Web Security Essentials: For Absolute Beginners

Learn the five phases of web application testing, from information gathering to reporting, including threat modeling, vulnerability assessment, and exploitation to verify vulnerabilities.

Explore the key differences between bug bounty programs and penetration testing for web security, including cost, scope, and expertise, to choose the right approach for your systems.

Define the scope of authorized systems for bug hunting and web penetration testing. Uphold ethics and the code of conduct by protecting data, reporting findings, and staying transparent.

Set up Kali Linux in VirtualBox to create an attacker box by downloading VirtualBox, downloading the Kali Linux VM, extracting the zip, and starting the virtual machine.

Explore vulnerable environments using TryHackMe, HackerOne, and PortSwigger. Learn to set up VPN with ovpn files, connect from Kali Linux, and access rooms like Juice Shop.

Understand how http cookies store data to remember preferences, keep you logged in, and track activity, with session cookies that expire on close and persistent cookies that remain.

Discover the same origin policy, which governs how web pages communicate by requiring the same protocol, domain, and port, and prevents malicious scripts from accessing data across sites.

Understand how the same-origin policy protects security while restricting cross-domain access. See how cross-origin resource sharing enables servers to grant permission for resources like YouTube videos and Google Maps.

Learn to locate dns information using whois.com and viewdns.info, and use command line tools like whois and dig to retrieve address records and mail server data for a target site.

Discover how to find web technologies used by a website with Netcraft and BuiltWith, and uncover CMS, CDN, security details, and potential vulnerable versions via the Wappalyzer extension.

Learn subdomain enumeration by using dorks to reveal subdomains, analyzing VirusTotal results and certificate records on crtc2, and automating with the sub lista tool for assessments.

Learn to use Burp Suite for intercepting, inspecting, and modifying web traffic to test web applications, with setup steps for Foxy Proxy and Burp CA certificate in Firefox.

Demonstrate sql injection vulnerability by listing hidden items on a shopping site; analyze the pets category, observe a 500 error, and use 1=1 with -- to reveal products.

Demonstrate how a SQL injection vulnerability bypasses a login panel by using a single quote payload to break the database query and enable admin login without the password.

Explore blind sql injection by using Burp proxy to test a vulnerable tracking id parameter, applying concatenation, comments, and url encoding to observe PostgreSQL time delays.

Explore SQL injection vulnerabilities by testing inputs to reveal data from other tables, determine column counts with order by and union techniques, and attempt administrator login.

Learn how sql injection vulnerabilities enable account takeover through hands-on labs with juice shop and PortSwigger labs, using Burp Suite interceptors and payloads to access admin accounts.

Explore broken authentication vulnerabilities in the OWASP Juice Shop by brute-forcing the admin password with Burp Suite Intruder and word lists, then reset a gym user password via forgot password.

Demonstrates cross-site scripting techniques in a vulnerable lab, including DOM XSS, stored XSS, and reflected XSS, with OWASP Juice Shop scenarios, iframe payloads, and Burp Suite testing.

Explore a cross-site scripting vulnerability on a blog page by injecting a JavaScript alert payload into the search feature, observing how reflected input executes a popup.

Explore a stored XSS vulnerability on a blog with no input protections, showing how unprotected comments can trigger JavaScript alerts and reflect user data on the page.

Explore how a blog search input reveals a cross-site scripting vulnerability, and how encoding plus a crafted payload bypass restrictions to trigger a pop-up window.

Explore stored XSS vulnerabilities on a blog's comment feature, demonstrating how session cookies can be stolen and used to impersonate users, with Burp collaborator to observe the attack.

Identify a directory traversal vulnerability in a shopping web app and learn to capture and replay requests using Burp Suite and repeater to reveal sensitive files like /etc/passwd.

Explore a shopping web application’s directory traversal vulnerability that could expose sensitive information by reading a password file from an absolute path, demonstrated via Burp repeater.

Demonstrates how a vulnerable shopping web application enables directory traversal, allowing attackers to manipulate requests with Burp and repeater to read sensitive password files.

Explore a directory traversal vulnerability in a shopping web app and learn how to use Burp Suite Repeater to retrieve the /etc/passwd file with dot-dot and null byte payloads.

Demonstrate a simple command injection vulnerability in a shopping site by intercepting a stock check, injecting a payload, and executing a server command reflected in the response.

Explore command injection in a web app's feedback feature by capturing, repeating, and manipulating requests with burp suite. Observe delayed responses when injecting icmp commands to the local host.

Explore the command injection vulnerability in web security essentials by injecting commands and redirecting output to a file, then analyze the requests and responses in a lab scenario.

Examine the blind based command injection vulnerability on a simple shopping site by testing the submit feedback form with crafted payloads and verifying interactions via burp collaborator.