A Complete Overview of OWASP Mobile Top 10 2024 (+ A Free Checklist)

31% of executives cite improper risk identification as their organizations’ top cybersecurity challenge. Reacting only to attacks leads to an average 118-day breach detection time, which can significantly impact business. 

Staying informed about cybersecurity risks is crucial. OWASP offers a list of common threats for testers, but some find them insufficient due to its crowdsourced nature. Mobile Application Security Verification Standard (MASVS) and Mobile Application Security Testing Guide (MASTG) offer predefined methodologies to test against threats. MASTG outlines steps to fulfill MASVS security requirements, aiding in proactive defense strategies.

What is the OWASP Mobile Top 10?

The OWASP Top 10 ranks the most critical mobile app security risks based on expert consensus. It is a crucial resource for developers, testers, and security professionals to proactively address any security flaws in their mobile applications. 

Founded in 2001, OWASP aims to enhance software security globally. Initially focusing on web applications, it evolved into the Mobile Security Project to formalize mobile app security standards. 

The OWASP Mobile Top 10 list is regularly updated to keep up with the ever-changing security landscape. Each risk mentioned in the list represents a potential weakness that malicious actors can exploit to compromise the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of mobile app data, functionality, and privacy.

However, the cybersecurity landscape constantly changes, and newer vulnerabilities are often discovered, causing the threat landscape to evolve. So, this often alters the frequency of the list’s publication. This list is collated by collecting feedback from cybersecurity experts on the most critical vulnerabilities in the market. 

OWASP Mobile Top 10 Checklist (2024 Updated)

Understanding the major vulnerabilities is important for a cybersecurity leader to manage capacity and resources effectively. By prioritizing security efforts, organizations can fortify their mobile applications against emerging threats and stay ahead in the rapidly developing cyber landscape.

We are adding an OWASP Mobile Top 10 checklist to help you understand emerging threats and their mitigation, as well as the steps to prevent these vulnerabilities while understanding your attack surface.

1. Improper credential usage

Exploiting this vulnerability can lead to data theft, invasion of privacy for the company and your customers, economic fraud leading to significant loss, and damage to the company's reputation.

How can hackers exploit this vulnerability?

Hardcoded passwords, also called embedded credentials, are plain text passwords and other confidential information in the source code. 

Storing user credentials locally on the device exposes sensitive information. 

Simple passwords and lack of complexity make it easier for hackers to guess or crack passwords through brute force attacks. 

Transmitting credentials without proper encryption also exposes sensitive information to be exploited during data transmission.

If multi-factor authentication is not in place, attackers can easily gain access using compromised passwords. 

If sessions don’t expire after inactivity, it might expose users to session hijacking and other related attacks.

How can this vulnerability be prevented?

You can fortify your app by: 

Encryption is one of the basic principles of mobile security. Ensure that sensitive data, including credentials, is transmitted and stored using robust encryption methods. 

Strong passwords require users to create and update complex and unique passwords regularly. 

Implementing multi-factor and two-factor authentication (2FA) will add an extra layer of security. 

Implement secure session management practices - session expiry after a brief period of inactivity.

2. Inadequate supply chain security

This vulnerability focuses on the activities involved in building and distributing the application. Hackers can exploit vulnerabilities in third-party libraries to access the server backend, manipulate sensitive data, and carry out denial-of-service attacks.

How can hackers exploit this vulnerability? 

1. Vulnerabilities

Flaws in third-party applications' source code, such as a lack of data validation or buffer overflow attacks, can create exploitable vulnerabilities.

2. Insecure integration

If the integration between the third-party app and your IT resources is not secure, it might expose you to attackers. Plugins, connectors, and extensions can contain innate security vulnerabilities. 

3. Insecure data management

If the app you integrate doesn’t encrypt the data you upload, it makes it easy for attackers to access your private data. 

4. Misconfigured access controls

Weak access controls within third-party software that connects to your business can give attackers access to your entire IT infrastructure. 

5. Compromised build environment

Attackers can infiltrate the build environment used for compiling and packing your app.

6. Trojanized app release

The compromised build environment can lead to the release of a trojanized version of your app. Your customers may download this version assuming it to be a legitimate version. 

7. Malicious code injection 

Once inside your build environment, attackers can inject malicious code into the app source code and execute unauthorized actions. 

How can this vulnerability be prevented?

1. Code signing and integrity checks 

Implement regular integrity checks and code signing to detect unauthorized modifications to the source code.

2. Dependency scanning

Regularly conduct SBOM security analysis and update dependencies used in the application. SBOM is a collection of all components in a software’s codebase. 

With Appknox’s SBOM solution, you can track and identify vulnerabilities in your entire software with just one upload. 

3. Secure build environment

Regularly update and patch all build infrastructure components to prevent and minimize vulnerabilities. 

3. Insecure authentication/ authorization

User authentication and authorization problems can lead to the execution of over-privileged functionality actions, which in turn can result in the theft of sensitive information.

How can hackers exploit this vulnerability?

Insecure value comparisons in PHP & JavaScript can lead to vulnerabilities. Loose comparisons like == can allow bypassing authentication.

Use strict comparisons with the === operator or dedicated comparison functions to mitigate.

Auth bypass risks arise when access control relies on path comparison. Attackers exploit parsing inconsistencies to traverse directories. 

Input sanitization is crucial to prevent such vulnerabilities.

In complex architectures, auth responsibilities may shift, leaving the back end vulnerable to API path traversal exploits and exposing sensitive data.

Ideally, each query should only return data the user can access. 

But this is easy to forget, and any error at any stage allows users unauthorized access to sensitive information. This is common when adding a GraphQL layer to an existing REST API. 

If attackers obtain a valid access token, such as a session cookie, they could hijack sessions, especially with intricate single sign-on setups. Misconfigurations might enable intercepting tokens via redirects or reading them from server logs.

How can this vulnerability be prevented?

Generate a unique token and validate it for each user session. 

Define and enforce user roles and permissions.

This will require users to provide multiple forms of identification, such as passwords, OTPs, and/or biometric data.

Insecure design patterns can be avoided by diligently planning threat modeling, proactive vulnerability management, tried-and-true architectural patterns, and SDLC.

4. Insufficient input/ output validation

Applications that do not perform sufficient data validation, risk SQL injection, common injection, or cross-site scripting attacks are vulnerable to this threat.

How can hackers exploit this vulnerability?

Insufficient input/output validation arises when it needs to validate and sanitize user inputs and outputs effectively. In essence, if the app doesn't rigorously inspect and filter the data it receives from users and returns to them, it becomes susceptible to various attacks.

How can this vulnerability be prevented?

Enforce strict input validation by clearly defining and adhering to appropriate data formats. Employ input validation libraries and frameworks to detect and filter out malicious inputs automatically.

These are SQL queries in which placeholders are used for input values rather than directly inserting the values into the query string. The placeholders are then replaced with the actual values using query execution, helping prevent SQL injection. 

Encode or escape potentially dangerous characters in the application's output before sending it to the user’s browser. This prevents attackers from injecting malicious scripts or content into web pages. 

It involves specifying acceptable data inputs, allowing only approved values. Data whitelisting filters user inputs, permitting only predefined values and enhancing security. 

5. Insecure communication

This vulnerability commonly occurs in mobile apps interacting with servers and external services. Without robust encryption and security measures like TLS/ SSL, attackers can exploit these weaknesses through eavesdropping and man-in-the-middle attacks, compromising data integrity and confidentiality.

How can hackers exploit this vulnerability?

In this phase, attackers will intercept traffic before it reaches its destination. They can attack using IP spoofing, ARP spoofing, or DNS spoofing.

Once a data stream has been intercepted, decryption begins. The goal is to decrypt without raising concerns. The attacker can use HTTPS spoofing, SSL Beast, SSL Hijacking, and SSL Stripping.

How can this vulnerability be prevented?

HTTPS encrypts data during transit, and TLS ensures end-to-end encryption, preventing eavesdropping and data tampering. 

This will help you validate the authenticity of your server’s SSL certificate. 

Implement robust authentication mechanisms for APIs, such as API keys, OAuth tokens, and other methods. 

6. Inadequate privacy controls

Inadequate privacy controls mean there aren’t enough security measures, such as strong encryption, access controls, session management, consent methods, etc., to keep user and other confidential information safe. 

How can hackers exploit this vulnerability?

Hackers can bypass authorization mechanisms, gain unauthorized access to resources, or manipulate object references by tampering with parameters in URLs or API requests. 

Weak or improperly implemented cryptographic functions may render encryption ineffective, allowing hackers to decrypt sensitive data.

This might occur due to outdated encryption algorithms, improper key management, or insufficient entropy in generating cryptographic keys. 

Source code comments, debug information, or version control metadata may expose sensitive information about the app’s functionality or data structures. 

The lack of CSRF protection in the source code enables attackers to trick authenticated users into performing unauthorized actions that compromise privacy controls. 

Storing sensitive information such as passwords and personally identifiable information in plaintext or insecurely encrypted formats can result in data leakage. 

Weak authentication measures such as hard-coded or default credentials can facilitate unauthorized access to critical data. 

Poorly configured network architecture and inadequate segmentation increase the attack surface and allow lateral movement for attackers.

If regular updates and patches are not conducted, the system could be exposed to vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit. 

How can this vulnerability be prevented?

Train your developers on secure coding practices and regularly conduct code reviews and static code analysis to identify and remediate security flaws in the source code. 

Adopt data minimization principles to collect and retain only the minimum necessary data. Data anonymization helps to anonymize sensitive data through tokenization and hashing to reduce exposure in case of a breach. 

Install and configure IDPS to monitor network traffic and detect unauthorized access or malicious activities. Integrating IDPS with centralized logging and monitoring systems helps provide comprehensive visibility into security events and incidents. 

Implement centralized identity management solutions to streamline the organization's user authentication and authorization processes.

Implement robust encryption algorithms (eg, AES-256) to encrypt sensitive data stored on servers, databases, and storage devices.

7. Insufficient binary protections

This vulnerability exposes the application to a spectrum of risks, potentially compromising the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the application.

How can hackers exploit this vulnerability?

Without proper protections like stack canaries or address space layout randomization, hackers can overwrite crucial data, inject malicious code, and gain control of the program’s execution flow. 

Insufficient protections, such as a non-executable stack or data execution prevention, make it easier for attackers to construct ROP chains, bypass security mechanisms, and execute arbitrary code. 

The lack of format string protections enables hackers to manipulate memory content, leak sensitive information, or overwrite data. 

Heap spraying, double-free vulnerabilities, and/or use-after-free can be leveraged to corrupt heap data structure, manipulate memory allocations, and execute arbitrary code.

Without checks, attackers can manipulate integer calculations to control program behavior.

Hackers can inject rogue DLLs into the process address space without checks, enabling them to hijack program execution. 

Without control flow integrity, attacks can bypass control flow restrictions and achieve arbitrary code execution using ROP chains. 

How can this vulnerability be prevented?

It obscures program logic and structure by adding complexity, making reverse engineering and exploitation challenging. 

It applies techniques such as stack canaries, Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR), Data Execution Prevention (DEP), and control flow integrity.

8. Security misconfigurations

Common security misconfigurations occur as a result of leaving default settings unchanged. These are considered the top cloud vulnerabilities. 

How can hackers exploit this vulnerability?

Hackers can easily search for devices or systems with default credentials and exploit such devices.

Hackers can scan for open ports and services using tools like Nmap and exploit them to gain unauthorized access. 

Attackers can upload malicious scripts to compromise the system if a web server is misconfigured to allow read or write access to critical system files. 

How can this vulnerability be prevented?

Utilize centralized configuration management tools to manage and enforce security configurations across multiple systems. 

Isolate critical systems and sensitive data from less secure network parts. 

Grant users and processes only the minimum level of access required to keep things running smoothly. 

9. Insecure data storage

Device file systems are no longer contained within a sandboxed environment, and rooting or jailbreaking often bypasses existing protections. Not storing data properly will open your systems to vulnerabilities. 

Insecure data storage vulnerabilities occur when developers assume that malicious actors will not have access to your file systems and sensitive information. 

However, filesystems are easily accessible. Poor encryption libraries make it easy for malicious actors to view application data via rooting or jailbreaking techniques. 

In mobile development, data leaks are most seen in undocumented or under-documented internal processes such as: 

• How does the OS cache data, key presses, logging, and buffers?
• How the development framework caches data, images, key presses, logging, and buffers?
• The way or amount of data ad, analytic, social, or enablement frameworks cache data, images, key-presses, logging, and buffers.

How can hackers exploit this vulnerability?

Hackers exploit insecure data storage by leveraging techniques such as SQL injection, where they insert malicious SQL queries into input fields to manipulate database commands and extract sensitive information. 

They can also exploit vulnerabilities in file permissions and encryption weaknesses or bypass access controls to compromise stored data integrity and confidentiality.

How can this vulnerability be prevented?

• Employ strict input validation to block SQL injection attempts. 
• Utilize parameterized queries or stored procedures to sanitize user inputs. 
• Implement robust access controls and encryption mechanisms and regularly update software to patch known vulnerabilities. 
  

10. Insufficient cryptography

This vulnerability can result in weak encryption keys, easily guessable passwords, and/or an inability to implement proper encryption. 

How can hackers exploit this vulnerability?

Hackers exploit insufficient cryptography vulnerabilities by leveraging weak encryption algorithms, predictable key generation, or flawed implementation. They can intercept and decrypt sensitive data, manipulate transactions, or inject malicious code. 

Inadequate cryptographic protocols allow attackers to bypass security measures, gain unauthorized access to systems, and compromise data confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity, posing severe risks to organizations and individuals.

How can this vulnerability be prevented?

Preventing insufficient cryptography vulnerabilities demands strict adherence to cryptographic best practices. 

• Employ robust encryption standards like AES-256 or RSA with ample key lengths to resist brute-force attacks. 
• Ensure secure key generation methods and storage, such as Hardware Security Modules (HSMs). 
• Implement trusted cryptographic algorithms and libraries, following industry standards like NIST SP 800-57. 
• Regularly audit cryptographic protocols and 
• Promptly address any identified weaknesses to fortify defenses against potential exploits.

How can Appknox help?

Manually identifying security gaps based on the OWASP list is challenging and time-consuming. 

Appknox, an automated vulnerability assessment tool, swiftly detects and tracks potential vulnerabilities, generating detailed CVSS reports. These reports provide actionable remediation notes, enabling security teams to promptly address risks and ensure adherence to the highest security standards. 

Our test cases have been mapped to the latest guidelines released by OWASP for mobile application security. This will make it easier for you to match all your compliances.

Furthermore, Appknox’s binary-based SBOM scans your app's files and libraries to build an inventory of all frameworks, libraries, components, and code licenses. This inventory and all vulnerabilities in your supply chain are packaged into an easy-to-read report. 

With Appknox’s binary-based SBOM, you can:

• Get increased visibility into your build,
• Identify outdated versions of licenses and libraries,
• Detect component-level vulnerabilities and
• Detect the relevance of all components

You can also easily view all past SBOM analyses, understand how your mobile application’s supply chain security has improved, and analyze any repeat vulnerabilities. 

Assessing OWASP compliance requires thorough scrutiny, which manual assessments often overlook. Appknox’s automated vulnerability assessment tool offers a comprehensive view of risks, providing scores after detailed evaluations. 

With Appknox, you can now proactively identify application security weaknesses, effectively mitigate potential breaches and data leaks, and safeguard your applications against evolving security threats. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, everyone should focus on OWASP. It provides a holistic list of all types of web and mobile applications’ security risks and vulnerabilities. 

The OWASP Mobile Top 10 is a comprehensive list of the most critical security risks specific to mobile applications. It guides developers and testers to ensure their mobile apps are secure for public usage. 

OWASP mobile security is a set of practices, guidelines, and tools provided by OWASP that are specifically tailored to address security concerns and threats to mobile applications. It includes 

• Securing mobile apps, 
• Authentication, 
• Authorization, 
• Data storage, 
• Communication security, 
• Secure coding practices and 
• Vulnerability management. 

OWASP stands for the Open Web Application Security Project. OWASP is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the security of web and mobile applications through community-led initiatives, resources, and detailed guides.

The latest version of the OWASP mobile top 10 is the update released in 2024, which includes the following vulnerabilities: 

• Improper Credential Usage
• Inadequate Supply Chain Security
• Insecure Authentication/Authorization
• Insufficient Input/Output Validation
• Insecure Communication
• Inadequate Privacy Controls
• Insufficient Binary Protections
• Security Misconfigurations
• Insecure Data Storage
• Insufficient Cryptography.