Authentication Bypass

What is Authentication Bypass?

Authentication bypass is a security vulnerability that allows an attacker to gain unauthorized access to a system or application without providing valid credentials. This can happen due to flaws in the authentication mechanism, misconfigurations, or logic errors in the application.

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Common Methods of Authentication Bypass:

1. SQL Injection – Injecting malicious SQL queries to bypass login mechanisms (e.g., using ' OR '1'='1 to bypass authentication).

2. Broken Access Controls – Directly accessing restricted URLs or APIs without authentication.

3. Weak Session Management – Using stolen or predictable session tokens to impersonate legitimate users.

4. Brute Force Attacks – Exploiting weak passwords or lack of account lockout policies.

5. Path Traversal – Manipulating file paths to access sensitive authentication files.

6. Flawed Logic in Authentication – Skipping authentication checks due to poor implementation (e.g., manipulating request parameters).

7. JWT or Token Manipulation – Modifying JSON Web Tokens (JWTs) or other authentication tokens if they are weakly signed or stored insecurely.