This site is the archived OWASP Foundation Wiki and is no longer accepting Account Requests.
To view the new OWASP Foundation website, please visit https://owasp.org
Difference between revisions of "Web Application Firewall"
(→Description: Adding clarifying info comparing with proxies and reverse proxies. Source: http://security.stackexchange.com/a/93847/5997) |
|||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
=Description= | =Description= | ||
+ | A '''web application firewall (WAF)''' is an appliance, server plugin, or filter that applies a set of rules to an HTTP conversation. Generally, these rules cover common attacks such as [[Cross-site Scripting (XSS)|cross-site scripting (XSS)]] and [[SQL Injection|SQL injection]]. | ||
− | A web application | + | A WAF differs from a proxy in that proxies protect clients, while WAFs protect servers. A WAF is deployed to protect a specific web application or set of web applications. A WAF can be considered a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_proxy reverse proxy]. |
− | A far more detailed description is available at [ | + | WAFs may be customized to an application. The effort to perform this customization can be significant and needs to be maintained as the application is modified. |
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | A far more detailed description is available at [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_firewall Wikipedia]. | ||
= OWASP Projects = | = OWASP Projects = |
Revision as of 23:16, 18 October 2016
Description
A web application firewall (WAF) is an appliance, server plugin, or filter that applies a set of rules to an HTTP conversation. Generally, these rules cover common attacks such as cross-site scripting (XSS) and SQL injection.
A WAF differs from a proxy in that proxies protect clients, while WAFs protect servers. A WAF is deployed to protect a specific web application or set of web applications. A WAF can be considered a reverse proxy.
WAFs may be customized to an application. The effort to perform this customization can be significant and needs to be maintained as the application is modified.
A far more detailed description is available at Wikipedia.
OWASP Projects
- The OWASP ModSecurity CRS Project's goal is to provide an easily "pluggable" set of generic attack detection rules that provide a base level of protection for any web application.
- Consider the Web Application Firewall Evaluation Criteria Project (WAFEC) to help evaluate commercial and open source web application firewalls.