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Software Engineering vocabulary · APIs, Networking and Security

Cross-site scripting

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

nounCommon term

In software engineering, cross-site scripting means: An attack in which someone gets harmful JavaScript into a page that other users open, for example through a comment, so that the script runs in their browsers.

In Turkish: siteler arası betik çalıştırma, XSS

How it is used

Usually called XSS. It can be used to steal session data or change what users see. Common defenses are escaping user input, avoiding raw innerHTML and setting a Content Security Policy (CSP) header.

Example sentences

  1. The search page was open to cross-site scripting because it printed the query without escaping it.

  2. The security report lists two cross-site scripting issues in the comment form.

Common collocations

  • XSS attack
  • XSS vulnerability
  • prevent cross-site scripting
  • escape user input
  • Content Security Policy
  • CSRFCross-Site Request Forgery: an attack that tricks a logged-in user's browser into sending an unwanted request, such as changing an email address, to a site the user trusts.
  • SQL injectionAn attack in which someone types SQL code into a form or URL so that the database runs it, which can expose or delete data.
  • JavaScriptThe programming language that runs in every web browser and makes pages interactive; with Node.js it also runs on servers.
  • cookieA small piece of data that a website stores in the browser and that is sent back with later requests, used for logins, settings and tracking.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: APIs, Networking and Security

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