OWASP Top 10 Vulnerabilities: A Complete Guide for 2024

The OWASP Top 10 represents the most critical security risks to web applications. Understanding these vulnerabilities is essential for developers, security professionals, and organizations looking to protect their digital assets.

What is OWASP?

The Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) is a nonprofit foundation that works to improve the security of software. Their Top 10 list is updated periodically to reflect the current threat landscape.

The 2024 OWASP Top 10

1. Broken Access Control

Access control enforces policies such that users cannot act outside of their intended permissions. Failures typically lead to unauthorized information disclosure, modification, or destruction of data.

Implement proper access control mechanisms
Deny by default
Log access control failures
Rate limit API access

2. Cryptographic Failures

Previously known as "Sensitive Data Exposure," this category focuses on failures related to cryptography that often lead to sensitive data exposure.

Encrypt all sensitive data at rest and in transit
Use strong, up-to-date algorithms
Disable caching for sensitive data
Don't use legacy protocols like FTP or SMTP for transport

3. Injection

Injection flaws occur when untrusted data is sent to an interpreter as part of a command or query. SQL, NoSQL, OS, and LDAP injection are common attack vectors.

Use parameterized queries
Validate and sanitize all input
Use LIMIT and other SQL controls to prevent mass disclosure

4. Insecure Design

A new category focusing on risks related to design and architectural flaws. This emphasizes the need for threat modeling and secure design patterns.

Establish secure development lifecycle
Use threat modeling
Integrate security testing in CI/CD
Separate tenant access at the design level

5. Security Misconfiguration

Improperly configured permissions, unnecessary features enabled, default accounts, and overly informative error messages all fall under this category.

Implement hardening procedures
Remove unnecessary features and frameworks
Review cloud storage permissions
Implement automated configuration verification

Conclusion

Understanding and addressing the OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities is crucial for maintaining secure applications. Regular security assessments and penetration testing can help identify these vulnerabilities before attackers do. At CyberSecify, we specialize in identifying these vulnerabilities through comprehensive security assessments.