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Protect Web Sites Against Cross-Site Scripting

A Cross Site Scripting (CSS) attack can occur when the input text from the browser (typically, data from a post or data from query parameters on a URL) is displayed by an application without being filtered for characters that may form a valid, executable script when displayed at the browser.

An attack URL can be presented to unsuspecting users. When a user clicks on the URL, an application may return a display to the browser that includes the input characters, along with an error message about bad parameters on the query string. The display of these parameters at the browser can lead to an unwanted script being executed on the browser.

For example, when a user types news into a search engine web page, the application normally might return a blank field, or a response, such as:

Your search for news returned the following:

In response to an attack URL, the browser might receive a response, such as:

news<script>BadProgram</script>

The BadCSSChars parameter does not interpret the double quotation mark (") if it is entered as an ASCII character. To include the double quotation mark as a bad cross-site scripting character, enter the hexidecimal equivalent of the ASCII character, which is %22. For example:

BadCSSChars="%22"


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