What does it mean to safeguard your app? It simply means preventing an infiltration by hackers. However, that’s only part of the definition. You also need to make sure that only the right people get access to the right data. Imagine if someone unauthorized were to gain access to your app – They could get all the sensitive user data and confidential information.
Isn’t that scary? It is. And unfortunately, this happens all the time; not just because of weak passwords or unpatched software. It happens because of something called access control. This is why testing access control is important.
We keep everything on our apps these days. From little games to help the time pass by faster to financial and health information. And without implementing and testing access control, there’s a huge risk of data leaks and breaches. Developers will often focus on building cool features and fixing bugs, but they’ll overlook access control testing because they’ll assume their code works as it should.
And then it doesn’t because tiny little mistakes become major security issues.
What Is Access Control Testing?
In simple terms, this is a process that makes sure only authorized users can perform specific actions or access specific data within an app. It’s a very important factor in app security because it helps prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information. There are different types of access controls, like RBAC, ABAC, and DAC.
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) sets permissions based on the access roles of each individual user (such as admin, editor, etc.). Another type of access control is known as Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC), which grants or restricts resource access according to attributes such as department or location. Lastly, Discretionary Access Control (DAC) gives power to the owner of the data to decide who can access his resources.
But even with all these systems in place, there can still be issues. It could be broken access control, where users manage to get around restrictions, or excessive privileges, where users have more permissions than necessary.
Another problem that happens way too often is when you don’t revoke access when users change roles or leave the organization. This is where authorization as a service can help developers implement correct access control and prevent problems with security.
How to Test Access Control in Your App
You can follow the steps below to easily verify that your app access control is tested enough.
- Identify Core Resources and Permissions
Firstly you need to identify which parts of your app contain sensitive information. Once you have that list, specify the exact permissions required for accessing each of them.
You may either assign permissions based on roles (e.g., admin, user, or guest) or based on attributes (e.g., department, location, etc.). Be explicit about who can access what.
- Map User Roles and Access Requirement
The second step is to map users’ roles and access levels. You could set up a matrix linking roles to actions they’re permitted to do.
For instance, total control for an admin who is permitted to view, edit, and delete all data. On the other hand, regular users should only be able to view and edit their own data. Guests should only have permission to access public information, nothing sensitive.
- Do Manual Access Control Tests
Manual testing means that you’ll simulate different user roles and try to access resources they’re not permitted to access. Log in as a few different roles and try something that’s supposed to be restricted, like getting access to another user’s data or doing something only an admin could do.
All unauthorized attempts should be blocked and logged.
- Use Automated Testing Tools
Automated tools will take the process one step further. You can use security testing tools like OWASP ZAP and Burp Suite for penetration testing, to simulate unauthorized access attempts, and to report weaknesses in implementing access control.
- Test for IDOR
IDOR (Insecure Direct Object References) vulnerabilities happen when users can modify a parameter and get direct access to data, like a URL or an ID. Let’s say a user changes a URL from /profile/123 to /profile/124 and gets access to another user’s profile. That’s a serious flaw in access control.
Users should be allowed to see data only they are entitled to, or intended to see. You can prevent it by using server-side validation.
Conclusion
Testing access control doesn’t have to be complicated if you have a clear process in place/mind. This way, you fix small issues before they become huge headaches.
Remember that access control isn’t something you’ll just test once and then forget it exists. Your app will hopefully evolve and progress, you’ll add new features, you’ll make changes to user roles, and so on. When something changes, you’ll need to review and update access control policies to make your app stay safe.
Look at it as a routine, not just something you do once in a while.
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