Digital Forensic Certification Practice Exam

When attackers inject malicious scripts into web pages by bypassing client security mechanisms, what attack are they employing?

1. Cross-site scripting

2. Cookie snooping

3. SQL injection

4. Unvalidated input

The correct answer is: Cross-site scripting

The attack being described is known as Cross-site Scripting (XSS). This type of attack occurs when an attacker is able to inject malicious scripts into content that is served to users in a web application. The injected script typically runs in the context of the user's browser, executing actions that can compromise user data, hijack sessions, or redirect users to potentially harmful sites. In the context of bypassing client security mechanisms, XSS exploits vulnerabilities in the way a web application processes user input and reflects it back to clients without sufficient validation or sanitization. Attackers can craft malicious payloads that, when executed by unsuspecting users, may manipulate the webpage or steal information. The other options describe different types of security issues or attacks. Cookie snooping refers to unauthorized access to web session cookies, which can lead to session hijacking but does not specifically involve script injection. SQL injection targets databases by inserting or “injecting” malicious SQL queries into a web application, which is a different attack vector altogether. Unvalidated input refers to the general concept of failing to properly validate user input, which can lead to various vulnerabilities including XSS, but it does not specifically define the method of injecting scripts into web pages.