OWASP, also known as OWASP Security, is best known for its "Top 10" lists, which serve as the primary industry standard for identifying the most critical security risks in web and mobile applications, along with other domains, such as LLM and Gen AI security via OWASP AI Security Guidelines. Read ahead to get a clear idea about OWASP Security and understand the OWASP Top 10 Vulnerabilities and Risks.
What is OWASP Security?
OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) is a global non-profit foundation dedicated to improving software security. It is also commonly referred to as OWASP Security. It operates as an open community where developers and security experts collaborate to create freely available articles, methodologies, documentation, tools, and technologies.
What is OWASP Mobile App Security?
OWASP Mobile App Security is the overarching framework defined by the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) to secure the mobile application ecosystem. It consists of the OWASP MASVS (Mobile Application Security Verification Standard), which provides a comprehensive benchmark for building resilient Android and iOS applications.
What is the OWASP Mobile Top 10?
The OWASP Mobile Top 10 is a globally recognized awareness collateral that identifies the most critical security risks facing mobile applications. It focuses on the vulnerabilities that attackers are most likely to exploit, such as improper credential usage, insecure data storage, and code tampering.
Updated officially in 2024, this OWASP Security list serves as the primary baseline for CISOs and Developers to prioritize their security fixes. If your app has a vulnerability, it can be considered insecure and non-compliant with most regulatory standards.
What is OWASP Mobile App Security (MASVS)?
The OWASP Mobile Application Security Verification Standard (MASVS), or OWASP MASVS, is the industry standard for mobile app security testing and verification. It creates a "blueprint" for security architects, organizing protections into distinct domains that cover the entire mobile attack surface.
Instead of a simple "pass/fail" checklist, OWASP MASVS encourages a defence-in-depth approach where developers must satisfy requirements across critical areas like:
- Data Privacy: Ensuring sensitive data is encrypted at rest and in transit.
- Authentication: Verifying user identity without loopholes.
- Resilience: Building the app to defend itself against specific client-side attacks like tampering and reverse engineering.
Top Risks & Common Vulnerabilities (OWASP Mobile Top 10)
The Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) Mobile Top 10 is the globally recognized standard for identifying the most critical risks facing mobile applications and impacting android app security as well as iOS app security. In its latest update (2024), this OWASP Security list adds supply chain integrity, privacy and credential handling, reflecting the sophistication of modern attacks.
Below is a deep dive into the top 10 risks. The stated ‘actions’ (from our side) represent layered, defence-in-depth controls that help mitigate mobile application risks when combined with secure architecture and backend controls.
- M1: Improper Credential Usage
It occurs when developers accidentally hardcode API keys, tokens, or passwords directly into the source code or store them in insecure locations (like strings.xml). Attackers can easily decompile the app, extract these credentials, and bypass authentication to access your backend systems.
Action: Avoid hardcoding secrets in the apps. Use advanced Code Obfuscation to scramble strings and RASP to prevent attackers from dumping the app's memory to find keys at runtime.
- M2: Inadequate Supply Chain Security
Modern apps are built using dozens of third-party SDKs and libraries (e.g., for ads, analytics, or payments). If a single library is compromised or outdated, your entire app can be vulnerable. Attackers often target these weaker third-party components to inject malicious code into trusted apps.
Action: RASP can prevent code injection, detect Reverse Engineering and prevent unauthorized data access.
- M3: Insecure Authentication & Authorization
This risk combines previous categories to address how apps verify user identity. Vulnerabilities here include weak password policies, lack of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), or failing to invalidate session tokens after logout. It also covers "Vertical Privilege Escalation," where a regular user forces their way into admin functions.
Action: Implement Device & SIM Binding. This ties the user's identity to their specific trusted device. Even if a hacker has the credentials, it becomes significantly harder for them to log in from an unauthorized phone. And RASP to detect and prevent SSL Pinning Bypass and Offline Attack.
- M4: Insufficient Input/Output Validation
When an app accepts data from untrusted sources (like user forms or external APIs) without sanitizing it, it opens the door to Injection Attacks (SQL Injection, XSS). In mobile, this also applies to malformed IPC (Inter-Process Communication) calls that can crash the app or leak data.
Action: Beyond standard input sanitization, you need a safety net. Implement Runtime Threat Detection (RASP) to actively monitor for malicious payloads.
- M5: Insecure Communication
Mobile apps constantly talk to servers over carrier networks and public Wi-Fi. If this traffic isn't properly encrypted, attackers can perform Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks to intercept sensitive data.
Action: Enforce SSL Pinning and use Network Threat Detection to identify and block suspicious proxies or unverified certificates immediately.
- M6: Inadequate Privacy Controls
They focus on protecting Personally Identifiable Information (PII) — such as names, addresses, payment details, email/IP addresses, and sensitive data, which is highly valuable to attackers, who may use it to impersonate victims, commit fraud, misuse payment data, blackmail individuals, or manipulate or destroy critical information.
Action: Here, App Sandbox and Unsecure Network Detection play a critical role.
- M7: Insufficient Binary Protections
Previously known as Code Tampering, this risk highlights the danger of deploying an app without armour. If your binary isn't protected, attackers can reverse-engineer it, modify the code (to remove ads or security checks), and repackage it as a ‘modded’ app to steal user credentials.
Action: This is where Code Obfuscation and RASP are critical. You must harden the binary so that it is significantly harder to analyse or tamper with.
- M8: Security Misconfiguration
Examples include leaving debugging enabled in the production build, using default encryption keys, or misconfiguring cloud storage (AWS S3 buckets) connected to the app.
Action: Complement secure configuration practices with RASP secure network, anti-debugging that actively scans for debugger attachments (like JDWP) or distinct debugging signatures in the environment.
- M9: Insecure Data Storage
Mobile devices are easily lost or stolen. If your app stores sensitive data (like authentication tokens or transaction history) in plain text within Shared Preferences, SQLite databases, or external storage, anyone with physical access (or malware) can extract it.
Action: Alongside encrypted local storage, use Root/Jailbreak Detection to block the app from running on compromised devices where data exposure risks are elevated.
- M10: Insufficient Cryptography
Using weak encryption algorithms (like MD5 or SHA-1) is a recipe for disaster. This risk also covers poor key management, where the encryption keys themselves are stored insecurely alongside the encrypted data.
Action: Implement Dynamic Encryption. Instead of static keys, use dynamic key generation and Whitebox Cryptography to ensure that even if an attacker dumps the app's code, they cannot find or reconstruct the keys needed to decrypt user data.
How Protectt.ai Helps Organisations Meet OWASP Security Guidelines
Achieving compliance with OWASP Mobile Top 10 and the comprehensive OWASP MASVS domains can be complex. Protectt.ai simplifies this by offering a consolidated Mobile App Security platform that automates these controls directly within your application. Protectt.ai can also help with a thorough Mobile Application Security Assessment (MASA), known as (OWASP MASA) and recommend action items for robust security.
- Complete Resilience: We provide industry-leading Runtime Application Self-Protection (RASP) and Code Obfuscation to effectively neutralize threats related to Reverse Engineering, Tampering, and Debugging.
- Zero-Trust Identity: Our AppBind technology enforces strict Device and SIM binding, resolving authentication risks by ensuring that stolen credentials cannot be used on unauthorized devices.
- Data & Network Security: We automate critical defenses like SSL Pinning, Root Detection, and Whitebox Cryptography, ensuring that your data remains secure at rest and in transit.
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