How can you prioritize your web application security using CWE Top 25?

3 What are the CWE Top 25 weaknesses?

The CWE Top 25 list is divided into three categories based on the severity, frequency, and likelihood of exploitation of each weakness: the top nine critical weaknesses, the next eight high risk weaknesses, and the remaining eight moderate risk weaknesses. Each weakness is scored using various factors such as prevalence, impact, remediation cost, and exploitability. The top nine critical weaknesses are Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer, Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation (‘Cross-site Scripting’), Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command (‘SQL Injection’), Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command (‘OS Command Injection’), Missing Authentication for Critical Function, Missing Authorization, Use of Hard-coded Credentials, Deserialization of Untrusted Data, and Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory (‘Path Traversal’). The next eight high risk weaknesses are Uncontrolled Resource Consumption, Use of a Broken or Risky Cryptographic Algorithm, Use of Insufficiently Random Values, Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program (‘PHP File Inclusion’), Improper Validation of Array Index, Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions, Incorrect Calculation of Buffer Size, and Use After Free. Lastly, the remaining eight moderate risk weaknesses include Integer Overflow or Wraparound, Improper Neutralization of Script-Related HTML Tags in a Web Page (‘Basic XSS’), Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts, URL Redirection to Untrusted Site (‘Open Redirect’), Embedded Malicious Code, Improper Handling of Syntactically Invalid Structure, Information Exposure Through an Error Message, and Out-of-bounds Read. Reporting and documenting these weaknesses can help inform stakeholders and provide valuable insights for improving cloud security posture.

4 How to remediate CWE Top 25 weaknesses?

To remediate CWE Top 25 weaknesses, you need to apply secure coding practices and use appropriate tools and frameworks. For instance, validate and sanitize user input and output to prevent injection and cross-site scripting attacks. Additionally, use parameterized queries and prepared statements to prevent SQL injection attacks. Further, secure and updated libraries and APIs should be utilized to perform cryptographic operations and generate random values. Moreover, strong authentication and authorization mechanisms should be implemented to prevent unauthorized access and privilege escalation. Furthermore, hard-coding credentials and sensitive data in code should be avoided, while secure storage and encryption methods should be used instead. Additionally, validate and whitelist the sources of data you deserialize and use sandboxing or isolation techniques to limit the impact of malicious code execution. Moreover, check and limit the size of files included, required, or manipulated in your code, while gracefully handling errors and exceptions. Finally, memory management functions should be used to prevent buffer overflows, use after free, and integer overflows.

5 How to update CWE Top 25?

CWE Top 25 is not a static list, but a dynamic one that reflects the evolving threat landscape and the feedback from the software security community. The list is updated periodically by the CWE team, based on new data sources, analysis methods, and expert opinions. You can follow the CWE website and newsletter to stay informed about the latest changes and additions to the list. You can also contribute to the CWE project by providing your input, suggestions, or corrections through the CWE website or the CWE forum.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?