OWASP Top 10 2025

A01:2025 – Broken Access Control

Access control flaws occur when users are allowed to perform actions outside their permission scope, such as accessing another user’s data or modifying records.

Implement role-based access control (RBAC) to ensure users only have access to the data and functions they need.
Regularly audit user permissions to remove unnecessary privileges.
Enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA) for critical operations to add an additional layer of security.

A02:2025 – Injection attacks, particularly SQL injection

Always sanitize and validate user inputs to prevent the execution of untrusted commands.
Use parameterized queries or prepared statements to safely process database inputs.
Implement Web Application Firewalls (WAF) to detect and block injection attempts.

A03:2025 – Insecure Design (Combined with Security Logging and Monitoring Failures)

Adopt threat modeling early in the development cycle to identify potential security risks.
Use security frameworks and libraries that enforce secure design principles.
Ensure all critical systems have comprehensive logging in place.
Use real-time monitoring tools to detect unusual activity.
Regularly audit logs to ensure compliance with security policies.

A04:2025 – Identification and Authentication Failures

Authentication failures can lead to severe security breaches, allowing attackers to impersonate legitimate users. This vulnerability includes weak passwords, missing multifactor authentication (MFA), and flawed session management.

Enforce strong password policies with minimum complexity requirements.
Implement multifactor authentication (MFA) to add an additional layer of protection.
Use secure, industry-standard session management techniques, including secure tokens and cookies.

A05:2025 – Cryptographic Failures

Use strong encryption algorithms such as AES-256 and ensure proper key management.
Avoid outdated cryptographic methods like MD5 or SHA-1, as they are prone to attacks.
Regularly update and patch encryption libraries to safeguard against newly discovered vulnerabilities.

A06:2025 – Security Misconfiguration

Security misconfigurations occur when default settings, incomplete configurations, or errors in security settings leave applications vulnerable to attack.

Regularly audit and harden configurations to meet industry security standards.
Disable unused features and services to reduce the attack surface.
Use automated configuration management tools to ensure consistency across environments.

A07:2025 – Vulnerable and Outdated Components

Use automated tools such as Dependabot or Snyk to monitor and update third-party components.
Regularly review and update dependencies to ensure they are secure.
Employ software composition analysis (SCA) tools to identify and mitigate risks in your application’s dependencies.

A08:2025 – Software and Data Integrity Failures

This vulnerability occurs when software updates, critical data, or infrastructure components are not properly secured, leading to unauthorized changes that compromise system integrity.

Sign and verify software updates to ensure their integrity.
Implement integrity checks on critical data to detect tampering.
Regularly monitor and verify the integrity of infrastructure components.

Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF): The Emerging Threat

SSRF vulnerabilities occur when an attacker can manipulate a server to send unauthorized requests to other systems, potentially bypassing firewalls and exposing sensitive data. As microservices and cloud applications become more prevalent, SSRF is becoming a growing concern.

Real-World Impact:

In 2021, an SSRF vulnerability in Microsoft Azure exposed sensitive internal information, highlighting the growing risks of this attack vector in cloud environments.

Mitigation Strategies:

Implement input validation to prevent attackers from injecting malicious URLs.
Restrict outbound network access to limit the scope of SSRF attacks.
Use firewalls and network segmentation to protect critical systems from unauthorized requests.