What is the OWASP Top 10?

Question

Accepted Answer

The **OWASP Top 10** is a widely-recognized list of the **most critical web application security risks**, published by OWASP (Open Worldwide Application Security Project). It's an essential awareness resource for understanding the common vulnerabilities developers must defend against.

## What the OWASP Top 10 is

```text
A regularly-updated list of the TOP 10 most critical web app security risks:
  → based on real-world data and expert consensus
  → a standard AWARENESS document — the baseline of vulnerabilities to know and prevent
  → not exhaustive, but the most important/common risks to address first
```

## The categories (recent OWASP Top 10)

```text
1. BROKEN ACCESS CONTROL → users accessing what they shouldn't (authorization flaws)
2. CRYPTOGRAPHIC FAILURES → weak/missing encryption; exposed sensitive data
3. INJECTION → SQL injection, command injection (untrusted input as code/queries)
4. INSECURE DESIGN → security flaws in the design itself
5. SECURITY MISCONFIGURATION → insecure defaults, exposed settings, verbose errors
6. VULNERABLE/OUTDATED COMPONENTS → using libraries with known vulnerabilities
7. AUTHENTICATION FAILURES → weak auth, broken session management
8. DATA INTEGRITY FAILURES → insecure deserialization, untrusted updates (supply chain)
9. LOGGING/MONITORING FAILURES → can't detect/respond to attacks
10. SSRF → server-side request forgery (server tricked into making requests)
```

## Why it's valuable

```text
✓ A prioritized CHECKLIST of what to defend against (the most common/critical risks)
✓ Common LANGUAGE for discussing app security; widely referenced in industry
✓ Educational — learn the major vulnerability classes and how to prevent them
→ A foundational reference for any developer/team building secure web apps.
```

## Why it matters

Understanding the OWASP Top 10 is valuable because it's the **standard reference for the most critical web application security risks**, providing essential awareness of the vulnerabilities developers must defend against, so it's foundational security knowledge.

The OWASP Top 10 — a regularly-updated, data-driven list of the top web application security risks — serves as the **baseline of vulnerabilities every developer building web apps should know**, representing the most common and critical risks to address.

Understanding the **categories** — including **broken access control** (authorization flaws), **injection** (SQL injection and similar, a classic and dangerous class), **cryptographic failures** (weak encryption, exposed data), **security misconfiguration**, **vulnerable/outdated components** (using libraries with known vulnerabilities), **authentication failures**, and the others — gives developers awareness of the major vulnerability classes and what to defend against.

This awareness is foundational because you can't prevent vulnerabilities you don't know about, and the OWASP Top 10 covers the ones most likely to cause real breaches.

Understanding **why it's valuable** — as a prioritized checklist of what to defend against, a common language for discussing security, and an educational resource for learning vulnerability classes — reflects its role as a foundational industry reference.

The OWASP Top 10 is widely referenced in security discussions, training, and standards, making familiarity with it a baseline expectation for security-conscious developers.

Since web application security requires defending against common, critical vulnerabilities and the OWASP Top 10 is the standard reference identifying them (broken access control, injection, crypto failures, etc.), and since understanding it provides essential awareness of what to prevent, understanding the OWASP Top 10 is valuable, foundational security knowledge — the standard awareness reference for web application security risks, essential for knowing the major vulnerabilities to defend against, and a baseline for any developer or team building secure applications, frequently referenced in industry and security education.