WAF and Browser Extension Feedback for Predictive Vulnerability Blocking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing web application firewalls (WAFs) are inefficient in detecting and mitigating vulnerabilities across multiple instances of a web application, as they only detect issues on the server side after payload transmission, leading to increased load and inefficiency, and client-side solutions lack the capability to dynamically address a wide range of potential vulnerabilities.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a server-side WAF with a client-side browser extension that uses WebSocket connections for real-time vulnerability detection and mitigation, collecting and sharing vulnerability information to prevent vulnerabilities before they occur across multiple instances.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a server-side WAF is deployed to detect vulnerabilities in web application traffic, then vulnerability detection capability is improved, but the system load on the WAF increases significantly when multiple instances of the same application are affected
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary vulnerability detection on the first instance of the web application before the vulnerability affects multiple instances. The WAF intercepts and analyzes traffic from the first instance, detects the vulnerability, and proactively blocks or mitigates it before the same vulnerable traffic pattern can overwhelm the WAF with multiple identical detections from other instances.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a feedback mechanism where the WAF's vulnerability detection results from the first instance are fed back to prevent redundant detections. When a vulnerability is detected in the first instance, the system learns this pattern and can either block similar traffic from other instances or suppress duplicate vulnerability reports, thereby reducing the processing load while maintaining comprehensive security coverage.
2Reliability
If a WAF detects vulnerabilities only after payload transmission reaches the server, then security inspection is performed, but the vulnerabilities may have already caused issues on the client side
Solution Approach 1:
The WAF is positioned to intercept and inspect web application traffic at the server side before the payload is fully processed. By detecting vulnerabilities in the first instance's traffic early in the transmission process, the system can proactively block malicious payloads before they reach vulnerable applications, preventing client-side issues rather than merely detecting them after transmission.
3Reliability
If multiple WAF instances detect and report the same vulnerability across different web application instances, then comprehensive coverage is achieved, but the detection and reporting process becomes inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges vulnerability detection results across multiple WAF instances by implementing a deduplication mechanism. When the same vulnerability pattern is detected across different web application instances, the system consolidates these detections into a single report or blocks the vulnerability pattern once to protect all instances, thereby maintaining comprehensive coverage while eliminating redundant processing and reporting.
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatus and method for predictive protection of cloud-based applications and services. For example, a web application firewall (WAF) detects vulnerabilities in the data traffic and collects relevant information including, for example, the payload type, structure, and specific vulnerability information. For certain vulnerabilities associated with views, the view document object model (DOM) and history of views may be collected. For vulnerabilities related to API calls, the corresponding the API path and history of API calls may be retrieved. The WAF includes a signature controller which decodes the payload (e.g., the JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) structure) and creates a signature of the vulnerability based on the relevant information including, but not limited to, the API path, the web application domain, and/or the URL path. The WAF distributes collected and generated vulnerability information to web browser extensions of the web application which perform mitigations such as generating notifications when a vulnerability is encountered.