Common software security risks and how to mitigate them include:
- Injection Attacks (e.g., SQL Injection):
- Mitigation: Use prepared statements and parameterized queries to sanitize user inputs. Implement input validation and avoid executing user-inputted code.
- Cross-Site Scripting (XSS):
- Mitigation: Sanitize and validate user inputs, escape special characters, and use security libraries like Content Security Policy (CSP).
- Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF):
- Mitigation: Use anti-CSRF tokens, which are unique tokens generated for each session and checked on form submissions.
- Insecure Deserialization:
- Mitigation: Avoid deserializing untrusted data. Use whitelists to restrict classes that can be deserialized.
- Security Misconfigurations:
- Mitigation: Regularly review and update security configurations, minimize unnecessary services, and apply the principle of least privilege.
- Broken Authentication and Session Management:
- Mitigation: Implement secure authentication methods, use strong password hashing, enable multi-factor authentication, and manage sessions securely.
- Sensitive Data Exposure:
- Mitigation: Encrypt sensitive data at rest and in transit, use strong encryption algorithms, and follow data protection regulations.
- Unvalidated Redirects and Forwards:
- Mitigation: Avoid using user-inputted URLs for redirection. If necessary, validate and sanitize the URL.
- Broken Access Control:
- Mitigation: Enforce proper access control mechanisms and ensure that users can only access resources they’re authorized to access.
- Security Vulnerabilities in Third-Party Components:
- Mitigation: Keep third-party libraries and components up to date, monitor for security alerts, and use reputable sources for components.