During a security test, a security analyst found a critical application with a buffer overflow vulnerability. Which of the following would be best to mitigate the vulnerability at the application level?
During a security test, a security analyst found a critical application with a buffer overflow vulnerability. Which of the following would be best to mitigate the vulnerability at the application level?
To mitigate a buffer overflow vulnerability at the application level, implementing input validation is the most effective approach. By validating input data, the application ensures that it adheres to expected bounds, thereby preventing buffer overruns. This helps protect against malicious input that could exploit the vulnerability. OS hardening, updating third-party dependencies, and configuring address space layout randomization address different security concerns but are not specifically tailored to preventing buffer overflow at the application level.
B - Input validation prevents buffer overflow at the application level.
Option D. Address space layout randomization (ASLR) is a technique that is used to increase the difficulty of performing a buffer overflow attack that requires the attacker to know the location of an executable in memory.
D is correct. Input validations are used to prevent XXS and SQLi. according to Jason Dion's guide. "Address Space Layout Randomization is a method used by programmers to randomly arrange the different address spaces used by a program or process to prevent buffer overflow exploits".
To mitigate a buffer overflow vulnerability at the application level, implementing input validation is the most effective approach. By validating input data, you can ensure that it adheres to expected bounds and prevent buffer overruns. This helps protect against malicious input that could exploit the vulnerability. The other options—OS hardening, updating third-party dependencies, and address space layout randomization—address different security concerns but are not specifically tailored to buffer overflow prevention. Therefore, B. Implement input validation is the best choice in this scenario.