CAPEC-593 Metadata
Likelihood of Attack
High
Typical Severity
Very High
Overview
Summary
This type of attack involves an adversary that exploits weaknesses in an application's use of sessions in performing authentication. The adversary is able to steal or manipulate an active session and use it to gain unathorized access to the application.
Prerequisites
An application that leverages sessions to perform authentication.
Execution Flow
| Step | Phase | Description | Techniques |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Explore | [Discover Existing Session Token] Through varrying means, an adversary will discover and store an existing session token for some other authenticated user session. |
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| 2 | Experiment | [Insert Found Session Token] The attacker attempts to insert a found session token into communication with the targeted application to confirm viability for exploitation. |
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| 3 | Exploit | [Session Token Exploitation] The attacker leverages the captured session token to interact with the targeted application in a malicious fashion, impersonating the victim. |
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Potential Solutions / Mitigations
Properly encrypt and sign identity tokens in transit, and use industry standard session key generation mechanisms that utilize high amount of entropy to generate the session key. Many standard web and application servers will perform this task on your behalf. Utilize a session timeout for all sessions. If the user does not explicitly logout, terminate their session after this period of inactivity. If the user logs back in then a new session key should be generated.
Related Weaknesses (CWE)
| CWE ID | Description |
|---|---|
| CWE-287 | Improper Authentication |
Related CAPECs
| CAPEC ID | Description |
|---|---|
| CAPEC-21 | An adversary guesses, obtains, or "rides" a trusted identifier (e.g. session ID, resource ID, cookie, etc.) to perform authorized actions under the guise of an authenticated user or service. |
Taxonomy Mappings
Taxonomy: ATTACK
| Entry ID | Entry Name |
|---|---|
| 1185 | Browser Session Hijacking |
| 1550.001 | Use Alternate Authentication Material:Application Access Token |
| 1563 | Remote Service Session Hijacking |
Taxonomy: OWASP Attacks
| Entry ID | Entry Name |
|---|---|
| Link | Session hijacking attack |
Stay Ahead of Attack Patterns
Understanding CAPEC patterns helps security professionals anticipate and thwart potential attacks. Leverage these insights to enhance threat modeling, strengthen your software development lifecycle, and train your security teams effectively.