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24 Deadly Sins of Software Security: Programming Flaws and H…

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24 Deadly Sins of Software Security: Programming Flaws and How to Avoid Them

In the world of software development, security is a top priority. A single mistake can lead to devastating consequences, including data breaches, financial losses, and damage to a company’s reputation. To help developers and programmers avoid common pitfalls, we’ll explore the 24 deadly sins of software security, which are programming flaws that can put software and users at risk.

Introduction to the 24 Deadly Sins

The 24 deadly sins of software security were first identified by Michael Howard and David LeBlanc in their book “Writing Secure Code.” These sins are categorized into four main groups: general programming flaws, input validation and representation, security features, and cryptography. Each sin represents a common mistake that developers make, which can be exploited by attackers to compromise software security.

General Programming Flaws (Sins 1-6)

  1. Uninitialized Variables: Using uninitialized variables can lead to unpredictable behavior and potential security vulnerabilities.
  2. Null Pointer Dereferences: Accessing null pointers can cause crashes and allow attackers to execute arbitrary code.
  3. Buffer Overflows: Writing data to a buffer without checking its size can lead to buffer overflows, which can be exploited to execute malicious code.
  4. Format String Vulnerabilities: Using unvalidated format strings can allow attackers to inject malicious code.
  5. Integer Overflows: Allowing integer overflows can lead to buffer overflows and other security issues.
  6. Resource Leaks: Failing to release system resources can lead to denial-of-service attacks and other security problems.

Input Validation and Representation (Sins 7-12)

  1. Input Validation: Failing to validate user input can lead to security vulnerabilities, such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS).
  2. Canonicalization: Failing to canonicalize input can lead to security vulnerabilities, such as directory traversal attacks.
  3. Cross-Site Scripting (XSS): Allowing user input to be executed as code can lead to XSS attacks.
  4. SQL Injection: Failing to validate user input can lead to SQL injection attacks, which can compromise database security.
  5. Command Injection: Allowing user input to be executed as system commands can lead to security vulnerabilities.
  6. Path Traversal: Failing to validate file paths can lead to directory traversal attacks.

Security Features (Sins 13-18)

  1. Insecure Authentication: Implementing weak authentication mechanisms can lead to unauthorized access.
  2. Insecure Authorization: Failing to implement proper authorization mechanisms can lead to unauthorized access.
  3. Insecure Session Management: Failing to manage sessions securely can lead to session hijacking and other security issues.
  4. Insecure Error Handling: Failing to handle errors securely can lead to information disclosure and other security issues.
  5. Insecure Logging: Failing to log security-related events can lead to security incidents going undetected.
  6. Insecure Configuration: Failing to configure software securely can lead to security vulnerabilities.

Cryptography (Sins 19-24)

  1. Insecure Cryptographic Algorithms: Using weak or obsolete cryptographic algorithms can lead to security vulnerabilities.
  2. Insecure Key Management: Failing to manage cryptographic keys securely can lead to security vulnerabilities.
  3. Insecure Random Number Generation: Failing to generate random numbers securely can lead to security vulnerabilities.
  4. Insecure Hash Functions: Using weak or insecure hash functions can lead to security vulnerabilities.
  5. Insecure Digital Signatures: Failing to implement digital signatures securely can lead to security vulnerabilities.
  6. Insecure Cryptographic Protocols: Failing to implement cryptographic protocols securely can lead to security vulnerabilities.

Conclusion

The 24 deadly sins of software security are common programming flaws that can put software and users at risk. By understanding these sins and taking steps to avoid them, developers can write more secure code and protect against common attacks. Remember, security is an ongoing process that requires continuous attention and improvement. By following best practices and avoiding these deadly sins, developers can help create more secure software and protect against the ever-evolving threat landscape.

Customers say

Customers find the book provides a nice overview of common software vulnerabilities and summarizes major security risks effectively. Moreover, the book is readable and serves as an excellent resource for software professionals, with one customer noting it covers basic application security thoroughly. Additionally, customers appreciate the remediation options and reference quality, with one mentioning it includes additional references.

11 reviews for 24 Deadly Sins of Software Security: Programming Flaws and H…

  1. Codemonkey –

    Great overview of the topic
    Originally stumbled across a copy of 19 Deadly Sins in a half price bookstore and found myself thoroughly engrossed. When I discovered there was a second edition with even more information, I was all over it.Software Security is a topic that all too often gets overlooked in the development process. That does a disservice to the client, the product, the developer and the company and not just for the obvious reasons. You see the same thought processes and practices which are required to build secure software also result in cleaner, less buggy, higher quality code. Wins all round.This book covers multiple common types of security vulnerability, explaining what, why and how and giving examples of the problems and ways to mitigate / avoid them in multiple languages. More importantly, it gets you thinking about these important issues and about the quality of your code in general.The book can be read cover to cover or you can cherry-pick the section(s) that are relevant (or which simply catch your interest) at any given time. Personally I prefer the latter as I absorb information better when I am particularly interested in the topic at hand.This book has something for every software engineer, no matter what you work on. Highly recommended food for thought. 🙂

  2. Mike –

    24 Deadly Sins of Software Security
    24 Deadly Sins carries on in the great tradition of the original 19 Deadly Sins but has expanded to cover problems that have developed since then as well as added coverage for more programing languages. It serves as a great introduction to the most common problems in software development that lead to security issues without getting bogged down in the weeds on any of them. It does not go into a great deal of detail so if that is what you are looking for this isn’t the book you want but it does do what it sets out to do.The organization of the book lends itself to a straight read through and as a jump around reference to cover the problems you need to look at when you need to look at them. Most chapters stand alone quite well and most references to other chapters are about closely related sins. It describes the basics of the problem, goes into more detail and helps you try to spot the problem in various languages. It covers some of the ways you can avoid the problems and provides additional remediation if available.The book lends itself to being a decent text book on software security problems and its basic structure is not a bad approach to an introduction to the topic. I’ve been teaching an introduction to secure development class for a couple of years that was mostly based on the original book and I’m finishing updating that to the new 24 Deadly Sins breakdown.

  3. W. Conklin –

    Great Summarization
    This book is the update to the 19 Deadly Sins, and does a tremendous job summarizing the information needed to understand the types of errors prevalent in software today. This is not a book with all the details behind the causes, fixes, etc. For those details, I would refer my students (and do) to Michael’s other great book “Writing Secure Code, Second Edition”. And for process related material, “The Security Development Lifecycle”.Howard is the real deal, a straight shooter and known for telling it like it is. This book is no different – no fluff, no extraneous material, just the stuff every project manager of a software development effort should know, so they know what to ask of their team.

  4. Customer Greg –

    Very useful for developers
    This book is an excellent resource for any software professional. As massive data breaches and security vulnerabilities continue to fill the news, I began to wonder what I should be looking for in my own code to make it more secure. This book meets that need by summarizing the major risks in software security in a readable, to-the-point manner. Each risk is described, and then followed with code samples (in a variety of languages relevant to the flaw, including C, C++, Java, Perl, Ruby, Python, C#, and others), testing techniques, remediation steps, and additional references. If you’re looking for a great reference to quickly bring you up to speed on the major software security flaws and how to handle them, this is it.

  5. Fernando Pompeo Amatte –

    For developers
    If you are a developer, no matter the language you use, you should consider this book.It maked clear, where are the problems and how to correct it.You don’t need to be a security expect to do things in a secure way.

  6. Victor –

    It is a pretty nice overview on common vulnerabilities and how remediation can …
    It is a pretty nice overview on common vulnerabilities and how remediation can be done. However, the book is to fast sometimes and could explain further. It is well written an I would not mind go into more pages. Overall, is a good book, but extra research is necessary in order to fully understand the contents, what is also a good idea because the contents are really interesting. I loved SEED’s material as a complement. It is also a good book to keep around for quick reviews.

  7. Jose A. Villegas –

    Excellent book!!!
    The authors definitely know about software vulnerabilities due mostly in part by mistakes made during software development and coding processes. Their recommendations are very effective and I am very satisfied with my purchase.

  8. Jack –

    Great Quality
    Ordered 4 of these, 100% Satisfied with the books, They shipped it in sealed plastic bags.

  9. Pedro Gonçalo Pinto Domingues –

    This book is VERY good, I mean, VERY GOOD! It goes straight to the point, it shows the weaknesses, then explains them, then shows you tons of solutions that you can use right away out of the box.It is very easy and fast to read, so its a good book when you’re with shortage of time!

  10. Tommy S. –

    A great book on software security, although some chapters seem to fill pages instrad of transporting knowledge. Still a great book to read!

  11. Peter –

    I bought this book on the basis of its good reviews, and on the whole I am glad that I did, although as I read through it I wasn’t always so sure. I found it a frustrating read in some places.It is clear that the authors have a bias towards high-level programming. They assume that the reader is familiar with web-site programming techniques, but provide a detailed description of how a stack works. My background is embedded assembly, C and occasionally C++. As a result I know how a stack works, but would have welcomed more detail in the concepts behind the web application sins.The cryptographic sins left me feeling that the authors were trying too hard to fit such a broad topic into their preferred format. The subject is worthy of a book in its own right. As an example, the authors equated stream ciphers with RC4 and because RC4 is no longer considered secure they recommended avoiding stream ciphers altogether. A more detailed discussion might have considered how block-cipher modes can be used to implement stream ciphers, and how stream ciphers should always be used with effective integrity mechanisms.Nevertheless the book is now in my reference library and I know I will refer to in the future. On a number of occasions I came across insights that made me sure that buying and reading it was a good investment.

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