Insecure Design

Insecure Design refers to flaws in an application's architecture or logic that create security weaknesses, making it vulnerable to attacks. Unlike implementation bugs, these issues stem from poor security planning, lack of threat modeling, or failing to enforce security principles at the design stage. Insecure design can lead to data exposure, authentication bypasses, privilege escalation, and business logic abuses.

Common Vulnerabilities:

• Lack of Threat Modeling and Security Review in the Development Process
• Missing or Weak Authentication and Authorization Mechanisms
• Flawed Business Logic That Enables Abuses (e.g., bypassing payment verification)
• Inadequate Data Protection Strategies (e.g., storing sensitive data in plaintext)
• Improper Separation of Privileges or Over-Permissioned Accounts
• Lack of Security Controls for API Rate Limiting and Abuse Prevention

To mitigate these risks, applications should incorporate security best practices from the design phase, enforce strong authentication and authorization controls, apply the principle of least privilege, conduct threat modeling, and implement secure coding guidelines. Regular security reviews and testing should be performed to identify and fix architectural flaws before deployment.