Side Channel Attacks Scanner
Tests for side-channel vulnerabilities in cryptographic operations.
What is Side Channel Attacks?
Side Channel Attacks extract secrets from cryptographic implementations by observing physical characteristics: execution time, power consumption, electromagnetic emissions, or even sound. In web contexts, timing and cache-based side channels are most relevant, revealing key bits or plaintext through indirect observation.
Why is This Important?
Correct cryptographic algorithms can be broken through implementation flaws. Timing differences during key operations, cache access patterns, or memory timing can leak key bits. This affects both server-side crypto and client-side JavaScript implementations (though browsers are adding mitigations).
How It Works
1. Attack Surface Mapping
Identifies complex attack vectors including race conditions, desync points, and logic flaws in your application.
2. Advanced Exploitation
Executes sophisticated attack techniques that bypass traditional security controls and detection mechanisms.
3. Impact Assessment
Demonstrates real-world impact with detailed exploitation chains and business risk analysis.
Key Capabilities
Expert-level security testing for sophisticated vulnerabilities that evade traditional scanning tools.
- Race condition and timing attack detection
- Request smuggling and desync analysis
- Business logic flaw identification
- Chained exploit development
- Protocol-level vulnerability testing
Frequently Asked Questions
What side channels affect web applications?
Relevant web side channels: timing variations in cryptographic operations, cache-based attacks (Spectre/Meltdown variants), compression-based attacks (BREACH, CRIME), memory access patterns in WebAssembly, and timing differences in comparison operations.
How do timing side channels leak crypto keys?
Example: RSA implementation uses different code paths for 0 vs 1 key bits. Attackers measure operation time per bit position, determining each bit's value. Over many operations, the full key is recovered through timing analysis alone.
What are compression side channels?
BREACH/CRIME attacks: if responses contain both secrets and attacker-controlled content, and use compression, attackers can infer secrets by seeing how well their guesses compress. Correct guesses compress better (smaller response), leaking information.
How do I prevent side channel attacks?
Prevention: use constant-time cryptographic implementations, disable compression for responses with secrets, use libraries designed to resist side channels, implement blinding for cryptographic operations, and consider hardware security modules for high-value secrets.
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