How to prevent code injection vulnerabilities

Attackers often seek to insert their own code into target apps, systems, and devices to change how a program runs, gain unauthorized access to data and systems, or control a network, system, or device remotely. SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and remote file injection are some common code injection attacks.

What’s vulnerable to code injection attacks?

Anything that runs on code and isn’t properly secured can be vulnerable to code injection attacks. Different strains of code injection attacks can impact apps and websites, databases, networks, and connected devices of all kinds, including wireless video cameras, display screens, medical diagnostic equipment, printers, phones, and even ethernet cables.

Potential consequences of code injection vulnerabilities

A code injection vulnerability can allow attackers to corrupt or steal data, deface websites and apps, and launch ransomware attacks. Injection of worms, viruses, and other malware designed to propagate can cause a code injection attack to spread well beyond the initial entry point. Code injection vulnerabilities can also allow privilege escalation, leading to the remote takeover of devices, apps, websites, and networks.

Preventing code injection vulnerabilities

Code injection attacks rely on introducing new or ambiguous code into an application.

Code injection prevention focuses primarily on limiting the amount and quality of code that can be introduced. Preventive steps include:

Limiting users’ ability to inject code.
Actively looking for and remediating known vulnerabilities.
Monitoring device behavior to detect code injection attacks in real time.

A security solution that continuously assesses an organization’s devices can identify known vulnerabilities in device operating systems and software in real time. That enables the cybersecurity team to remediate those vulnerabilities manually or create policies to automatically install the necessary updates.

Code injection prevention starts with complete device visibility

Because code injection attacks only need one entry point to potentially affect an entire app, website, network, or organization, prevention begins with the identification of every device on the organization’s networks and in their airspace. The Armis platform uses passive, agentless technology to identify every device, including unmanaged medical, IIoT, OT, and ICS devices, and managed assets, portable devices, and cloud instances.

As Armis identifies each device, the platform compares that device to unique device data held in the Armis Device Knowledgebase. This always-growing collection of data on more than two billion devices helps the platform analyze each discovered asset to identify vulnerable firmware and software, install patches and updates, raise alerts, and enforce policies when the platform detects a threat in real time. Get a demo to learn more.