XML/SOAP Vulnerabilities

Today, for almost every organization, web services are essential requirement. In order to bind varied business systems together, web services heavily depend on XML and Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) technologies. Even though these technologies are increasingly gaining popularity, enterprises are little aware of the existing XML/SOAP Vulnerabilities that can turn a business application into a fresh target for hacking attacks. Hackers utilizing the XML/SOAP Vulnerabilities can penetrate into the heart of your crucial business system and cause immense damage.

How can the vulnerabilities pose threat to your application? The XML documents in web services travel from the client to the server in the shape of SOAP request. Now, since XML documents are served through web services, they are susceptible to any XML based attack. In general, a hacking attack is often viewed as a method of attacking the system and penetrating it, followed by exploiting the faults in the operating system in order to get a password. However, this might not always be the scenario. Attackers can use a usual HTTP, SOAP or XML request to delete crucial data, add or recover any confidential information on the web server. Additionally, they can carry out other malicious tasks by posing threats through the published web service.

The ensuing consequences of the attacks are more or less similar to any web application hacking outcome. Attackers utilizing the XML/SOAP Vulnerabilities can possibly penetrate into a web server and cause serious damage to the website. They can steal crucial information, delete data or add malicious content. Another common attack is the denial of service attack, which showers the server computer with an array of requests. Following this, the network server finally goes out of order. To address these hacking attacks, security administrators should deal with the issues right at the application layer of the server.

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