploit weak or flawed authentication mechanisms to gain unauthorized access to systems.

# Vulnerable code (weak password policy)
if password == request.getParameter("password"):
    # Allow login

# Secure code (implementing stronger password policies)
if validatePassword(request.getParameter("password")):
    # Allow login

def login():
    username = request.getParameter("username")
    password = request.getParameter("password")
    if verifyCredentials(username, password):
        # Successful login
        setSessionUser(username)
        redirect("/dashboard")
    else:
        # Invalid credentials
        displayErrorMessage("Invalid username or password.")

In this example, the login function assumes that the verifyCredentials function adequately authenticates the user. However, if the implementation of verifyCredentials is weak or does not properly hash passwords, an attacker can exploit this vulnerability by using weak or easily guessable passwords, potentially gaining unauthorized access to user accounts.

To mitigate this risk, strong password policies, secure storage of passwords (e.g., using salted and hashed passwords), and robust session management techniques (e.g., using secure session tokens) should be employed.