What is an XXE injection attack?

What is an XXE Attack? XXE (XML External Entity Injection) is a web-based security vulnerability that enables an attacker to interfere with the processing of XML data within a web application.

What are the types of XXE attacks?

There are two types of XXE attacks: in-band and out-of-band (OOB-XXE). XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a very popular data format. It is used in everything from web services (XML-RPC, SOAP, REST) through documents (XML, HTML, DOCX) to image files (SVG, EXIF data).

How does an XXE attack work?

There are various types of XXE attacks: Exploiting XXE to retrieve files, where an external entity is defined containing the contents of a file, and returned in the application’s response. Exploiting XXE to perform SSRF attacks, where an external entity is defined based on a URL to a back-end system.

What is XXE vulnerability?

XXE (XML External Entity Injection) is a common web-based security vulnerability that enables an attacker to interfere with the processing of XML data within a web application.

What is XXE how do you prevent it?

Besides that, preventing XXE requires: Whenever possible, use less complex data formats such as JSON, and avoiding serialization of sensitive data. Patch or upgrade all XML processors and libraries in use by the application or on the underlying operating system. Use dependency checkers.

What is XXE prevention?

Besides that, preventing XXE requires: Whenever possible, use less complex data formats such as JSON, and avoiding serialization of sensitive data. Patch or upgrade all XML processors and libraries in use by the application or on the underlying operating system.

Which language can be used to exploit XXE?

At its core, it’s a web security vulnerability where attackers target and compromise an application’s processing of XML data. However, what makes XXE attacks so powerful is that they can be deployed against various programming languages, including C/C++, Java, . Net, iOS.

What is XXE file?

7-bit ASCII text file that can be sent via e-mail without being corrupted; created for older e-mail programs that do not recognize binary attachments; most e-mail programs now convert binary attachments automatically. XXE files may be decoded using the Web Utils Online XXDecoder Tool.

What type of applications might be vulnerable to xee attacks?

Applications and in particular XML-based web services or downstream integrations might be vulnerable to attack if: * The application accepts XML directly or XML uploads, especially from untrusted sources, or inserts untrusted data into XML documents, which is then parsed by an XML processor.

Is SOAP vulnerable to XXE?

* If the application uses SOAP prior to version 1.2, it is likely susceptible to XXE attacks if XML entities are being passed to the SOAP framework. Developer training is essential to identify and mitigate XXE.

What is XXE And how do you prevent it?

How to prevent XML External Entities (XXE)

• Whenever possible, use less complex data formats such as JSON, and avoiding serialization of sensitive data.
• Patch or upgrade all XML processors and libraries in use by the application or on the underlying operating system.

How to prevent XXe in soap?

Besides that, preventing XXE requires: Whenever possible, use less complex data formats such as JSON, and avoiding serialization of sensitive data. Patch or upgrade all XML processors and libraries in use by the application or on the underlying operating system. Use dependency checkers. Update SOAP to SOAP 1.2 or higher.

How to prevent XXe attacks?

The easiest way is to upload a malicious XML file, if accepted: Developer training is essential to identify and mitigate XXE. Besides that, preventing XXE requires: Whenever possible, use less complex data formats such as JSON, and avoiding serialization of sensitive data.

How to detect XXe vulnerabilities?

The most efficient way to detect XXE vulnerabilities is by using a web vulnerability scanner. A scanner like Acunetix will find and prove XXE vulnerabilities as well as all other types of web vulnerabilities. You can also find XXE through manual penetration testing but it takes a lot of time and resources. See what Acunetix Premium can do for you.

How to prevent XXe (XXe) error?

Besides that, preventing XXE requires: Whenever possible, use less complex data formats such as JSON, and avoiding serialization of sensitive data. Patch or upgrade all XML processors and libraries in use by the application or on the underlying operating system.