Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) is a sneaky web security vulnerability that lets attackers inject malicious scripts into websites viewed by other users. Imagine a seemingly harmless comment section – an attacker could inject JavaScript code disguised as a regular comment. When someone else views that page, the injected script executes in their browser, potentially stealing cookies, redirecting them to malicious sites, or even defacing the website.
Think of it as a digital puppet master controlling a user's browser through a trusted website. The attacker leverages the website's trust to manipulate the user's actions.
There are three main types of XSS: Stored (persisted on the server), Reflected (injected via a URL), and DOM-based (manipulating the page's structure). Understanding these types is the first step to preventing XSS attacks. Stay tuned for future posts on how to defend against these threats and keep your users safe!
