Writing Secure Code, Second Edition
Appendix E
A Tester's Security Checklist
The following checklist, available as a softcopy in the Security Templates folder in the book's companion content, is a minimum set of items a tester should ask herself as she is testing the product. Consider this document to be completed as a sign-off requirement for the application design phase.
Check | Category | Chapter |
List of attack points derived from threat model decomposition process | 4 | |
Comprehensive data mutation tests in place | 19 | |
Comprehensive SQL and XSS tests in place | 12, 19 | |
Application tested with SafeDllSearchMode registry setting set to 2 on Windows XP or tested on the default install of Microsoft Windows .NET Server 2003 | 11 | |
Competitor's vulnerabilities analyzed to determine whether the issues exist in this product | 3 | |
Past vulnerabilities in previous versions of product analyzed for root cause | 3 | |
If the application is not an administrative tool, test that it runs correctly when user has no administrative rights | 7 | |
If the application is an administrative tool, test that it fails gracefully and early if the user is not an admin | 7 | |
Application attack surface is as small as possible | 3 | |
Default install is as secure as possible | 3 | |
Tested all Safe-for-scripting ActiveX controls methods, properties, and events to verify that all such interfaces are indeed safe to call from script | 16 | |
Sample code tested for security issues | 23 |