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CAPEC-102

Session Sidejacking

High severityHigh likelihoodDetailed pattern

Session sidejacking takes advantage of an unencrypted communication channel between a victim and target system. The attacker sniffs traffic on a network looking for session tokens in unencrypted traffic. Once a session token is captured, the attacker performs malicious actions by using the stolen token with the targeted application to impersonate the victim. This attack is a specific method of session hijacking, which is exploiting a valid session token to gain unauthorized access to a target system or information. Other methods to perform a session hijacking are session fixation, cross-site scripting, or compromising a user or server machine and stealing the session token.

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Show the promptExplain the attack pattern CAPEC-102: Session Sidejacking: how it unfolds, what it needs and how to prevent and detect it in my systems. Use https://capec.mitre.org/data/definitions/102.html and https://cve.bz/cve/capec/102?via=ask-ai-copy, which lists recent CVEs with the weaknesses it exploits. Cite the sources.

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How the attack unfolds

  1. Explore

    The attacker looks for a way in.

    1. [Detect Unprotected Session Token Transfer] The attacker sniffs on the wireless network to detect unencrypted traffic that contains session tokens.

      1 technique
      • The attacker uses a network sniffer tool like ferret or hamster to monitor the wireless traffic at a WiFi hotspot while examining it for evidence of transmittal of session tokens in unencrypted or recognizably encrypted form. An attacker applies their knowledge of the manner by which session tokens are generated and transmitted by various target systems to identify the session tokens.

  2. Experiment

    They probe what they found.

    1. [Capture session token] The attacker uses sniffing tools to capture a session token from traffic.

    2. [Insert captured session token] The attacker attempts to insert a captured session token into communication with the targeted application to confirm viability for exploitation.

  3. Exploit

    They carry out the attack.

    1. [Session Token Exploitation] The attacker leverages the captured session token to interact with the targeted application in a malicious fashion, impersonating the victim.

Prerequisites

  • An attacker and the victim are both using the same WiFi network.

  • The victim has an active session with a target system.

  • The victim is not using a secure channel to communicate with the target system (e.g. SSL, VPN, etc.)

  • The victim initiated communication with a target system that requires transfer of the session token or the target application uses AJAX and thereby periodically "rings home" asynchronously using the session token

Skills required

  • Low skill

    Easy to use tools exist to automate this attack.

Resources required

  • A packet sniffing tool, such as wireshark, can be used to capture session information.

Consequences

What a successful attack can lead to
ImpactAffectsNote
Gain PrivilegesConfidentiality, Access Control, Authorization
Modify DataIntegrity
Read DataConfidentiality
Unreliable ExecutionAvailability

Mitigations

  • Make sure that HTTPS is used to communicate with the target system. Alternatively, use VPN if possible. It is important to ensure that all communication between the client and the server happens via an encrypted secure channel.

  • Modify the session token with each transmission and protect it with cryptography. Add the idea of request sequencing that gives the server an ability to detect replay attacks.

Weaknesses it exploits

  • CWE-294 Authentication Bypass by Capture-replay
  • CWE-319 Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information
  • CWE-522 Insufficiently Protected Credentials
  • CWE-523 Unprotected Transport of Credentials
  • CWE-614 Sensitive Cookie in HTTPS Session Without 'Secure' Attribute

Recent CVEs with these weaknesses

  1. –CVE-2026-97867

    The EJBd remote protocol returns datasource connection details, including database credentials, to remote clients that look up a datasource. A remote client able to reach the EJBd endpoint can obtain the database credentials and connect to…

  2. 6.8CVE-2026-18128

    Cleartext transmission of sensitive information in the Agent of Ivanti Endpoint Manager before version 2024 SU8 allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to in a MITM position to read and modify HTTP traffic.

  3. 6.0CVE-2026-89125

    Due to Insecure Storage of Sensitive Information in SAP Web Dispatcher and Internet Communication Manager, an attacker with administrative privileges could obtain sensitive information from stored data. This may allow correlation of creden…

  4. 8.9CVE-2026-76966

    Due to improper RFC protocol validation in the SAP Kernel used by the Application Server ABAP of SAP NetWeaver and ABAP Platform, an unauthenticated attacker can send a crafted RFC request that exploits logical errors in memory management,…

  5. 10.0CVE-2026-124600

    GV-Face transmits sensitive user credentials and related authentication data over unencrypted HTTP connections. The HTTP traffic is not encrypted, an attacker with the ability to intercept network traffic.

  6. 7.4CVE-2026-123801

    SuperTokens Core is an open source authentication server. From 11.3.0 until 11.3.8, 11.4.8, 12.0.11, 12.1.2, 12.2.1, and 12.3.1, SAML.handleCallback does not consume RelayState, record assertion identifiers, or enforce Response.InResponseT…

  7. 7.1CVE-2026-115340

    Progress Software WS_FTP Server versions prior to 2025.0.5 on Windows may write sensitive user credential and session data to a temporary file during file transfer operations.

  8. 8.1CVE-2026-115338

    Insufficient protection of communications in Progress WS_FTP Server versions prior to 2025.0.5 could allow a network attacker to intercept sensitive information or modify requests when unencrypted connections are used.

The newest records naming one of them. Each weakness's page lists them all.

Part of

Examples

The attacker and the victim are using the same WiFi public hotspot. When the victim connects to the hotspot, …

The attacker and the victim are using the same WiFi public hotspot. When the victim connects to the hotspot, they has a hosted e-mail account open. This e-mail account uses AJAX on the client side which periodically asynchronously connects to the server side and transfers, amongst other things, the user's session token to the server. The communication is supposed to happen over HTTPS. However, the configuration in the public hotspot initially disallows the HTTPS connection (or any other connection) between the victim and the hosted e-mail servers because the victim first needs to register with the hotspot. The victim does so, but their e-mail client already defaulted to using a connection without HTTPS, since it was denied access the first time. Victim's session token is now flowing unencrypted between the victim's browser and the hosted e-mail servers. The attacker leverages this opportunity to capture the session token and gain access to the victim's hosted e-mail account.

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