[ISM] Security verification:

[OWASP] Prevent injection and output vulnerabilities (SSS-02-11-05)

Ensure input validation and output encoding to prevent security vulnerabilities such as injection attacks. For example, apply strict allowlists for user input, sanitize untrusted data, and encode output to prevent cross-site scripting (XSS); Restrict direct user control over security-sensitive operations, preventing mass assignment and insecure object references; Continuously validate and monitor user inputs and data processing flows to maintain data integrity and security.

[OWASP] Secure input, output, and memory handling (SSS-02-11-05-01)

V5.1 Input Validation Requirements Validate all incoming input to ensure that it conforms to expected formats, types, and ranges. Use whitelisting to only accept known, safe input values and reject anything outside of the defined boundaries. Implement server-side validation to ensure that client-side validation cannot be bypassed by attackers. Ensure that input validation covers all potential entry points, such as APIs, forms, and headers. V5.2 Sanitization and Sandboxing Requirements Sanitize user inputs to remove any harmful data or characters before processing, such as special characters that could lead to code injection attacks. Use sandboxing techniques to isolate untrusted code from the main application, preventing access to critical system resources. Enforce secure execution environments for any code or operations that handle untrusted inputs, ensuring they run with minimal privileges and in a restricted environment. V5.3 Output Encoding and Injection Prevention Requirements Encode all output data before rendering it in the browser, especially for dynamic content like user inputs or database queries, to prevent XSS (Cross-Site Scripting) and other injection attacks. Apply context-specific encoding depending on where the output will appear (e.g., HTML, JavaScript, SQL, URL). Use parameterized queries and prepared statements to prevent SQL injection and other injection attacks, ensuring that data is never directly concatenated into queries or commands. V5.4 Memory, String, and Unmanaged Code Requirements Manage memory securely by using safe functions to handle buffers and memory allocations to prevent vulnerabilities like buffer overflows. Use safe string manipulation functions that prevent issues like string-based buffer overflows or string formatting errors. If working with unmanaged code (e.g., in languages like C or C++), ensure the proper handling of memory boundaries and use tools like static analysis to detect unsafe coding practices. V5.5 Deserialization Prevention Requirements Avoid deserializing untrusted data by implementing strict checks and controls on all incoming serialized data. Use safe deserialization libraries that can detect and prevent harmful payloads from being executed. Limit the types of objects that can be deserialized and enforce additional security controls to ensure that only safe, expected objects are processed. Apply input validation to ensure that deserialized objects adhere to the expected schema or structure, preventing the deserialization of arbitrary code. By validating inputs, sanitizing data, encoding outputs, and implementing memory safety practices, organizations can significantly reduce the risks of injection attacks, buffer overflows, and other common security vulnerabilities.

Operations

ID	Operation	Description	Phase	Agent
SSS-02-11-05-01-01	Implement strict input validation	Enforce strong input validation using allowlists instead of blacklists to prevent injection attacks like SQL Injection and XSS. Validate data types, length, format, and structure at the application and API levels.	Development	Security Teams, Software Developers
SSS-02-11-05-01-02	Apply output encoding	Implement secure output encoding mechanisms (e.g., HTML encoding, escaping special characters) to prevent reflected and stored XSS attacks in web applications.	Development	Security Engineers, Frontend Developers
SSS-02-11-05-01-03	Ensure secure parsing of user input	Protect against XML External Entity (XXE) attacks by disabling insecure XML parsers, enforcing secure configurations, and validating all external input before processing.	Deployment	Security Teams, DevOps Teams
SSS-02-11-05-01-04	Prevent mass assignment vulnerabilities	Restrict object properties exposed to users, ensuring that users can only modify allowed attributes through controlled access mechanisms. Use explicit allowlists for data binding.	Post-deployment	Security Engineers, Compliance Officers
SSS-02-11-05-01-05	Monitor and audit input handling	Continuously monitor application logs for suspicious input patterns, detect potential injection attempts, and conduct regular security testing (e.g., automated scanners, penetration testing).	Post-deployment	Security Teams, Compliance Officers

References

Industry framework	Academic work	Real-world case
Information Security Manual (ISM-0971) OWASP Application Security Verification Standard OWASP Application Security Verification Standard