Authentication 02
This exercise is one of our challenges on Authentication issues
This lab is designed to teach you how to analyze and manipulate cookies to uncover vulnerabilities in web applications. When you log into a website, it is crucial to observe how authentication is managed, particularly whether cookies, sessions, or headers are used. If you receive the same session ID repeatedly, it indicates a problem with the application's security.
In this challenge, after logging in, you receive a cookie that is an MD5 hash of your username. By altering this cookie, you can impersonate another user. There are several methods for modifying the cookie, such as using browser tools or proxies. This exercise demonstrates how to compute and use MD5 hashes to manipulate cookies and gain unauthorized access, highlighting the importance of secure authentication mechanisms.