Patent Application
20110321168
1. Field
Embodiments of the invention relate to computer software application security in general, and more particularly to thwarting Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) and Clickjacking attacks.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) refers to a type of Internet-based fraud in which a party's web browser is caused to perform an unwanted action at a target web site. In a typical example of a CSRF attack, a bank customer using a web browser accesses a web site that typically does not belong to the customer's bank and that contains malicious instructions placed there by an attacker. The malicious instructions causes the bank customer's browser to send a transaction request to the customer's bank without the bank customer's knowledge, such as a request to transfer funds from the bank customer's bank account to the attacker's bank account.
Current methods for preventing CSRF attacks against users of a target web site include having the target web site server embed a randomly-generated nonce within web pages that are served by the target web server. An authenticated user who accesses the target web site receives the nonce and must return the same nonce to the target web server when sending a transaction request to the target web server. Assuming that such nonces cannot easily be forged or intercepted by an unauthorized party, a transaction request that is sent by the authenticated user's browser to the target web server as the result of a CSRF attack will most likely not include the proper nonce. This will be detected by the target web server, which will then defeat the CSRF attack.
One method used by CSRF attackers to overcome nonce-based anti-CSRF protection is referred to as “Clickjacking” and involves modifying a web page to include an IFRAME that points to a target web page on which a CSRF attack is to be perpetrated. A user who accesses the target web site with a browser causes the target web page to be retrieved along with its anti-CSRF nonce. The web page containing the IFRAME is configured to visually obscure the retrieved target web page but for a clickable button or link. The unsuspecting user is lured on a false pretext into entering information into the web page and clicking the button or link, whereupon the user's browser sends a transaction request to the target web server without the user's knowledge, thus carrying out the CSRF attack.
Current solutions for preventing Clickjacking attacks against authenticated users of a target web site include having the target web site server embed software instructions, such as in the form of a JavaScript™ routine, within web pages that are served by the target web server, where the embedded instructions cause the user's browser to check whether the target web page has been retrieved in the context of an IFRAME. Unfortunately, as this requires that the user's browser be configured to run such embedded instructions, a browser that is not so configured would still be vulnerable to a Clickjacking attack.
In one aspect of the invention a method is provided for thwarting fraud perpetrated with a computer, the method including receiving a request from a computer to perform a transaction, where the request is received together with transaction data and a cookie, and where the transaction data are separate from the cookie, determining in accordance with predefined validation criteria whether the cookie includes a valid representation of the transaction data, and performing the transaction only if the cookie includes a valid representation of the transaction data.
In another aspect of the invention a method is provided for thwarting fraud perpetrated with a computer, the method including configuring a web page to include a set of instructions configured to create a cookie including a representation of transaction data, and configuring a web server to provide the web page to a computer responsive to a communication received from the computer, thereby causing the computer to perform the set of instructions, receive a request from the computer to perform a transaction, where the request is received together with the transaction data and the cookie, and where the transaction data are separate from the cookie, determine in accordance with predefined validation criteria whether the cookie includes a valid representation of the transaction data, and perform the transaction only if the cookie includes a valid representation of the transaction data.
In other aspects of the invention, systems and computer program products of the invention are provided.
So that the manner in which the above recited features, advantages and objects of the present invention are attained and can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to the embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings.
It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.
The invention is now described within the context of one or more embodiments, although the description is intended to be illustrative of the invention as a whole, and is not to be construed as limiting the invention to the embodiments shown. It is appreciated that various modifications may occur to those skilled in the art that, while not specifically shown herein, are nevertheless within the true spirit and scope of the invention.
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.
Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical data storage device, a magnetic data storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.
Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
Reference is now made to
In order to thwart the CSRF and Clickjacking attacks, web page 108 is preferably configured to include a set of instructions, such as JavaScript™ instructions, configured to determine, using conventional techniques, whether web page 108 is the target of a Clickjacking attack. The set of instructions are also configured to create a cookie including a representation of the transaction data input into web page 108 only if web page 108 is not the target of a Clickjacking attack. The representation may be derived from the transaction data in any known and predefined manner, such as a copy of some or all of the transaction data, which may be encrypted within the cookie, or may be a hash of some or all of the transaction data. A transaction processor 112 located at any of web server 110, the user's browser, and an intermediate actor such as an HTTP proxy, is preferably configured to receive the transaction request, typically when the transaction request is associated with the user who is authenticated with respect to web server 110, and to receive the transaction data along with the cookie as part of the transaction request, where the transaction data are separate from the cookie. A cookie validator 114 located at any of web server 110, the user's browser, and an intermediate actor such as an HTTP proxy, validates the cookie by determining, in accordance with predefined validation criteria, whether the cookie includes a valid representation of the transaction data, where the type of representation used is known in advance to cookie validator 114. Transaction processor 112 performs the requested transaction only if the cookie is determined in this manner to be valid.
In one embodiment, the system of
Further, in one embodiment, if the user's browser is able and configured to run the set of instructions included in web page 108, the user's browser will discover that web page 108 is the target of a Clickjacking attack, and the user's browser will be unable to create the cookie including the representation of the transaction data. Other conventional methods may additionally be used to defeat the Clickjacking attack, such as by preventing the transaction data from being sent, such as to web server 110, as part of the transaction request. Nevertheless, even if the malicious transaction data is sent as part of the transaction request, since the transaction request is not accompanied by the cookie including the representation of the transaction data, the recipient will not perform the requested transaction.
In one embodiment, the system of
Reference is now made to
Alternatively, in one embodiment, the user's browser does not perform clickjacking detection (step 206), and the cookie's creation is therefore not predicated on no clickjacking attack being detected. It will be appreciated that even if clickjacking detection is not performed, the invention is still effective against CSRF attacks where Clickjacking is not used by an attacker, and where an attacker is unable to hijack or reproduce the cookie creation instructions to create a cookie that can be validated as described above.
The system and method of
Pseudocode:
1. JavaScript™ code is added to one or more web pages served to the user's browser by a web application at a web server.
At the user's browser:
1.1 JavaScript™ code verifies that the web page is not within an IFRAME.
1.2 JavaScript™ code hooks into the web page form's onsubmit event with the signRequest function.
1.3 If AJAX support is needed, JavaScript™ code may hook XmlHttpRequest to call the signRequest function before performing its action.
1.4 When called, signRequest adds a cookie to the Document Object Model (DOM) named ‘RequestSignature’, including some or all of the transaction data or their hash value. DOM refers to a cross-platform and language-independent convention for representing and interacting with objects in documents formatted using a markup language, such as HTML, XHTML, XML, etc.
1.5 When the user performs an action on the web page in the user's browser (such as clicking on a widget on the web page), the signRequest function is called.
1.6 The transaction request is sent to the web server together with the RequestSignature cookie.
2. The web server validates request as follows:
2.1 Check whether the request includes the RequestSignature cookie.
2.2. Validate that the RequestSignature cookie properly includes the transaction data or hash value.
The following is an exemplary C# web application that implements the invention as described hereinabove:
Referring now to
As shown, the techniques for controlling access to at least one resource may be implemented in accordance with a processor 310, a memory 312, I/O devices 314, and a network interface 316, coupled via a computer bus 318 or alternate connection arrangement.
It is to be appreciated that the term “processor” as used herein is intended to include any processing device, such as, for example, one that includes a CPU (central processing unit) and/or other processing circuitry. It is also to be understood that the term “processor” may refer to more than one processing device and that various elements associated with a processing device may be shared by other processing devices.
The term “memory” as used herein is intended to include memory associated with a processor or CPU, such as, for example, RAM, ROM, a fixed memory device (e.g., hard drive), a removable memory device (e.g., diskette), flash memory, etc. Such memory may be considered a computer readable storage medium.
In addition, the phrase “input/output devices” or “I/O devices” as used herein is intended to include, for example, one or more input devices (e.g., keyboard, mouse, scanner, etc.) for entering data to the processing unit, and/or one or more output devices (e.g., speaker, display, printer, etc.) for presenting results associated with the processing unit.
The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
While the methods and apparatus herein may or may not have been described with reference to specific computer hardware or software, it is appreciated that the methods and apparatus described herein may be readily implemented in computer hardware or software using conventional techniques.
Furthermore, while the invention has been described with reference to one or more specific embodiments, the description is intended to be illustrative of the invention as a whole and is not to be construed as limiting the invention to the embodiments shown. It is appreciated that various modifications may occur to those skilled in the art that, while not specifically shown herein, are nevertheless within the true spirit and scope of the invention.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.
