OWASP
Secure Coding Practices
Quick Reference Guide
Justin Clarke
justin.clarke@owasp.org
OWASP
AppSec Asia Pacific
13 April 2012
Copyright © The OWASP Foundation
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the OWASP License.
The OWASP Foundation
http://www.owasp.org
Some Background
Goal: Build a secure coding kick-start tool, to help
development teams quickly understand secure coding
Originally developed for use inside The Boeing Company
July 2010, Boeing assigned copyright to OWASP
August 2010, project goes live on owasp.org
November 2010, SCP v2 goes live (current stable version)
OWASP 2
Project Structure / Localizations
• English – Keith Turpin (Project leader)
• Korean
• Portuguese
• Brazilian Portuguese
• Spanish
• https://www.owasp.org/index.php/OWASP_Secure_Codi
ng_Practices_-_Quick_Reference_Guide
OWASP 3
Guide Overview
Technology agnostic coding practices
What to do, not how to do it
Compact, but comprehensive checklist format
Focuses on secure coding requirements, rather
then on vulnerabilities and exploits
Includes a cross referenced glossary to get
developers and security folks talking the same
language
OWASP 4
Sections of the Guide
The bulk of the document is in the checklists, but it
contains all of the following:
Table of contents
Introduction
Software Security Principles Overview
Secure Coding Practices Checklist
Links to useful resources
Glossary of important terminology
OWASP 5
Checklist Sections - Only 9 pages long
Input Validation Data Protection
Output Encoding Communication Security
System Configuration
Authentication and Password
Management Database Security
Session Management File Management
Access Control Memory Management
General Coding Practices
Cryptographic Practices
Error Handling and Logging
OWASP 6
Checklist Practices
Short and to the point
Straight forward "do this" or "don't do that"
Does not attempt to rank the practices
Some practices are conditional recommendations that
depend on the criticality of the system or information
The security implications of not following any of the
practices that apply to the application, should be clearly
understood
OWASP 7
Extract - Database Security
Use strongly typed parameterized queries
Utilize input validation and output encoding and be sure to address meta characters.
If these fail, do not run the database command
Ensure that variables are strongly typed
The application should use the lowest possible level of privilege when accessing the
database
Use secure credentials for database access
Do not provide connection strings or credentials directly to the client. If this is
unavoidable, encrypted them
Use stored procedures to abstract data access
Close the connection as soon as possible
Remove or change all default database administrative passwords. Utilize strong
passwords/phrases or implement multi-factor authentication
Turn off all unnecessary database functionality (e.g., unnecessary stored procedures
or services, utility packages, install only the minimum set of features and options
required (surface area reduction))
OWASP 8
Using the guide
Scenario #1: Developing Guidance Documents
Coding Practices
Guiding Principles What to do How to do it
General Application Application
Security Security Security
Policies Procedures Coding
Standards
OWASP 9
Using the guide continued
Scenario #2: Support Secure Development Lifecycle
What to do How you should do it What you did Did it work
Application Secure Development Review Test Solution
Security Processes Solutions Implementation
Requirements
Standardized Libraries
Standard Guidance for
non-Library Solutions
Coding Practices
OWASP 10
Using the guide continued
Scenario #3: Contracted Development
Identify security requirements to be added to outsourced
software development projects.
Include them in the RFP and Contract
We can build Coding Practices
How do I I need
anything
make it work cool
Software
RFP
Best
Contract
Software
Best
Ever
Software
Ever
Programmer Salesman Customer
OWASP 11
Summary
Makes it easier for development teams to quickly
understand secure coding practices
Assists with defining requirements and adding them to
policies and contracts
Provides a context and vocabulary for interactions with
security staff
Serves as an easy desk reference
OWASP 12
A Secure Development Framework
Guidance on implementing a secure software development framework is
beyond the scope of the Quick reference Guide, however the following
OWASP projects can help:
Implement a secure software development lifecycle
OWASP CLASP Project
OpenSAMM
Establish secure coding standards
OWASP Development Guide Project
Build a re-usable object library
OWASP Enterprise Security API (ESAPI) Project
Verify the effectiveness of security controls
OWASP Application Security Verification Standard (ASVS)
Project)
Establish secure outsourced development practices including
defining security requirements and verification methodologies in
both the RFP and contract
OWASP Legal Project
OWASP 13
Questions
OWASP 14
