Vulnerabilities
Host Header Injection
Also known as: X-Forwarded-Host injection, Virtual host abuse
Definition
A vulnerability where an application trusts the HTTP Host (or X-Forwarded-Host) header to build URLs, allowing attackers to redirect users or poison caches.
Examples
- Triggering a password reset that emails a link to https://attacker.com/reset?token=... because the app uses Host.
- Poisoning a CDN cache by sending X-Forwarded-Host to make /index emit attacker URLs.
Related terms
Cache Poisoning
An attack that stores a malicious response in a shared cache so that other users later receive the attacker's content.
HTTP Response Splitting
An injection vulnerability where untrusted CR/LF characters in user input force the server to emit additional, attacker-controlled HTTP responses.
Open Redirect
Open Redirect — definition coming soon.
Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)
A web vulnerability that allows an attacker to coerce a server into making HTTP or other network requests on their behalf, often against internal systems.
Broken Authentication
A category of vulnerabilities where flaws in authentication or session management let attackers impersonate legitimate users or take over accounts.