Free security research & guides.
Written by the Nyxeara engineering house. Every article is grounded in real implementation experience — detection strategies, verification methodology, and prevention guidance you can use immediately.
Web Security
API Security Testing: A Practical Guide to Finding API Vulnerabilities
A complete technical guide to API security testing: how to find API endpoints, test for injection, broken authentication, excessive data exposure, mass assignment, and rate limiting bypasses with real examples.
What Is Argument Injection? When Flags Become Exploits
A complete technical guide to argument injection: how attacker-controlled input becomes a new command-line flag, and how to detect, verify, and prevent it.
What Are Authentication Vulnerabilities? Login Bypasses and Credential Attacks Explained
A complete technical guide to authentication vulnerabilities: how login mechanisms get bypassed, how credentials are stolen, and how to build resilient authentication.
What Is Clickjacking? UI Redressing and Clickjacking Explained
A complete technical guide to clickjacking: how transparent iframes trick users into clicking things they didn't intend, and how to detect, verify, and prevent it.
What Are Cloud Metadata Attacks? Instance Metadata Service Exploitation
A complete technical guide to cloud metadata attacks: how SSRF reaches cloud instance metadata endpoints, what attackers steal, and how IMDSv2 and network policies prevent exfiltration.
What Is Command Injection? OS Command Injection Explained
A complete technical guide to OS command injection: how untrusted input turns into arbitrary shell execution, and how to detect, verify, and prevent it.
What Is Content Security Policy? CSP Explained for Developers
A complete technical guide to Content Security Policy (CSP): how HTTP headers control what resources a browser loads, and how to implement, test, and maintain an effective CSP.
What Is CORS? Cross-Origin Resource Sharing Explained
A complete technical guide to Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS): how the Same-Origin Policy works, how CORS relaxes it safely, and how misconfigured CORS leads to data exposure.
What Is CRLF Injection? HTTP Response Splitting Explained
A complete technical guide to CRLF injection: how unvalidated newline characters let attackers split HTTP responses, and how to detect, verify, and prevent it.
What Is CSRF? Cross-Site Request Forgery Explained
A complete technical guide to Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF): how browsers get tricked into sending authenticated requests, and how to detect, verify, and prevent it.
What Is Denial of Service? DoS and DDoS Attacks Explained
A complete technical guide to denial of service attacks: resource exhaustion, amplification, application-layer DoS, and how to detect, mitigate, and prevent service disruption.
What Are DOM-Based Vulnerabilities? Client-Side DOM Attacks Explained
A complete technical guide to DOM-based vulnerabilities: how client-side JavaScript creates security bugs through unsafe DOM manipulation, and how to detect, verify, and prevent DOM clobbering, DOM XSS, and prototype pollution.
What Are File Upload Vulnerabilities? Unrestricted File Upload Attacks Explained
A complete technical guide to file upload vulnerabilities: how unrestricted uploads lead to RCE, malware distribution, and data theft, and how to detect, verify, and prevent them.
How HTTP Cookies Work: Session Management and Security
A foundational guide to HTTP cookies: how servers set them, how browsers send them, and the security attributes (Secure, HttpOnly, SameSite) that prevent cookie theft and CSRF.
What Is HTTP Request Smuggling? Request Smuggling Explained
A complete technical guide to HTTP request smuggling: how discrepancies between front-end and back-end parsers let attackers smuggle requests through security controls.
JWT Security: Attacks on JSON Web Tokens and How to Prevent Them
A complete technical guide to JWT security: alg:none attacks, weak secret cracking, kid injection, JWK header injection, token confusion, and proper validation for Node.js, Python, and Go.
What Is NoSQL Injection? MongoDB and NoSQL Injection Explained
A complete technical guide to NoSQL injection: how MongoDB and other NoSQL databases handle injection differently from SQL, and how to detect, verify, and prevent it.
What Is Open Redirect? URL Redirection Vulnerability Explained
A complete technical guide to open redirect vulnerabilities: how unvalidated redirect parameters let attackers craft convincing phishing links, and how to detect, verify, and prevent them.
What Is Path Traversal? Directory Traversal and LFI/RFI Explained
A complete technical guide to path traversal (directory traversal): how ../ sequences read files outside the intended directory, and how to detect, verify, and prevent LFI and RFI vulnerabilities.
Race Conditions in Web Applications: Detection, Exploitation, and Prevention
A technical guide to race condition vulnerabilities in web applications: TOCTOU, concurrent request handling, race windows in API endpoints, ticketmaster-style racing, and how to test for them.
What Is SQL Injection? A Complete Technical Guide
A complete technical guide to SQL injection: how it works, in-band vs blind vs out-of-band techniques, detection, verification, and prevention.
What Is SSRF? Server-Side Request Forgery Explained
A complete technical guide to Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF): how it works, why it exists, how attackers exploit it, and how to detect, verify, and prevent it.
What Is SSTI? Server-Side Template Injection Explained
A complete technical guide to Server-Side Template Injection (SSTI): how template engines evaluate attacker-controlled templates, and how to detect, verify, and prevent it.
Subdomain Enumeration: Techniques for Finding Hidden Attack Surface
A complete technical guide to subdomain enumeration: passive techniques (Certificate Transparency, DNS, search engines), active techniques (brute force, DNS zone transfer, web enumeration), and how attackers use subdomains to find forgotten applications.
WebSocket Security: Vulnerabilities, Attacks, and Testing Guide
A complete technical guide to WebSocket security: cross-site WebSocket hijacking, WS downgrade attacks, message injection, origin validation bypasses, and how to test WebSocket endpoints safely.
What Is a Database Query? SQL and Query Execution Explained
A foundational guide to database queries: how SQL works, how queries are compiled and executed, and why separating code from data prevents injection.
What Is a Shell? Command-Line Interfaces and Security Risks
A foundational guide to operating system shells: how shells parse commands, what metacharacters do, and why invoking a shell from application code creates injection risks.
What Is a Template Engine? Server-Side Templating Explained
A foundational guide to server-side template engines: how they separate presentation from logic, and why attacker-controlled templates can lead to remote code execution.
What Is a URL? Structure, Components, and Security Implications
A foundational guide to URLs: scheme, host, path, query parameters, fragment, and how attackers abuse URL parsing discrepancies.
What Is HTTP? The Web's Communication Protocol Explained
A foundational guide to HTTP: how requests and responses work, methods, status codes, headers, cookies, and how HTTPS encrypts the connection.
What Is the DOM? Document Object Model Explained
A foundational guide to the Document Object Model (DOM): how browsers represent HTML as a tree, how JavaScript interacts with it, and why it matters for security.
What Is XML? Syntax, Structure, and Security Implications
A foundational guide to XML: elements, attributes, DTDs, entities, namespaces, and why XML parsers are a frequent source of vulnerabilities.
What Is XSS? Cross-Site Scripting Explained
A complete technical guide to Cross-Site Scripting (XSS): reflected, stored, and DOM-based XSS explained, with detection, verification, and prevention guidance.
What Is XXE? XML External Entity Injection Explained
A complete technical guide to XML External Entity (XXE) injection: how XML entities get abused to read files and pivot into SSRF, plus detection, verification, and prevention.
More articles coming.
SSRF, XSS, SQL injection, API security, and cloud infrastructure guides are published regularly. All free, all from the Nyxeara research team.