The Tangled Web: A Guide to Securing Modern Web Applications

Be the first to write a review

Want to read this on your NOOK? Request as NOOK Book from the publisher

Thank you for requesting this book as a NOOK book from the publisher.

Customers Who Bought This Also Bought

More About This Book

Overview
Product Details
Meet the Author
Table of Contents

Advertising

Overview

"Thorough and comprehensive coverage from one of the foremost experts in browser security."

—Tavis Ormandy, Google Inc.

Modern web applications are built on a tangle of technologies that have been developed over time and then haphazardly pieced together. Every piece of the web application stack, from HTTP requests to browser-side scripts, comes with important yet subtle security consequences. To keep users safe, it is essential for developers to confidently navigate this landscape.

In The Tangled Web, Michal Zalewski, one of the world's top browser security experts, offers a compelling narrative that explains exactly how browsers work and why they're fundamentally insecure. Rather than dispense simplistic advice on vulnerabilities, Zalewski examines the entire browser security model, revealing weak points and providing crucial information for shoring up web application security. You'll learn how to:

Perform common but surprisingly complex tasks such as URL parsing and HTML sanitization
Use modern security features like Strict Transport Security, Content Security Policy, and Cross-Origin Resource Sharing
Leverage many variants of the same-origin policy to safely compartmentalize complex web applications and protect user credentials in case of XSS bugs
Build mashups and embed gadgets without getting stung by the tricky frame navigation policy
Embed or host user-supplied content without running into the trap of content sniffing

For quick reference, "Security Engineering Cheat Sheets" at the end of each chapter offer ready solutions to problems you're most likely to encounter. With coverage extending as far as planned HTML5 features, The Tangled Web will help you create secure web applications that stand the test of time.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781593273880
Publisher: No Starch Press San Francisco, CA
Publication date: 11/26/2011
Pages: 320
Sales rank: 216,048
Product dimensions: 6.90 (w) x 9.20 (h) x 0.80 (d)

Meet the Author

Michal Zalewski is an internationally recognized information security expert with a long track record of delivering cutting-edge research. He is credited with discovering hundreds of notable security vulnerabilities and frequently appears on lists of the most influential security experts. He is the author of Silence on the Wire (No Starch Press), Google's "Browser Security Handbook," and numerous important research papers.

PRAISE FOR THE TANGLED WEB; PRAISE FOR SILENCE ON THE WIRE BY MICHAL ZALEWSKI; Dedication; Preface; Acknowledgments; Chapter 1: Security in the World of Web Applications; 1.1 Information Security in a Nutshell; 1.2 A Brief History of the Web; 1.3 The Evolution of a Threat; 1.4 Global browser market share, May 2011; Anatomy of the Web; Chapter 2: It Starts with a URL; 2.1 Uniform Resource Locator Structure; 2.2 Reserved Characters and Percent Encoding; 2.3 Common URL Schemes and Their Function; 2.4 Resolution of Relative URLs; Chapter 3: Hypertext Transfer Protocol; 3.1 Basic Syntax of HTTP Traffic; 3.2 HTTP Request Types; 3.3 Server Response Codes; 3.4 Keepalive Sessions; 3.5 Chunked Data Transfers; 3.6 Caching Behavior; 3.7 HTTP Cookie Semantics; 3.8 HTTP Authentication; 3.9 Protocol-Level Encryption and Client Certificates; Chapter 4: Hypertext Markup Language; 4.1 Basic Concepts Behind HTML Documents; 4.2 Understanding HTML Parser Behavior; 4.3 Entity Encoding; 4.4 HTTP/HTML Integration Semantics; 4.5 Hyperlinking and Content Inclusion; Chapter 5: Cascading Style Sheets; 5.1 Basic CSS Syntax; 5.2 Parser Resynchronization Risks; 5.3 Character Encoding; Chapter 6: Browser-Side Scripts; 6.1 Basic Characteristics of JavaScript; 6.2 Standard Object Hierarchy; 6.3 Script Character Encoding; 6.4 Code Inclusion Modes and Nesting Risks; 6.5 The Living Dead: Visual Basic; Chapter 7: Non-HTML Document Types; 7.1 Plaintext Files; 7.2 Bitmap Images; 7.3 Audio and Video; 7.4 XML-Based Documents; 7.5 A Note on Nonrenderable File Types; Chapter 8: Content Rendering with Browser Plug-ins; 8.1 Invoking a Plug-in; 8.2 Document Rendering Helpers; 8.3 Plug-in-Based Application Frameworks; 8.4 ActiveX Controls; 8.5 Living with Other Plug-ins; Browser Security Features; Chapter 9: Content Isolation Logic; 9.1 Same-Origin Policy for the Document Object Model; 9.2 Same-Origin Policy for XMLHttpRequest; 9.3 Same-Origin Policy for Web Storage; 9.4 Security Policy for Cookies; 9.5 Plug-in Security Rules; 9.6 Coping with Ambiguous or Unexpected Origins; 9.7 Other Uses of Origins; Chapter 10: Origin Inheritance; 10.1 Origin Inheritance for about:blank; 10.2 Inheritance for data: URLs; 10.3 Inheritance for javascript: and vbscript: URLs; 10.4 A Note on Restricted Pseudo-URLs; Chapter 11: Life Outside Same-Origin Rules; 11.1 Window and Frame Interactions; 11.2 Cross-Domain Content Inclusion; 11.3 Privacy-Related Side Channels; 11.4 Other SOP Loopholes and Their Uses; Chapter 12: Other Security Boundaries; 12.1 Navigation to Sensitive Schemes; 12.2 Access to Internal Networks; 12.3 Prohibited Ports; 12.4 Limitations on Third-Party Cookies; Chapter 13: Content Recognition Mechanisms; 13.1 Document Type Detection Logic; 13.2 Character Set Handling; Chapter 14: Dealing with Rogue Scripts; 14.1 Denial-of-Service Attacks; 14.2 Window-Positioning and Appearance Problems; 14.3 Timing Attacks on User Interfaces; Chapter 15: Extrinsic Site Privileges; 15.1 Browser- and Plug-in-Managed Site Permissions; 15.2 Form-Based Password Managers; 15.3 Internet Explorer’s Zone Model; A Glimpse of Things to Come; Chapter 16: New and Upcoming Security Features; 16.1 Security Model Extension Frameworks; 16.2 Security Model Restriction Frameworks; 16.3 Other Developments; Chapter 17: Other Browser Mechanisms of Note; 17.1 URL- and Protocol-Level Proposals; 17.2 Content-Level Features; 17.3 I/O Interfaces; Chapter 18: Common Web Vulnerabilities; 18.1 Vulnerabilities Specific to Web Applications; 18.2 Problems to Keep in Mind in Web Application Design; 18.3 Common Problems Unique to Server-Side Code; Epilogue; Notes; ; UPDATES;

Michal Zalewski is an internationally recognized information security expert with a long track record of delivering cutting-edge research. He is credited with discovering hundreds of notable security vulnerabilities and frequently appears on lists of the most influential security experts. He is the author of Silence on the Wire (No Starch Press), Google's "Browser Security Handbook," and numerous important research papers.

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review

( 0 )

Rating Distribution

5 Star

(0)

4 Star

(0)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines

Tell the world what you think of this product.

Add Recommendations

Your Name: Create a Pen Name or Leave Anonymously

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

- HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
- Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
- Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
- Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
- Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
- Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
- Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

- By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
- Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
- See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.

If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble