Detections
Analytics
Web Application Session Cookies Not Marked HttpOnly
medium Nessus Plugin ID 48432
Language:
Synopsis
HTTP session cookies might be vulnerable to cross-site scripting attacks.Description
The remote web application uses cookies to track authenticated users. However, one or more of those cookies are not marked 'HttpOnly', meaning that a malicious client-side script such as JavaScript could read them.'HttpOnly' is a security mechanism to protect against cross-site scripting attacks that was proposed by Microsoft and initially implemented in Internet Explorer. All modern browsers support it.
Note that :
- 'HttpOnly' can be circumvented in some cases.
- The absence of this attribute does not mean that the web application is automatically vulnerable to cross-site scripting attacks.
- Some web applications need to manipulate the session cookie through client-side scripts and the 'HttpOnly' attribute cannot be set.
Solution
If possible, add the 'HttpOnly' attribute to all session cookies.See Also
Plugin Details
Severity: Medium
ID: 48432
File Name: http_xss_session_cookie.nasl
Version: 1.9
Type: remote
Family: Web Servers
Published: 8/25/2010
Updated: 11/15/2018
Supported Sensors: Nessus