Reliance on HTTP instead of HTTPS
This vulnerability occurs when an application uses unencrypted HTTP connections instead of the secure HTTPS alternative, even when HTTPS is available.
Using HTTP exposes all data transmitted between the client and server, including sensitive information like login credentials, session tokens, and personal data. Attackers can easily intercept, read, or modify this unencrypted traffic through man-in-the-middle attacks, leading to data breaches, account hijacking, and content manipulation. HTTPS solves this by encrypting communications with TLS/SSL, ensuring confidentiality and integrity. Since HTTPS is a universally supported and standard security practice, there is no technical justification for relying on plain HTTP for any part of a modern application that handles user data or requires trust.
Impact: Read Application DataModify Application Data
HTTP can be subjected to attacks against confidentiality (by reading cleartext packets); integrity (by modifying sessions); and authenticity (by compromising servers and/or clients using cache poisoning, phishing, or other attacks that enable attackers to spoof a legitimate entity in the communication channel).