Analysis of current threats and security measures used in web applications on the example of Symfony, Express, and Spring Boot

The article analyzes the most common threats currently appearing in web applications and compares the built-in security features of Symfony, Express, and Spring Boot frameworks. The study aimed to identify security gaps, assess their risk, and then present practices that enable effectiveprotection against attacks. The priority was to create four applications that were all identical in terms of structure. Tested applications were designed to have built-in security mechanisms from analyzed threats. The greatest threats currently are Broken Access Control attacks, cryptographic vulnerabilities, and code injection. The research process was conducted using Burp Suite Professional, SQLMap, XSSER, andHydra tools. The results indicate that Symfony and Spring Boot are the best protected against the threats. Additionally, the default Expressskeleton mechanisms do not protect the application from Cross Site Scripting (XSS) attacks.

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Publication Details

Journal
Journal of Computer Sciences Institute
Published
2025-12-30
DOI
https://doi.org/10.35784/jcsi.7980
Primary Topic
Web Application Security Vulnerabilities
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Analysis of current threats and security measures used in web applications on the example of Symfony, Express, and Spring Boot

Karol Kurowski, Magdalena Kramek
Journal of Computer Sciences Institute
Web Application Security Vulnerabilities
article

Analysis of current threats and security measures used in web applications on the example of Symfony, Express, and Spring Boot

Karol Kurowski, Magdalena Kramek
article en

Abstract

The article analyzes the most common threats currently appearing in web applications and compares the built-in security features of Symfony, Express, and Spring Boot frameworks. The study aimed to identify security gaps, assess their risk, and then present practices that enable effectiveprotection against attacks. The priority was to create four applications that were all identical in terms of structure. Tested applications were designed to have built-in security mechanisms from analyzed threats. The greatest threats currently are Broken Access Control attacks, cryptographic vulnerabilities, and code injection. The research process was conducted using Burp Suite Professional, SQLMap, XSSER, andHydra tools. The results indicate that Symfony and Spring Boot are the best protected against the threats. Additionally, the default Expressskeleton mechanisms do not protect the application from Cross Site Scripting (XSS) attacks.

Journal of Computer Sciences InstituteVol. 37
Lublin University of Technology (PL)
Peace, Justice and strong institutions
Openalex Percentile: Top 22%
Web Application Security Vulnerabilities
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