Preventing XSS

Preventing XSS with a cloud-based testing solution

While cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks continue to threaten enterprise security, preventing XSS attacks is simple – when you have the right tools.

A cross site scripting vulnerability targets scripts that are embedded in a webpage and executed on the client-side, in a user’s browser, instead of on the server-side. When applications take data from users and dynamically include it in webpages without validating the data properly, attackers can execute arbitrary commands and display arbitrary content in the user’s browser. When successful, an XSS attack may allow an attacker to control the victim’s browser or an account on the vulnerable web application.

There are multiple variations of the XSS attack. In a reflected XSS attack, the attacker injects code that can be executed in the user’s browser within a single HTTP response. In a persistent XSS attack, a web application stores user-generated data and sends it back to the user’s browser without properly securing it.

While XSS attacks are among the most common threats to application security, the right web application security testing solution can make preventing XSS quite easy. When choosing the best solution for preventing XSS vulnerabilities, more enterprises around the world are turning to Veracode.

Download Veracode’s XSS cheat sheet – a summary of everything you need to know about preventing XSS attacks.

Preventing XSS with Veracode

Veracode provides application security testing solutions to protect the software that powers business and innovation. Veracode offers a suite of on-demand, cloud-based services on a unified platform that make it easy to integrate testing into the software development lifecycle (SDLC).

Identifying and preventing XSS errors in web applications involves three simple steps:

• Validating data input from user browsers to the web application.
• Encoding all output to user browsers from the web application.
• Giving users the option to disable client-side scripts.

Veracode’s platform can analyze an application’s control and data flow – the way an attacker sees it – and accurately detect XSS and other flaws in code developed by vendors or in-house developers.

Veracode’s comprehensive tools for preventing XSS

Veracode offers a number of solutions for preventing XSS vulnerabilities:

• Static Analysis scans binaries to identify XSS errors in software in development or production.
• Veracode Static Analysis IDE Scan provides alerts and remediation recommendations in an IDE, identifying preventing XSS errors as they are being written.
• Web Application Scanning can perform lightweight and authenticated scans on public-facing web applications to identify XSS vulnerabilities.
• Software Composition Analysis offers a service for preventing XSS errors in open source components and commercial software.

Learn more about preventing XSS with Veracode and about Veracode solutions for DevSecOps and for detecting an SQL injection in Java.