Top 7 React Security Vulnerabilities
Tags: javascript, webdev, programming, react
Published: 2022-03-07 19:27:21

React is one of the most widely used JavaScript libraries and front-end frameworks for creating user interfaces for web and mobile applications. It has a lot of benefits that set it apart from other JavaScript libraries like Vue.js. The following are a few of them: It is simple to maintain. Make a decent developer toolbox available. Produces reliable code Rendering that is faster React, like many other technologies, is not without flaws. Security is one of them. Unfortunately,
Because of the growing demand for mobile apps and the shorter development cycles used by app development businesses, its security risks are frequently overlooked. According to Ponemon Institute research, 56% of security companies are unsure whether the application they designed will pass a security examination. With only a small portion of an organization’s resources dedicated to application security, we may see more app security flaws emerge from the applications they produce.
As a result, it’s critical to be aware of the security flaws in the technology you’re utilizing to build your app. According to a research, the likelihood of React security problems being undiscovered grows exponentially with each new upgraded version of React or update to random libraries. As a result, knowing about React’s fundamental security issues is even more crucial for react developers.
Vulnerabilities In Cybersecurity That You Should Be Aware Of:
**1. Cross-Site Scripting (Cross-Site Scripting)**:
is a technique for React is preferred above other frameworks and libraries because of its universal rendering feature. Unfortunately, it’s also why it’s vulnerable to cross-site scripting assaults. To find security flaws in applications, attackers utilize complex automated scripts and crawlers. Once the vulnerability has been discovered, the cybercriminal will attempt to steal confidential information from a website through script injection. They aim to insert harmful code into your react application code, but there are techniques to safeguard your React app from cross-site scripting assaults.
Use API createElement() because it can automatically detect malicious code injection
Harness the power of JSX and benefit from auto escaping functionality to secure applications
**2. SQL and CSV Injection:**
SQL injection is a sort of attack and web security flaw that updates data without the user’s knowledge. To extract data from the database, SQL code execution is required. It lets attackers to create new credentials, imitate authentic ones, and gain access to admin accounts, allowing them to access the system. SQL injections come in a variety of forms and shapes. The following are some of the most frequent SQL injection attacks that target React applications:
Time-based SQL injections
Error based SQL injections
Logic-based SQL injections
CSV injection, on the other hand, occurs when websites include untrusted inputs in their CSV files. Any cell that contains = will be deemed a formula by Microsoft Excel or any other spreadsheets tool when that CSV file is opened.
**3. Arbitrary Code Execution:**
When an attacker wins arbitrary code execution rights on a process, they can run any code or command they choose. It’s a flaw in either the hardware or software that’s in charge of processing arbitrary code. Because these exploits are extremely vulnerable, they should be removed from services and applications used by the general public right away. Force programs to only read tokens established previously during development is one technique to solve this problem. By submitting a request to a server, the system can generate suitable headers. Developers must respond quickly to prevent such assaults, or their applications will become vulnerable.
**4. Server-Side Rendering Attack:**
Developers may be required to render an application on the server-side in some cases. Regrettably, this increases the risk of data leakage. If your code uses JSON strings to convert data to strings, you should always be on the lookout for server-side rendering attacks. It will be more difficult to detect server-side rendering attacks if you have not detected the context data.
**5. Insecure Randomness:**
User-supplied data is used for the majority of web applications. This enables cyber attackers to insert a link or code that begins with JavaScript, resulting in insecure randomization in the program. When a user clicks on that malicious link, the malicious script in the browser begins to run. Hackers will be able to retrieve sensitive data and even modify it if they have admin rights. When an attacker acquires complete control of uniform resource identifiers, the application as a whole becomes susceptible. Whitelisting protocol and HTML entities for link creation are the best ways to prevent this type of assault.
**6. Malicious Package:**
What if a malicious version of React is published directly by an attacker?
What if a hacker gets direct publish access to popular npm modules and uses them to distribute a harmful module? Apps created by developers using these modules will be insecure. A malicious module or package gathers data from your system and network and sends it to a third party, or it can run malicious malware during the installation process. To fool developers into downloading malicious packages, attackers utilize typosquatting, a technique that involves naming packages after their real-world equivalents. It can wreak havoc on your system once downloaded and installed.
**7. Zip Slip:**
Zip slip is caused by a combination of rewritten arbitrary files and a directory traversal attack. For this, files can be extracted from the archive of a certain directory. When archive files are unzipped with a susceptible library, attackers have the potential to unzip a malicious file as well. Attackers can easily overwrite the file once the unzipping procedure is complete.
Unfortunately, any sort of file, including executables, configuration files, and key system files, might be affected by this form of attack. In other words, an attacker can simply access arbitrary code from afar. When developers are using the same version of archive processing libraries, they can detect this type of assault. Once you’ve identified the flaw, you may put it through a directory traversal test and include zip slip in your security testing. These types of attacks can also be detected using dependency vulnerability detection techniques.
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