AJAX Apps Ripe Targets for JavaScript Hijacking

from eWeek : AJAX Apps Ripe Targets for JavaScript Hijacking

Fortify Software has documented what the security firm is calling a “pervasive and critical” vulnerability in Web 2.0 applications—specifically, in the ability of an attacker to use a JavaScript vulnerability to steal critical data by emulating unsuspecting users.

The vulnerability—which allows an exploit called JavaScript Hijacking—can be found in the biggest AJAX frameworks out there, including three server-integrated toolkits: Microsoft ASP.Net AJAX (aka Atlas), Google Web Toolkit and xajax—the last of which is an open-source PHP-class library implementation of AJAX.

Client-side libraries that Fortify inspected and found to be vulnerable are the Yahoo UI, Prototype, Script.aculo.us, Dojo, Moo.fx, jQuery, Rico and MochiKit.

Of the AJAX frameworks and client-side libraries Fortify inspected, only DWR 2.0 (Direct Web Remoting 2.0) has mechanisms to prevent JavaScript Hijacking.