Browser Event Hijacking

Jan 27, 2012 | comments

You can easily hijack events that should get passed through to the browser. The example that I will be discussing here is the ctrl+f or ⌘+f combination. This ubiquitous key combination results in a search box of some type being displayed to the user. With browser and OS key bindings, there is a user expectation of continuity. We are conditioned as users to expect that pressing these key combinations will have a certain effect. The interruption of this continuity can have security implications.

Browser Event Hijacking
                                      (Fake Browser Search Bar)

                                           (Real Browser Search Bar)

 JavaScript on the page hijacks the ctrl+f and ⌘+f combinations, presenting a search box that is nearly identical to the browser search box users would see running Google Chrome on OSX. While normally, JavaScript wouldn’t have access to the contents of the search box, the fake search box is obviously accessible to the malicious site.

The ability of a malicious site to interrupt the expected continuity of user interaction with a web browser constitutes a breach of user trust on the part of the web browser. Because the user trusts that this key combination will trigger a browser event, they will trust the search bar presented by the site and interact with it as they would with the browser. Other key combinations could be similarly attacked. For example, ctrl+s/⌘+s or ctrl+o/⌘+o could be hijacked and could display a fake dialog claiming that the user’s password is required for file-system access. Specific attack scenarios aside, it is problematic to have ambiguity about the boundaries between browser and web app. More generally, a lower trust component should not have the ability to affect the behavior of a higher trust component.

SOLUTION :

1. Place the browser search box in a part of the browser that   could not be confused with website content. 
2. Warn the user when a site attempts to call preventDefault on an event that is registered as a browser key binding.

 
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I'm certainly not an expert, but I'll try my hardest to explain what I do know and research what I don't know. Be sure to check back again , after moderation i do make every effort to reply to your comments .

 
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