Understanding Prototype Pollution: Risks and Prevention

An In-Depth Look at the Threats and Solutions to Prototype Pollution | Karthikeyan Nagaraj

In recent years, prototype pollution has become a prevalent and significant threat to web applications. Prototype pollution refers to the ability of attackers to modify the prototype of an object, which can lead to severe security vulnerabilities. It is essential to understand what prototype pollution is, its potential risks, and how to prevent it.

What is Prototype Pollution?

• It is a JavaScript vulnerability that enables an attacker to add arbitrary properties to global object prototypes, which may then be inherited by user-defined objects.
• Prototype pollution is a vulnerability that arises when attackers can modify the prototype of an object in a way that affects other instances of that object.
• Prototypes are objects that contain default properties and methods that other objects inherit.
• When an attacker modifies the prototype of an object, the changes propagate throughout the code, leading to unexpected and potentially dangerous behavior.

Potential Risks of Prototype Pollution: