Session Hijacking

Session Hijacking refers to the exploitation technique where an attacker takes over an authenticated user session to gain unauthorized access to systems or data. When a user authenticates to a service, they establish a session typically maintained by a session ID or token. This identifier validates subsequent requests without requiring repeated authentication. Attackers employ several methods to hijack sessions: 1. Man-in-the-Middle attacks: Intercepting network traffic between client and server to capture session tokens. 2. Session sniffing: Monitoring network traffic on shared networks to extract session identifiers from unencrypted communications. 3. Cross-site scripting (XSS): Injecting malicious scripts that steal session cookies from victims' browsers. 4. Session fixation: Forcing a user to use a predetermined session ID which the attacker already knows. 5. Predictable session token generation: Exploiting weak algorithms that create guessable session identifiers. Once attackers obtain valid session tokens, they can impersonate legitimate users, accessing sensitive information, performing unauthorized transactions, or escalating privileges. Countermeasures include: - Using HTTPS to encrypt all communications - Implementing secure cookie attributes (Secure, HttpOnly, SameSite) - Regenerating session IDs after authentication - Adding IP binding to sessions - Setting appropriate session timeouts - Employing multi-factor authentication - Using robust token generation mechanisms Session hijacking remains prevalent because many applications still implement inadequate session management practices. Ethical hackers assess session security by attempting various hijacking techniques to identify vulnerabilities before malicious actors can exploit them.

Session Hijacking refers to the exploitation technique where an attacker takes over an authenticated user session to gain unauthorized access to systems or data. When a user authenticates to a servic…

Concepts covered: Application Level Session Hijacking, Network Level Session Hijacking, Session Hijacking Concepts, Session Hijacking Tools, Session Hijacking Countermeasures