XSS occurs when a user-controlled value is displayed on a web page without properly escaping it, allowing someone to inject Javascript or HTML into the page which will be interpreted and executed by the browser..
In Rails 2.x, values need to be explicitly escaped (e.g., by using the h method). Since Rails 3.x, auto-escaping in views is enabled by default. However, one can still use the raw or html_safe methods to output a value directly.
Brakeman looks for several situations that can allow XSS. The simplest is like the example above: a value from the params or cookies is being directly output to a view. In such cases, it will issue a warning like:
Unescaped parameter value near line 3: params[:query]
By default, Brakeman will also warn when a parameter or cookie value is used as an argument to a method, the result of which is output unescaped to a view.
For example:
<%= raw some_method(cookie[:name]) %>
This raises a warning like:
Unescaped cookie value near line 5: some_method(cookies[:oreo])
However, the confidence level for this warning will be weak, because it is not directly outputting the cookie value.
Some methods are known to Brakeman to either be dangerous (link_to is one) or safe (escape_once). Users can specify safe methods using the --safe-methods option. Alternatively, Brakeman can be set to only warn when values are used directly with the --report-direct option.
Model Attributes
Because (many) models come from database values, Brakeman mistrusts them by default.
For example, if @user is an instance of a model set in an action like
def set_user
@user = User.first
end
and there is a view with
<%= @user.name.html_safe %>
Brakeman will raise a warning like
Unescaped model attribute near line 3: User.first.name
If you trust all your data (although you probably shouldn't), this can be disabled with --ignore-model-output.
XSS occurs when a user-controlled value is displayed on a web page without properly escaping it, allowing someone to inject Javascript or HTML into the page which will be interpreted and executed by the browser..
In Rails 2.x, values need to be explicitly escaped (e.g., by using the h method). Since Rails 3.x, auto-escaping in views is enabled by default. However, one can still use the raw or html_safe methods to output a value directly.
Brakeman looks for several situations that can allow XSS. The simplest is like the example above: a value from the params or cookies is being directly output to a view. In such cases, it will issue a warning like:
Unescaped parameter value near line 3: params[:query]
By default, Brakeman will also warn when a parameter or cookie value is used as an argument to a method, the result of which is output unescaped to a view.
For example:
<%= raw some_method(cookie[:name]) %>
This raises a warning like:
Unescaped cookie value near line 5: some_method(cookies[:oreo])
However, the confidence level for this warning will be weak, because it is not directly outputting the cookie value.
Some methods are known to Brakeman to either be dangerous (link_to is one) or safe (escape_once). Users can specify safe methods using the --safe-methods option. Alternatively, Brakeman can be set to only warn when values are used directly with the --report-direct option.
Model Attributes
Because (many) models come from database values, Brakeman mistrusts them by default.
For example, if @user is an instance of a model set in an action like
def set_user
@user = User.first
end
and there is a view with
<%= @user.name.html_safe %>
Brakeman will raise a warning like
Unescaped model attribute near line 3: User.first.name
If you trust all your data (although you probably shouldn't), this can be disabled with --ignore-model-output.
XSS occurs when a user-controlled value is displayed on a web page without properly escaping it, allowing someone to inject Javascript or HTML into the page which will be interpreted and executed by the browser..
In Rails 2.x, values need to be explicitly escaped (e.g., by using the h method). Since Rails 3.x, auto-escaping in views is enabled by default. However, one can still use the raw or html_safe methods to output a value directly.
Brakeman looks for several situations that can allow XSS. The simplest is like the example above: a value from the params or cookies is being directly output to a view. In such cases, it will issue a warning like:
Unescaped parameter value near line 3: params[:query]
By default, Brakeman will also warn when a parameter or cookie value is used as an argument to a method, the result of which is output unescaped to a view.
For example:
<%= raw some_method(cookie[:name]) %>
This raises a warning like:
Unescaped cookie value near line 5: some_method(cookies[:oreo])
However, the confidence level for this warning will be weak, because it is not directly outputting the cookie value.
Some methods are known to Brakeman to either be dangerous (link_to is one) or safe (escape_once). Users can specify safe methods using the --safe-methods option. Alternatively, Brakeman can be set to only warn when values are used directly with the --report-direct option.
Model Attributes
Because (many) models come from database values, Brakeman mistrusts them by default.
For example, if @user is an instance of a model set in an action like
def set_user
@user = User.first
end
and there is a view with
<%= @user.name.html_safe %>
Brakeman will raise a warning like
Unescaped model attribute near line 3: User.first.name
If you trust all your data (although you probably shouldn't), this can be disabled with --ignore-model-output.