The Tangled Web
A Guide to Securing Modern Web Applications
1st Edition
Published on 15. November 2011
Book
Paperback/Softback
XX, 299 pages
978-1-59327-388-0 (ISBN)
Description
Modern web applications are built on a tangle of technologies that have been developed over time and then haphazardly pieced together. Every piece of web application stack, from HTTP requests to browser-side scripts, comes with important yet subtle security consequences. To keep users safe, it is essential for developers to confidently navigate this landscape.
In The Tangled Web, Michal Zalewski, one of the world's top browser security experts, offers a compelling narrative that explains exactly how browsers work and why they're fundamentally insecure. Rather than dispense simplistic advice on vulnerabilities, Zalewski examines the entire browser security model, revealing weak points and providing crucial information for shoring up web application security. You'll learn how to:
- Perform common but surprisingly complex tasks such as URL parsing and HTML sanitization
- Use modern security features like Strict Transport Security, Content Security Policy, and Cross-Origin Resource Sharing
- Leverage many variants of the same-origin policy to safely compartmentalize complex web applications and protect user credentials in case of XSS bugs
- Build mashups and embed gadgets without getting stung by the tricky frame navigation policy
- Embed or host user-supplied content without running into the trap of content sniffing
For quick reference, "Security Engineering Cheat Sheets" at the end of each chapter offer ready solutions to the problems you're most likely to encounter. With coverage extending as far as planned HTML5 features, The Tangled Web will help you create secure web applications to stand the test of time.
In The Tangled Web, Michal Zalewski, one of the world's top browser security experts, offers a compelling narrative that explains exactly how browsers work and why they're fundamentally insecure. Rather than dispense simplistic advice on vulnerabilities, Zalewski examines the entire browser security model, revealing weak points and providing crucial information for shoring up web application security. You'll learn how to:
- Perform common but surprisingly complex tasks such as URL parsing and HTML sanitization
- Use modern security features like Strict Transport Security, Content Security Policy, and Cross-Origin Resource Sharing
- Leverage many variants of the same-origin policy to safely compartmentalize complex web applications and protect user credentials in case of XSS bugs
- Build mashups and embed gadgets without getting stung by the tricky frame navigation policy
- Embed or host user-supplied content without running into the trap of content sniffing
For quick reference, "Security Engineering Cheat Sheets" at the end of each chapter offer ready solutions to the problems you're most likely to encounter. With coverage extending as far as planned HTML5 features, The Tangled Web will help you create secure web applications to stand the test of time.
Reviews / Votes
"A classic - arguably canon - as far as security training books go, and especially when it comes to web application security."-Britt Kemp, Bishop Fox Labs
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Heidelberg
Germany
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Web application developers
- Information security professionals
- Network engineers
Product notice
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 182 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
615 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-59327-388-0 (9781593273880)
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
11/2011
No Starch Press
€46.99
Available for download
Person
Michal Zalewski is an internationally recognized information security expert with a long track record of delivering cutting-edge research. He is credited with discovering hundreds of notable security vulnerabilities and frequently appears on lists of the most influential security experts. He is the author of Silence on the Wire (No Starch Press), Google's "Browser Security Handbook," and numerous important research papers.
Content
PRAISE FOR THE TANGLED WEB; PRAISE FOR SILENCE ON THE WIRE BY MICHAL ZALEWSKI; Dedication; Preface; Acknowledgments; Chapter 1: Security in the World of Web Applications; 1.1 Information Security in a Nutshell; 1.2 A Brief History of the Web; 1.3 The Evolution of a Threat; 1.4 Global browser market share, May 2011; Anatomy of the Web; Chapter 2: It Starts with a URL; 2.1 Uniform Resource Locator Structure; 2.2 Reserved Characters and Percent Encoding; 2.3 Common URL Schemes and Their Function; 2.4 Resolution of Relative URLs; Chapter 3: Hypertext Transfer Protocol; 3.1 Basic Syntax of HTTP Traffic; 3.2 HTTP Request Types; 3.3 Server Response Codes; 3.4 Keepalive Sessions; 3.5 Chunked Data Transfers; 3.6 Caching Behavior; 3.7 HTTP Cookie Semantics; 3.8 HTTP Authentication; 3.9 Protocol-Level Encryption and Client Certificates; Chapter 4: Hypertext Markup Language; 4.1 Basic Concepts Behind HTML Documents; 4.2 Understanding HTML Parser Behavior; 4.3 Entity Encoding; 4.4 HTTP/HTML Integration Semantics; 4.5 Hyperlinking and Content Inclusion; Chapter 5: Cascading Style Sheets; 5.1 Basic CSS Syntax; 5.2 Parser Resynchronization Risks; 5.3 Character Encoding; Chapter 6: Browser-Side Scripts; 6.1 Basic Characteristics of JavaScript; 6.2 Standard Object Hierarchy; 6.3 Script Character Encoding; 6.4 Code Inclusion Modes and Nesting Risks; 6.5 The Living Dead: Visual Basic; Chapter 7: Non-HTML Document Types; 7.1 Plaintext Files; 7.2 Bitmap Images; 7.3 Audio and Video; 7.4 XML-Based Documents; 7.5 A Note on Nonrenderable File Types; Chapter 8: Content Rendering with Browser Plug-ins; 8.1 Invoking a Plug-in; 8.2 Document Rendering Helpers; 8.3 Plug-in-Based Application Frameworks; 8.4 ActiveX Controls; 8.5 Living with Other Plug-ins; Browser Security Features; Chapter 9: Content Isolation Logic; 9.1 Same-Origin Policy for the Document Object Model; 9.2 Same-Origin Policy for XMLHttpRequest; 9.3 Same-Origin Policy for Web Storage; 9.4 Security Policy for Cookies; 9.5 Plug-in Security Rules; 9.6 Coping with Ambiguous or Unexpected Origins; 9.7 Other Uses of Origins; Chapter 10: Origin Inheritance; 10.1 Origin Inheritance for about:blank; 10.2 Inheritance for data: URLs; 10.3 Inheritance for javascript: and vbscript: URLs; 10.4 A Note on Restricted Pseudo-URLs; Chapter 11: Life Outside Same-Origin Rules; 11.1 Window and Frame Interactions; 11.2 Cross-Domain Content Inclusion; 11.3 Privacy-Related Side Channels; 11.4 Other SOP Loopholes and Their Uses; Chapter 12: Other Security Boundaries; 12.1 Navigation to Sensitive Schemes; 12.2 Access to Internal Networks; 12.3 Prohibited Ports; 12.4 Limitations on Third-Party Cookies; Chapter 13: Content Recognition Mechanisms; 13.1 Document Type Detection Logic; 13.2 Character Set Handling; Chapter 14: Dealing with Rogue Scripts; 14.1 Denial-of-Service Attacks; 14.2 Window-Positioning and Appearance Problems; 14.3 Timing Attacks on User Interfaces; Chapter 15: Extrinsic Site Privileges; 15.1 Browser- and Plug-in-Managed Site Permissions; 15.2 Form-Based Password Managers; 15.3 Internet Explorer's Zone Model; A Glimpse of Things to Come; Chapter 16: New and Upcoming Security Features; 16.1 Security Model Extension Frameworks; 16.2 Security Model Restriction Frameworks; 16.3 Other Developments; Chapter 17: Other Browser Mechanisms of Note; 17.1 URL- and Protocol-Level Proposals; 17.2 Content-Level Features; 17.3 I/O Interfaces; Chapter 18: Common Web Vulnerabilities; 18.1 Vulnerabilities Specific to Web Applications; 18.2 Problems to Keep in Mind in Web Application Design; 18.3 Common Problems Unique to Server-Side Code; Epilogue; Notes;; UPDATES;