Table of Contents
January 29, 2024
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Insecure Design – The #4 Web Application Security Risk
Developing secure applications requires more than just coding practices. It needs a holistic approach that centers around secure design principles.
Insecure design issues can lead to vulnerabilities that span all categories of risks like the OWASP Top 10. As the OWASP mentions, insecure design has the potential to impact all the top 10 application security risks identified by OWASP.
| CWEs Mapped | 40 |
| Max Incidence Rate | 24.19% |
| Avg Incidence Rate | 3.00% |
| Avg Weighted Exploit | 6.46 |
| Avg Weighted Impact | 6.78 |
| Max Coverage | 77.25% |
| Avg Coverage | 42.51% |
| Total Occurrences | 262,407 |
| Total CVEs | 2,691 |
A04:2021 – Insecure Design
What is Insecure Design?
Insecure design refers to flaws in the initial architecture, specifications, and layout of an application’s functionality. Unlike coding bugs that can be fixed, design flaws cannot be coded out later.
Some examples of insecure design patterns highlighted in the text include:
Using weak authentication methods like security questions, which can be easily guessed through public information
Not restricting file uploads adequately or validating uploaded file types
Returning overly detailed error messages that reveal sensitive information
The Fallout of Poor Design Decisions
The impact of insecure design can be massive. The text cites over 2,600 Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) related to design flaws with high exploit and impact scores.
Vulnerabilities that can arise due to improper design span things like:
Information leakage through verbose error reporting
Allowing arbitrary code execution via unrestricted file uploads
Enabling injection attacks with unsanitized user inputs
Ultimately, design issues weaken the application’s overall security posture significantly.
The Solution Lies in Secure Design Practices
The key takeaway from the text is that we need to shift left and prioritize secure design in the application development lifecycle.
Here are some recommendations highlighted to promote secure design:
Adopting a secure software development lifecycle (SDLC)
Performing threat modeling during design phase
Using secure coding best practices and automated testing
Enabling continuous security validation through tools
OWASP’s Secure SDLC Methodology
The text specifically calls out OWASP’s secure SDLC methodology spanning five stages:
Planning: Define goals, requirements, scope
Design: Create architecture, threat model
Development: Code, code review, test coverage
Testing: Validate functionality, security
Release: Deploy, monitor, respond
In each stage, OWASP provides guidance, tools, and frameworks like the Software Assurance Maturity Model (SAMM) to embed security by design.
The Key is Being Proactive
In summary, the text reiterates that applications built without integrating secure design practices are set up to fail. Security issues should be mitigated proactively through measures woven into the fabric of the development lifecycle, not as an afterthought.
Shifting left into secure design is key to building robust, secure applications.
What are your thoughts on addressing application security through ingraining secure design? Feel free to share other ideas or recommendations in the comments.
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Rajeshwari KA
Rajeshwari KA is a Software Architect who has worked on full-stack development, Software Design, and Architecture for small and large-scale mission-critical applications in her 18 + years of experience.
