Prototype Pollution

Prototype pollution is a serious vulnerability that can affect web applications, leading to potentially devastating consequences, Let's dive in.

What is Prototype Pollution? Prototype pollution is a security vulnerability that occurs when an attacker can manipulate the prototype of an object. In JavaScript, most objects are derived from prototypes, and modifying these prototypes can lead to unexpected and dangerous behavior. When an attacker successfully pollutes the prototype of an object, they can influence the behavior of the application and potentially compromise its security.

Risks of Prototype Pollution: 1. Data Tampering: Attackers can modify important objects and data structures, potentially leading to data breaches or tampering with critical application data. 2. Denial of Service: Prototype pollution can be exploited to crash the application or render it unusable, leading to a denial of service (DoS) attack. 3. Arbitrary Code Execution: In some cases, an attacker can execute arbitrary code on the server, leading to remote code execution (RCE) vulnerabilities. 4. Escalation of Privileges: Prototype pollution can also lead to privilege escalation, where an attacker gains unauthorized access to sensitive parts of the application or system.

Mitigation and Prevention:

1. Input Validation: Ensure that all input is properly validated and sanitized. Do not trust data from untrusted sources, including user input and external data.

2. Use Safe Libraries: Choose well-established, secure libraries and frameworks. Some libraries are more prone to prototype pollution vulnerabilities than others.

3. Apply Proper Coding Practices:

   • Avoid directly manipulating prototypes unless necessary.
   • Use Object.freeze or Object.seal to make objects immutable where applicable.
   • Avoid using user-controlled data to access object properties.
   • Ensure you use strict mode in JavaScript to prevent implicit global variable creation.

4. Regular Patching: Keep all libraries and dependencies updated to their latest, patched versions. Many prototype pollution vulnerabilities are discovered and patched over time.

5. Web Application Firewall (WAF): Implement a WAF that can detect and block common prototype pollution attacks.

Exploiting Prototype Pollution: As an ethical hacker, it's essential to understand how attackers might exploit prototype pollution to better defend against it. Here's a high-level example of a prototype pollution attack using JavaScript:

// Attacker-controlled input
var userInput = '{"__proto__": {"isAdmin": true}}';

// Parse user input as JSON
var userObject = JSON.parse(userInput);

// Check if the user is an admin
if (userObject.isAdmin) {
    console.log("User is an admin!");
}

In this example, the attacker manipulates the prototype of the userObject by injecting the isAdmin property, potentially leading to unauthorized access or other malicious actions.

Summary: Prototype pollution is a critical web application security concern. Understanding its risks, prevention measures, and potential exploitation is crucial for both web application developers and ethical hackers. Regular security testing and code reviews can help identify and remediate prototype pollution vulnerabilities in your applications.