Self-XSS

Self-XSS is a social engineering attack used to gain control of victims' web accounts, most commonly Facebook accounts.[1] In a self-XSS attack, the victim of the attack accidentally runs malicious code in his/her own web browser, thus exposing it to the attacker.[1]

Overview

Self-XSS operates by tricking users into copying and pasting malicious content into their browsers' web developer console.[1] Usually, the attacker posts a message that says by copying and running certain code, the user will be able to hack another user's account. In fact, the code allows the attacker to hijack the victim's account.[2]

History and mitigation

In the past, a very similar attack took place, in which users were tricked into pasting malicious JavaScript into their address bar. When browser vendors stopped this by preventing easily running JavaScript from the address bar,[3][4] attackers started using Self-XSS in its current form. Web browser vendors and web sites have taken steps to mitigate this attack. Mozilla Firefox[5] and Google Chrome[6] have both begun implementing safeguards to warn users about self-XSS attacks. Facebook and Google+ now display a warning message when users open the web developer console, and they link to pages explaining the attack in detail.[7][8]

Etymology

The "self" part of the name comes from the fact that the user is attacking themselves. The "XSS" part of the name comes from the abbreviation for cross-site scripting, because both attacks result in malicious code running on a legitimate site. However, the attacks don't have much else in common, because XSS is an attack against the website itself, whereas self-XSS is a social engineering attack against the user.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Scharr, Jill (July 28, 2014). "Facebook Scam Tricks Users Into Hacking Themselves". Tom's Guide US. Purch. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Social Networking Security Threats". Sophos. n.d. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Bug 656433 – Disallow javascript: and data: URLs entered into the location bar from inheriting the principal of the currently-loaded page". Bugzilla. Mozilla Foundation. May 11, 2011. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Issue 82181: [Linux] Strip javascript: schema from pastes/drops to omnibox". Google Code. Google. May 10, 2011. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Bug 994134 – Warn first-time users on pasting code into the console". Bugzilla. Mozilla Foundation. April 9, 2014. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Issue 345205: DevTools: Combat self-XSS". Google Code. Google. May 10, 2011. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
  7. ↑ "What do Self-XSS scams look like?". Facebook Help. Facebook. July 11, 2014. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
  8. ↑ "What is Self-XSS?". Facebook Help. Facebook. July 15, 2014. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
  9. ↑ Ilascu, Ionut (July 28, 2014). "Hackers Trick Facebook Users into Self Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) Scam". Softpedia. SoftNews NET SRL. Retrieved September 27, 2014.

Further reading

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