# XS-Search/XS-Leaks
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## Basic Information XS-Search is a method used for **extracting cross-origin information** by leveraging **side channel vulnerabilities**. Key components involved in this attack include: * **Vulnerable Web**: The target website from which information is intended to be extracted. * **Attacker's Web**: The malicious website created by the attacker, which the victim visits, hosting the exploit. * **Inclusion Method**: The technique employed to incorporate the Vulnerable Web into the Attacker's Web (e.g., window.open, iframe, fetch, HTML tag with href, etc.). * **Leak Technique**: Techniques used to discern differences in the state of the Vulnerable Web based on information gathered through the inclusion method. * **States**: The two potential conditions of the Vulnerable Web, which the attacker aims to distinguish. * **Detectable Differences**: Observable variations that the attacker relies on to infer the state of the Vulnerable Web. ### Detectable Differences Several aspects can be analyzed to differentiate the states of the Vulnerable Web: * **Status Code**: Distinguishing between **various HTTP response status codes** cross-origin, like server errors, client errors, or authentication errors. * **API Usage**: Identifying **usage of Web APIs** across pages, revealing whether a cross-origin page employs a specific JavaScript Web API. * **Redirects**: Detecting navigations to different pages, not just HTTP redirects but also those triggered by JavaScript or HTML. * **Page Content**: Observing **variations in the HTTP response body** or in page sub-resources, such as the **number of embedded frames** or size disparities in images. * **HTTP Header**: Noting the presence or possibly the value of a **specific HTTP response header**, including headers like X-Frame-Options, Content-Disposition, and Cross-Origin-Resource-Policy. * **Timing**: Noticing consistent time disparities between the two states. ### Inclusion Methods * **HTML Elements**: HTML offers various elements for **cross-origin resource inclusion**, like stylesheets, images, or scripts, compelling the browser to request a non-HTML resource. A compilation of potential HTML elements for this purpose can be found at [https://github.com/cure53/HTTPLeaks](https://github.com/cure53/HTTPLeaks). * **Frames**: Elements such as **iframe**, **object**, and **embed** can embed HTML resources directly into the attacker's page. If the page **lacks framing protection**, JavaScript can access the framed resource’s window object via the contentWindow property. * **Pop-ups**: The **`window.open`** method opens a resource in a new tab or window, providing a **window handle** for JavaScript to interact with methods and properties following the SOP. Pop-ups, often used in single sign-on, circumvent framing and cookie restrictions of a target resource. However, modern browsers restrict pop-up creation to certain user actions. * **JavaScript Requests**: JavaScript permits direct requests to target resources using **XMLHttpRequests** or the **Fetch API**. These methods offer precise control over the request, like opting to follow HTTP redirects. ### Leak Techniques * **Event Handler**: A classical leak technique in XS-Leaks, where event handlers like **onload** and **onerror** provide insights about resource loading success or failure. * **Error Messages**: JavaScript exceptions or special error pages can provide leak information either directly from the error message or by differentiating between its presence and absence. * **Global Limits**: Physical limitations of a browser, like memory capacity or other enforced browser limits, can signal when a threshold is reached, serving as a leak technique. * **Global State**: Detectable interactions with browsers' **global states** (e.g., the History interface) can be exploited. For instance, the **number of entries** in a browser's history can offer clues about cross-origin pages. * **Performance API**: This API provides **performance details of the current page**, including network timing for the document and loaded resources, enabling inferences about requested resources. * **Readable Attributes**: Some HTML attributes are **readable cross-origin** and can be used as a leak technique. For instance, the `window.frame.length` property allows JavaScript to count the frames included in a webpage cross-origin. ## XSinator Tool & Paper XSinator is an automatic tool to **check browsers against several know XS-Leaks** explained in its paper: [**https://xsinator.com/paper.pdf**](https://xsinator.com/paper.pdf) You can **access the tool in** [**https://xsinator.com/**](https://xsinator.com/) {% hint style="warning" %} **Excluded XS-Leaks**: We had to exclude XS-Leaks that rely on **service workers** as they would interfere with other leaks in XSinator. Furthermore, we chose to **exclude XS-Leaks that rely on misconfiguration and bugs in a specific web application**. For example, CrossOrigin Resource Sharing (CORS) misconfigurations, postMessage leakage or Cross-Site Scripting. Additionally, we excluded timebased XS-Leaks since they often suffer from being slow, noisy and inaccurate. {% endhint %}
\ Use [**Trickest**](https://trickest.com/?utm\_campaign=hacktrics\&utm\_medium=banner\&utm\_source=hacktricks) to easily build and **automate workflows** powered by the world's **most advanced** community tools.\ Get Access Today: {% embed url="https://trickest.com/?utm_campaign=hacktrics&utm_medium=banner&utm_source=hacktricks" %} ## **Timing Based techniques** Some of the following techniques are going to use timing to as part of the process to detect differences in the possible states of the web pages. There are different ways to measure time in a web browser. **Clocks**: The [performance.now()](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Performance/now) API allows developers to get high-resolution timing measurements.\ There are a considerable number of APIs attackers can abuse to create implicit clocks: [Broadcast Channel API](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Broadcast\_Channel\_API), [Message Channel API](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/MessageChannel), [requestAnimationFrame](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/window/requestAnimationFrame), [setTimeout](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/WindowOrWorkerGlobalScope/setTimeout), CSS animations, and others.\ For more info: [https://xsleaks.dev/docs/attacks/timing-attacks/clocks](https://xsleaks.dev/docs/attacks/timing-attacks/clocks/). ## Event Handler Techniques ### Onload/Onerror * **Inclusion Methods**: Frames, HTML Elements * **Detectable Difference**: Status Code * **More info**: [https://www.usenix.org/conference/usenixsecurity19/presentation/staicu](https://www.usenix.org/conference/usenixsecurity19/presentation/staicu), [https://xsleaks.dev/docs/attacks/error-events/](https://xsleaks.dev/docs/attacks/error-events/) * **Summary**: if trying to load a resource onerror/onload events are triggered with the resource is loaded successfully/unsuccessfully it's possible to figure out the status code. * **Code example**: [https://xsinator.com/testing.html#Event%20Handler%20Leak%20(Script)](https://xsinator.com/testing.html#Event%20Handler%20Leak%20\(Script\)) {% content-ref url="cookie-bomb-+-onerror-xs-leak.md" %} [cookie-bomb-+-onerror-xs-leak.md](cookie-bomb-+-onerror-xs-leak.md) {% endcontent-ref %} The code example try lo **load scripts objects from JS**, but **other tags** such as objects, stylesheets, images, audios could be also used. Moreover, it's also possible to inject the **tag directly** and declare the `onload` and `onerror` events inside the tag (instead of injecting it from JS). There is also a script-less version of this attack: ```html ``` In this case if `example.com/404` is not found `attacker.com/?error` will be loaded. ### Onload Timing * **Inclusion Methods**: HTML Elements * **Detectable Difference**: Timing (generally due to Page Content, Status Code) * **More info**: [https://xsleaks.dev/docs/attacks/timing-attacks/network-timing/#onload-events](https://xsleaks.dev/docs/attacks/timing-attacks/network-timing/#onload-events) * **Summary:** The [**performance.now()**](https://xsleaks.dev/docs/attacks/timing-attacks/clocks/#performancenow) **API** can be used to measure how much time it takes to perform a request. However, other clocks could be used, such as [**PerformanceLongTaskTiming API**](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/PerformanceLongTaskTiming) which can identify tasks running for more than 50ms. * **Code Example**: [https://xsleaks.dev/docs/attacks/timing-attacks/network-timing/#onload-events](https://xsleaks.dev/docs/attacks/timing-attacks/network-timing/#onload-events) another example in: {% content-ref url="performance.now-example.md" %} [performance.now-example.md](performance.now-example.md) {% endcontent-ref %} #### Onload Timing + Forced Heavy Task This technique is just like the previous one, but the **attacker** will also **force** some action to take a **relevant amount time** when the **answer is positive or negative** and measure that time. {% content-ref url="performance.now-+-force-heavy-task.md" %} [performance.now-+-force-heavy-task.md](performance.now-+-force-heavy-task.md) {% endcontent-ref %} ### unload/beforeunload Timing * **Inclusion Methods**: Frames * **Detectable Difference**: Timing (generally due to Page Content, Status Code) * **More info**: [https://xsleaks.dev/docs/attacks/timing-attacks/network-timing/#unload-events](https://xsleaks.dev/docs/attacks/timing-attacks/network-timing/#unload-events) * **Summary:** The [SharedArrayBuffer clock](https://xsleaks.dev/docs/attacks/timing-attacks/clocks/#sharedarraybuffer-and-web-workers) can be used to measure how much time it takes to perform a request. Other clocks could be used. * **Code Example**: [https://xsleaks.dev/docs/attacks/timing-attacks/network-timing/#unload-events](https://xsleaks.dev/docs/attacks/timing-attacks/network-timing/#unload-events) The time taken to fetch a resource can be measured by utilizing the [`unload`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Window/unload\_event) and [`beforeunload`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Window/beforeunload\_event) events. The **`beforeunload`** event is fired when the browser is about to navigate to a new page, while the **`unload`** event occurs when the navigation is actually taking place. The time difference between these two events can be calculated to determine the **duration the browser spent fetching the resource**. ### Sandboxed Frame Timing + onload * **Inclusion Methods**: Frames * **Detectable Difference**: Timing (generally due to Page Content, Status Code) * **More info**: [https://xsleaks.dev/docs/attacks/timing-attacks/network-timing/#sandboxed-frame-timing-attacks](https://xsleaks.dev/docs/attacks/timing-attacks/network-timing/#sandboxed-frame-timing-attacks) * **Summary:** The [performance.now()](https://xsleaks.dev/docs/attacks/timing-attacks/clocks/#performancenow) API can be used to measure how much time it takes to perform a request. Other clocks could be used. * **Code Example**: [https://xsleaks.dev/docs/attacks/timing-attacks/network-timing/#sandboxed-frame-timing-attacks](https://xsleaks.dev/docs/attacks/timing-attacks/network-timing/#sandboxed-frame-timing-attacks) It has been observed that in the absence of [Framing Protections](https://xsleaks.dev/docs/defenses/opt-in/xfo/), the time required for a page and its subresources to load over the network can be measured by an attacker. This measurement is typically possible because the `onload` handler of an iframe is triggered only after the completion of resource loading and JavaScript execution. To bypass the variability introduced by script execution, an attacker might employ the [`sandbox`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/iframe) attribute within the ` ``` ### #ID + error + onload * **Inclusion Methods**: Frames * **Detectable Difference**: Page Content * **More info**: * **Summary**: If you can make the page error when the correct content is accessed and make it load correctly when any content is accessed, then you can make a loop to extract all the information without measuring the time. * **Code Example**: Suppose that you can **insert** the **page** that has the **secret** content **inside an Iframe**. You can **make the victim search** for the file that contains "_**flag**_" using an **Iframe** (exploiting a CSRF for example). Inside the Iframe you know that the _**onload event**_ will be **executed always at least once**. Then, you can **change** the **URL** of the **iframe** but changing only the **content** of the **hash** inside the URL. For example: 1. **URL1**: www.attacker.com/xssearch#try1 2. **URL2**: www.attacker.com/xssearch#try2 If the first URL was **successfully loaded**, then, when **changing** the **hash** part of the URL the **onload** event **won't be triggered** again. But **if** the page had some kind of **error** when **loading**, then, the **onload** event will be **triggered again**. Then, you can **distinguish between** a **correctly** loaded page or page that has an **error** when is accessed. ### Javascript Execution * **Inclusion Methods**: Frames * **Detectable Difference**: Page Content * **More info**: * **Summary:** If the **page** is **returning** the **sensitive** content, **or** a **content** that can be **controlled** by the user. The user could set **valid JS code in the negative case**, an **load** each try inside **`