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

GSOC2017 Ideas

From OWASP
Revision as of 15:28, 16 January 2017 by Claudia casanovas (talk | contribs)

Jump to: navigation, search

=OWASP Project Requests= SAMPLE ENTRY

Tips to get you started in no particular order:

* Read the GSoC SAT
* Check the Hackademic wiki page linked above
* Contact us through the mailing list or irc channel.
* Check our github repository and especially the open tickets


OWASP Hackademic Challenges

OWASP Hackademic Challenges Project helps you test your knowledge on web application security. You can use it to actually attack web applications in a realistic but also controllable and safe environment. After a wonderfull 2014 GSoC with 100 new challenges and a couple of new plugins we're mainly looking to get new features in and maybe a couple of challenges. Bellow is a list of proposed features.

REST API for the sandbox

Brief Explanation:

During the last summer code sprint Hackademic got challenge sandboxing in the form of vagrant and docker wrappers as well as an engine to start and stop the container or vm instances. What is needed now is a rest api which supports endpoint authentication and authorization which enables the sandbox engine to be completely independed from the rest of the project.

Ideas on the project: Since the sandbox is written in python, you will be using Django to implement the api. The endpoint authorization can be done via certificates or plain signature or username/password type authentication. We would like to see what's your idea on the matter. However the communication between the two has to be over a secure channel.

Expected Results:

  • A REST style api which allows an authenticated remote entity control the parts of the sandbox engine it has access to.
  • PEP8 compliant code
  • Acceptable unit test coverage

Getting started: Since this has been a popular project here's a suggestion on how to get started.

  • Check the excellent work done by mebjas and a0xnirudh in their respective brances in the project's repository
  • Take a brief look at the code and try to get a feeling of the functionality included. (Essentially it's CRUD operations on vms or containers)
  • Read on what Docker and Vagrant are and take a look at their respective py-libraries
  • If you think that contributing helps perhaps it would be a good idea to start with lettuce tests on the current CRUD operations of the existing functionality(which won't change and can eventually be ported to the final project)

Knowledge Prerequisites: Python, test driven development, some idea what REST is, some security knowledge would be preferable.

Mentors: Konstantinos PapapanagiotouSpyros Gasteratos - Hackademic Challenges Project Leaders

New CMS

Brief Explanation:

The CMS part of the project is really old and has accumulated a significant amount of technical debt. In addition many design decisions are either outdated or could be improved. Therefore it may be a good idea to leverage the power of modern web frameworks to create a new CMS. The new cms can be written in python using Django.

Expected Results:

  • New cms with same functionality as the old one (3 types of users -- student, teacher, admin--, 3 types of resources -- article challenge, class--, ACL type permissions, CRUD operations on every resource/user, all functionality can be extended by Plugins.
  • REST endpoints in addition to classic ones
  • tests covering all routes implemented, also complete ACL unit tests, it would be embarassing if a cms by OWASP has rights vulnerabilities.
  • PEP 8 code

Note: This is a huge project, it is ok if the student implements a part of it. However whatever implemented must be up to spec. If you decide to take on this project contact us and we can agree on a list of routes. If you don't decide to take on this project contact us. Generally contact us, we like it when students have insightful questions and the community is active


Getting Started:

  • Install and take a brief look around the old cms so you have an idea of the functionality needed
  • It's ok to scream in frustration
  • If you want to contribute to get a feeling of the platform a good idea would be lettuce tests for the current functionality (which won't change and you can port in the new cms eventually)

Knowledge Prerequisites: Python, Django, what REST is, the technologies used, some security knowledge would be nice.

Mentors: Konstantinos PapapanagiotouSpyros Gasteratos - Hackademic Challenges Project Leaders

First Course Type Challenge

Brief Explanation: We have a wonderful sandbox engine which allows for complex guided challenges to be implemented. We'd like to build a challenge that guides the user through a series of steps to an end goal and teaches more information on the subject matter on the way. This is a very open-ended project on purpose to allow creative student to come up with nice ideas. Bellow you will find some examples that we thought might be interesting.

Ideas on the project:

  • Purposefully vulnerable web page that guides the user via javascript tooltips and hints to exploiting it using ZAP. ( Bonus: using ZAP via the ZAP api). The challenge is solved when the the student submits the contents of a text file located on the disk (obtained by exploited an RCE)
  • Reversing a provided binary to extract information by providing step by step instructions to reversing using any popular reversing tool (well, you can't use IDA so gdb should have to do). Challenge is solved when the keys are extracted from the binary and submitted. Bonus points if each binary donwloaded has different keys.
  • Guide to exploiting the TOP10. (Using ZAP?)
  • Defensive Type challenges -- Here's how to create a patch for this kind of vulnerability -- Challenge is solved when the unit tests are run and the vulnerability isn't there.

Getting started

  • Check popular javascript guide tools such as: (http://introjs.com/ and http://github.hubspot.com/shepherd/docs/welcome/ )
  • If you're more interested in system or non-web challenges check serverspec and definitely check quest (https://github.com/puppetlabs/quest)
  • If you think contributing is a good idea to make yourself familiar with the project you can either port one of the existing simpler 1-page challenges to a docker container and submit a pull request or write a guide on how to create such a challenge

Expected Results:

  • One or more Course - style challenges provided either as a docker container or as a vagrant box.
  • Concrete documentation on how to build a challenge like this.

Knowledge Prerequisites: The technologies used.


Mentors: Konstantinos PapapanagiotouSpyros Gasteratos - Hackademic Challenges Project Leaders

Advanced Sandboxed Challenges

Brief Explanation:

In the spirit of the challenges above, we're looking for true ctf type challenges. This is an open ended task. We're expecting awesome fresh ideas.

Ideas on the project:

  • An application vulnerable to one or more TOP 10 elements.
  • A logic flaws based ctf
  • Your idea here

Getting started:

  • Check what Vagrant/Docker is
  • Port one simple 1-page challenge (you can use one we already have ) to docker or vagrant

Expected Results: Docker containers or Vagrant boxes that contain complete new challenges.


Knowledge Prerequisites: Knowledge of the technologies used


Mentors: Konstantinos PapapanagiotouSpyros Gasteratos - Hackademic Challenges Project Leaders

Your idea

Brief Explanation:

Amazing students, in our experience, the best, most creative and unique ideas show up when we let students suggest their own feature in relation to the project. The above should give you a general idea where we're going but don't let them constrain you. Do you wanna do something that would fit into Hackademic? Send us an email!

Ideas on the project: No idea, that's your turn to shine!

Getting started

  • Be awesome
  • Have an idea
  • Be a student
  • Explain definite proof of the p vs np solution(jk, an algorithm that breaks RSA in polynomial time would be totally acceptable)

Expected Results: If it's code, code according to our coding standards. If it's challenges, something new and interesting. If it's something else, then written like the person who's going to maintain your code is a raging psychopath with an axe who knows where you live.

In short we'd like some quality. ;-)


Knowledge Prerequisites:

Mentors: Konstantinos PapapanagiotouSpyros Gasteratos - Hackademic Challenges Project Leaders