13. WebSockets
TOOLS:
https://github.com/doyensec/wsreplhttps://gist.githubusercontent.com/mfowl/ae5bc17f986d4fcc2023738127b06138/raw/e8e82467ade45998d46cef355fd9b57182c3e269/ws.harness.py
Live Chat messages: send a new message containing a < character.
WebSockets are a bi-directional, full duplex communications protocol initiated over HTTP. They are commonly used in modern web applications for streaming data and other asynchronous traffic. WebSockets are particularly useful in situations where low-latency or server-initiated messages are required, such as real-time feeds of financial data.
How are WebSocket connections established?
WebSocket connections are normally created using client-side JavaScript like the following: Note: The wss protocol establishes a WebSocket over an encrypted TLS connection, while the ws protocol uses an unencrypted connection.
To establish the connection, the browser and server perform a WebSocket handshake over HTTP. The browser issues a WebSocket handshake request like the following:
If the server accepts the connection, it returns a WebSocket handshake response like the following:
Note: Several features of the WebSocket handshake messages are worth noting:
The Connection and Upgrade headers in the request and response indicate that this is a WebSocket handshake.
The Sec-WebSocket-Version request header specifies the WebSocket protocol version that the client wishes to use. This is typically 13.
The Sec-WebSocket-Key request header contains a Base64-encoded random value, which should be randomly generated in each handshake request.
The Sec-WebSocket-Accept response header contains a hash of the value submitted in the Sec-WebSocket-Key request header, concatenated with a specific string defined in the protocol specification. This is done to prevent misleading responses resulting from misconfigured servers or caching proxies.
What do WebSocket messages look like?
Once a WebSocket connection has been established, messages can be sent asynchronously in either direction by the client or server. A simple message could be sent from the browser using client-side JavaScript like the following:
In principle, WebSocket messages can contain any content or data format. In modern applications, it is common for JSON to be used to send structured data within WebSocket messages. For example, a chat-bot application using WebSockets might send a message like the following:
Testing for WebSockets security vulnerabilities
//Manipulating WebSocket traffic
Finding WebSockets security vulnerabilities generally involves manipulating them in ways that the application doesn't expect. You can do this using Burp Suite. You can use Burp Suite to:
Intercept and modify WebSocket messages.
Replay and generate new WebSocket messages.
Manipulate WebSocket connections.
Intercepting and modifying WebSocket messages
You can use Burp Proxy to intercept and modify WebSocket messages, as follows:
Open Burp's browser.
Browse to the application function that uses WebSockets. You can determine that WebSockets are being used by using the application and looking for entries appearing in the WebSockets history tab within Burp Proxy.
In the Intercept tab of Burp Proxy, ensure that interception is turned on.
When a WebSocket message is sent from the browser or server, it will be displayed in the Intercept tab for you to view or modify. Press the Forward button to forward the message. Note: You can configure whether client-to-server or server-to-client messages are intercepted in Burp Proxy. Do this in the Settings dialog, in the WebSocket interception rules settings. https://portswigger.net/burp/documentation/desktop/settings/tools/proxy#websocket-interception-rules
Replaying and generating new WebSocket messages
As well as intercepting and modifying WebSocket messages on the fly, you can replay individual messages and generate new messages. You can do this using Burp Repeater:
In Burp Proxy, select a message in the WebSockets history, or in the Intercept tab, and choose "Send to Repeater" from the context menu.
In Burp Repeater, you can now edit the message that was selected, and send it over and over.
You can enter a new message and send it in either direction, to the client or server.
In the "History" panel within Burp Repeater, you can view the history of messages that have been transmitted over the WebSocket connection. This includes messages that you have generated in Burp Repeater, and also any that were generated by the browser or server via the same connection.
If you want to edit and resend any message in the history panel, you can do this by selecting the message and choosing "Edit and resend" from the context menu.
Manipulating WebSocket connections
As well as manipulating WebSocket messages, it is sometimes necessary to manipulate the WebSocket handshake that establishes the connection. There are various situations in which manipulating the WebSocket handshake might be necessary:
It can enable you to reach more attack surface.
Some attacks might cause your connection to drop so you need to establish a new one.
Tokens or other data in the original handshake request might be stale and need updating. You can manipulate the WebSocket handshake using Burp Repeater:
Send a WebSocket message to Burp Repeater as already described.
In Burp Repeater, click on the pencil icon next to the WebSocket URL. This opens a wizard that lets you attach to an existing connected WebSocket, clone a connected WebSocket, or reconnect to a disconnected WebSocket.
If you choose to clone a connected WebSocket or reconnect to a disconnected WebSocket, then the wizard will show full details of the WebSocket handshake request, which you can edit as required before the handshake is performed.
When you click "Connect", Burp will attempt to carry out the configured handshake and display the result. If a new WebSocket connection was successfully established, you can then use this to send new messages in Burp Repeater.
WebSockets security vulnerabilities
In principle, practically any web security vulnerability might arise in relation to WebSockets:
User-supplied input transmitted to the server might be processed in unsafe ways, leading to vulnerabilities such as SQL injection or XML external entity injection.
Some blind vulnerabilities reached via WebSockets might only be detectable using out-of-band (OAST) techniques.
If attacker-controlled data is transmitted via WebSockets to other application users, then it might lead to XSS or other client-side vulnerabilities.
//Lab: Manipulating WebSocket messages to exploit vulnerabilities
//Lab: Manipulating the WebSocket handshake to exploit vulnerabilities
Cross-site WebSocket hijacking
Cross-site WebSocket hijacking (also known as cross-origin WebSocket hijacking) involves a cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability on a WebSocket handshake. It arises when the WebSocket handshake request relies solely on HTTP cookies for session handling and does not contain any CSRF tokens or other unpredictable values. An attacker can create a malicious web page on their own domain which establishes a cross-site WebSocket connection to the vulnerable application. The application will handle the connection in the context of the victim user's session with the application. The attacker's page can then send arbitrary messages to the server via the connection and read the contents of messages that are received back from the server. This means that, unlike regular CSRF, the attacker gains two-way interaction with the compromised application.
Performing a cross-site WebSocket hijacking attack
Since a cross-site WebSocket hijacking attack is essentially a CSRF vulnerability on a WebSocket handshake, the first step to performing an attack is to review the WebSocket handshakes that the application carries out and determine whether they are protected against CSRF. In terms of the normal conditions for CSRF attacks, you typically need to find a handshake message that relies solely on HTTP cookies for session handling and doesn't employ any tokens or other unpredictable values in request parameters. If the WebSocket handshake request is vulnerable to CSRF, then an attacker's web page can perform a cross-site request to open a WebSocket on the vulnerable site. What happens next in the attack depends entirely on the application's logic and how it is using WebSockets. The attack might involve:
Sending WebSocket messages to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of the victim user. Sending WebSocket messages to retrieve sensitive data. Sometimes, just waiting for incoming messages to arrive containing sensitive data.
//Lab: Cross-site WebSocket hijacking
How to secure a WebSocket connection
To minimize the risk of security vulnerabilities arising with WebSockets, use the following guidelines:
Use the wss:// protocol (WebSockets over TLS).
Hard code the URL of the WebSockets endpoint, and certainly don't incorporate user-controllable data into this URL.
Protect the WebSocket handshake message against CSRF, to avoid cross-site WebSockets hijacking vulnerabilities.
Treat data received via the WebSocket as untrusted in both directions. Handle data safely on both the server and client ends, to prevent input-based vulnerabilities such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting.
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