Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
49 lines (42 loc) · 6.14 KB

attack-surface.md

File metadata and controls

49 lines (42 loc) · 6.14 KB

Attack Surface Analysis for impress/impress.js

Attack Surface: HTML Injection via Data Attributes (XSS)

  • Description: Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability arising from injecting malicious HTML or JavaScript code into impress.js data attributes (e.g., data-x, data-y, data-rotate).
  • How impress.js contributes: Impress.js core functionality relies on parsing and applying values from HTML data attributes to position and style presentation steps. This mechanism becomes an attack vector if these attributes are populated with unsanitized user input or data from untrusted sources.
  • Example:
    • An application dynamically generates data-x attributes based on user-provided input.
    • An attacker injects <img src=x onerror=alert('XSS')> as a value for data-x.
    • When impress.js processes this step, the injected JavaScript (alert('XSS')) executes in the user's browser due to the onerror event.
  • Impact: Full compromise of the user's browser session, enabling session hijacking, cookie theft, redirection to malicious sites, and further attacks against the user's system.
  • Risk Severity: Critical
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Strict Input Sanitization: Thoroughly sanitize and validate all user inputs or data from untrusted sources before using them to generate data attribute values. Employ robust encoding functions (e.g., HTML entity encoding) to neutralize potentially malicious characters.
    • Content Security Policy (CSP): Implement a strict CSP that restricts the sources from which scripts can be executed. This acts as a crucial defense-in-depth measure to limit the impact of XSS even if injection occurs.
    • Principle of Least Privilege: Minimize or eliminate the dynamic generation of data attributes based on user input whenever feasible. If dynamic generation is necessary, implement rigorous input validation and sanitization controls.

Attack Surface: HTML Injection within Step Content (XSS)

  • Description: Classic XSS vulnerability where malicious HTML or JavaScript code is injected directly into the content of impress.js step elements (<div class="step">).
  • How impress.js contributes: Impress.js renders the HTML content placed within each <div class="step"> element. If the application dynamically populates this step content with unsanitized user input or data from untrusted sources, it creates a direct injection point.
  • Example:
    • Presentation step content is fetched from an external API and displayed within impress.js steps.
    • The API response is not sanitized, and an attacker injects <script> maliciousCode(); </script> into the API response.
    • When impress.js renders the step, the injected script executes in the user's browser as part of the step's HTML content.
  • Impact: Identical to Data Attribute XSS - full compromise of the user's browser session, leading to severe security breaches.
  • Risk Severity: Critical
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Output Encoding: Encode all dynamic content originating from user input or untrusted sources before inserting it into step elements. Utilize HTML entity encoding to escape special characters that could be interpreted as HTML or JavaScript code.
    • Templating Engines with Auto-Escaping: Employ templating engines that offer automatic output escaping by default. This significantly reduces the risk of accidentally introducing XSS vulnerabilities when dynamically generating step content.
    • Content Security Policy (CSP): As with data attribute injection, a well-configured CSP is vital to mitigate the impact of XSS by controlling script execution sources and restricting inline scripts.
    • Regular Security Audits: Conduct regular security audits and code reviews, specifically focusing on code paths that handle dynamic content insertion into impress.js steps, to proactively identify and remediate potential injection points.

Attack Surface: Outdated impress.js Library (Dependency Vulnerability)

  • Description: Vulnerability arising from using an outdated version of the impress.js library that may contain known security flaws. These flaws could be directly exploitable within the impress.js framework itself.
  • How impress.js contributes: Directly using an outdated version of impress.js exposes the application to any security vulnerabilities that are present in that specific version of the library.
  • Example:
    • A publicly disclosed XSS vulnerability exists in impress.js version 1.0.0 (hypothetical example).
    • An application continues to use impress.js version 1.0.0 without upgrading.
    • Attackers can exploit this known vulnerability to inject malicious scripts into presentations, targeting users of the vulnerable application.
  • Impact: The impact depends on the nature of the vulnerability present in the outdated library. It could range from XSS (as in the example) to other client-side vulnerabilities, potentially leading to significant security breaches.
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Regular Updates: Maintain impress.js and all other client-side dependencies updated to the latest stable versions. Regularly check for updates and apply them promptly.
    • Dependency Management: Utilize a robust dependency management tool (e.g., npm, yarn, or similar for your project) to effectively track and manage project dependencies, simplifying the update process.
    • Vulnerability Scanning: Implement regular vulnerability scanning of project dependencies using security scanning tools. These tools can automatically identify known vulnerabilities in used libraries, including impress.js.
    • Stay Informed: Actively monitor security advisories, release notes, and security mailing lists related to impress.js and other used libraries. Stay informed about any reported vulnerabilities and necessary updates to proactively address them.