What are file upload threats?

File upload threats refer to deliberate attempts, orchestrated by malicious client-side actors (i.e., hackers), to exploit our systems from the inside out by weaponizing common files in various ways. The incentive to execute such attacks is largely driven by an increase in the adoption of file upload processes by professional websites around the world.

File upload threats can be used to target a wide range of vulnerabilities in a file upload process. JSON or XML files can, for example, contain malicious code designed to be executed by poorly configured data parsers, allowing attackers to subsequently retrieve or delete sensitive data from within a system. PDF files can house dormant viruses and malware which infect client-side user devices once downloaded, leaving the website they originated from directly accountable and seriously damaging their reputation. Zip files can be rigged with exceptionally high volumes of data in order to crash (or severely limit) our system once they're opened, resulting in a sudden Denial of Service (DoS). The list goes on.

How do I protect my application against file upload threats?

There isn’t any one-track answer to this question, unfortunately. There are, however, a variety of sensible security policies which, applied together, can collectively create a formidable content security phalanx for any application. Below, we’ll look at a few of the most critical, rudimentary policies which can help secure any file upload process.

First and foremost, it’s critical to validate file extensions immediately after file names are decoded, which is a process made simpler by restricting accepted file extensions in the first place. While myriad file types are used around the world, most businesses only need to accept a few common file types to fulfill the needs of the service they’re providing. A recruitment website, for example, can comfortably limit CV (resume) uploads to .DOCX or .PDF file extensions without inconveniencing their user base, and a social media site can narrow its image uploads to .JPG or .PNG with similar effect.

It's equally important to validate file contents, too. Files with valid, expected extensions can quietly contain a very wide range of malicious content, including anything from viruses and malware to illicit (i.e., pornographic) material. As outlined above, poorly validated files can also contain massive quantities of inert data intended to bypass limited security checks and crash a system. Without digging into the contents of every new file upload, an application is at severe risk of releasing a virus internally (or infecting an external user device), distributing unsolicited illicit content, or triggering widespread service outages which might violate its SLA (Service Level Agreement).

How can the Cloudmersive Advanced Virus Scanning API Protect my system against file upload threats?

By combining multiple critical file upload security policies in a single API call with high-speed, in-memory scanning and sub-second response times, the Advanced Virus Scanning API protects applications against file uploads with unparalleled efficiency. This API is designed to provide 360-degree content protection against a wide range of file upload threats at once - including viruses and malware, executables, invalid files, HTML and scripts, password protected files, macros, XML external entities, JSON insecure deserialization, and OLE (Object linking and embedding). In the core virus scanning process, a perpetually cloud-updated list of more than 17 million virus and malware signatures is referenced to rapidly identify any potential viruses, malware, trojans, ransomware, or spyware embedded within a file’s encoding.

Apart from virus and malware checks, each built-in threat restriction stated above can be lifted by configuring the API’s request parameters with custom Boolean values (for example, to allow executables, the allowExecutables parameter can be set to “True”). Additionally, restrictions on unwanted file types can be placed upon any file upload process by providing a list of acceptable file types in comma-separated format. Once a list is designated in the API request, all file extensions AND contents will be verified against this list; any files which violate the file restriction policy will categorically receive a CleanResult: False response from the API.

For more information about Cloudmersive Virus Scan APIs (low-code and no-code products), please do not hesitate to reach out to a member of our sales team.