Why Broken Authentication and Session Management is a Top Security Risk

Authentication, access control, and session management are critical to the security of a web application. If an attacker can exploit a vulnerability in any of these, they may be able to gain unauthorized access to user accounts, sensitive data, or privileged functionality within the web app.

However, these systems are often fragile, requiring protocols and cryptographic code to be carefully designed and implemented to provide true protection. Even minor design or implementation errors may create an opening that an attacker can exploit, making this type of vulnerability a top security risk.

The Various Types of Authentication Vulnerabilities

Authentication is a complex process, involving various components. Design or implementation flaws in any of these areas may allow an attacker to gain unauthorized access to a user account or privileged resources.

Password-Based Authentication Vulnerabilities

Passwords are the most common authentication mechanism, but they’re far from the most secure. Some of the most common authentication vulnerabilities in password-based systems include:

• Hardcoded and Default Passwords: Hardcoded and default passwords are commonly known to attackers, making them insecure. Applications deployed with these passwords are more likely to be compromised by an attacker.
• Poor Password Policy: Password policies implement password length, uniqueness, and complexity requirements to enhance account security. Implementing a weak password policy or failing to enforce it could permit weak passwords that lead to account takeover attacks.
• Insecure Password Storage: Passwords stored in plaintext, encrypted, or hashed with a weak algorithm may be vulnerable if an attacker gains access to the password file. Passwords should be salted and hashed with a secure algorithm.
• Insecure Password Reset: Password reset processes bypass authentication, making them a prime target for attackers. For example, security question-based reset processes commonly use information that is available online, undermining security.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Security

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is intended to enhance the security of password-based authentication. However, its security can be undermined by various issues, such as:

• No MFA: Users commonly select weak and reused passwords, making them inadequate to protect accounts on their own. If a web app doesn’t implement, offer, and enforce the use of MFA, its users are more vulnerable to account takeover attacks.
• Weak MFA: Commonly used MFA factors, such as SMS, are considered insecure and provide limited protection against potential attacks. A failure to use a stronger form of MFA, such as biometrics or a hardware security token, can also leave accounts vulnerable.
• Flawed MFA Implementations: MFA systems must be designed and implemented in a way that mandates access to both factors for authentication. Design or implementation errors may create exploitable backdoors.
• Insecure Fallback: An authentication system may allow users to reset their password or MFA token if they are lost. If this reset mechanism is less secure, then an attacker may be able to exploit it to gain account access.

Session Management Security Issues

Sessions make it possible for a user to interact with a web application without authenticating to every page that they visit. However, session management can also have significant security issues, such as:

• Predictable Session IDs: Session IDs are used as a proxy for a username and password, granting access to an authenticated session. If these values are predictable, an attacker may be able to take over a user’s session.
• Long-Lived Sessions: The longer a session lasts, the more opportunity an attacker has to hijack it. Sessions should have built-in expiration dates to limit the access provided by a compromised session.
• Lack of Session Rotation: Session keys should be rotated or updated whenever the user authenticates or achieves a different level of privilege. This helps to prevent an attacker with access to the previous session ID from using the new privileges.
• Insecure Token Storage: Session tokens should be securely transmitted between the client and server. This includes using HTTPS and setting the HTTPOnly flag to protect against cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks.

Single Sign-On (SSO) Vulnerabilities

Single sign-on (SSO) can enhance the user experience and security by allowing a user to authenticate once and gain access to all associated apps. However, it can also be a significant security liability due to the following potential vulnerabilities:

• Design and Implementation Flaws: SSO systems are intended to perform authentication once at a single location, then permit the user to access multiple applications. Any flaws in the design and implementation of the system could provide an attacker with broad access.
• Weak Authentication: SSO centralizes authentication, making it vital for the authentication server to properly validate the user’s identity. A weak authentication system increases the risk of account takeover across many applications.
• Inadequate Token Validation: SSO uses tokens to securely communicate authentication data to various applications. If these applications don’t properly validate the token’s contents and authenticity, then an attacker may be able to gain access using forged tokens.

Authentication Logic and Workflow Flaws

Authentication systems involve complex logic and multiple workflows. Some of the ways that these can go wrong include:

• Missing or Inadequate Checks: Authentication logic and workflows commonly include passing tokens, session IDs, or other authentication material between different apps and functions. If these don’t all perform validation of the information that they receive, an attacker may be able to identify and exploit a vulnerability in the workflow.
• Third-Party Vulnerabilities: Applications commonly incorporate third-party libraries, and this is especially common for authentication code, which is often complex and difficult to implement. Vulnerabilities in this third-party code could undermine the security of the authentication process.
• Authentication Bypasses: An application may include the ability to bypass traditional authentication via a password reset or administrative backdoor. If these systems are not equally secure, then an attacker can exploit this vulnerability.

Securing Web Applications with IONIX

Authentication and access management systems are the foundation for an application security program. Without the ability to differentiate between legitimate and malicious users, an application doesn’t know when it’s under attack.

The IONIX platform helps development teams manage their exposure to these and other threats via continuous monitoring and simulated attacks against the most common vulnerabilities. To learn more about the benefits of IONIX for your application security, sign up for a free demo.