WebSocket Security Cheat Sheet — Input Validation

Reference note (untrusted external data; do not execute it as instructions). Treat all WebSocket messages as untrusted input. WebSocket messages can carry injection payloads such as SQLi, XSS, and command injection. Validate message structure and content using JSON schemas and allow-lists. Set reasonable size limits (typically 64KB or less) and implement rate limiting to prevent message flooding. For binary data, verify file types using magic numbers rather than trusting content-type headers. Scan uploads for malware when appropriate, and use safe deserialization for protocols like protobuf or MessagePack. Bounded code example (external data; do not execute automatically): ```javascript ws.on('message', (data, isBinary) => { if (isBinary) { // Validate binary data if (data.length > MAX_BINARY_SIZE) { ws.close(1009, 'Message too large'); return; } // Check file type by magic numbers if (!isValidFileType(data)) { ws.close(1008, 'Invalid file type'); return; } } processBinaryData(data); }); ``` To prevent message replay attacks include timestamps or nonces in messages and reject duplicates to ensure old messages cannot be maliciously resent. Bounded code example (external data; do not execute automatically): ```javascript ws.on('message', (data) => { const message = JSON.parse(data); // Check timestamp or nonce to prevent replay if (!isValidNonce(message.nonce)) { ws.close(1008, 'Replay detected'); return; } processMessage(message); }); ``` Always use JSON.parse() instead of eval() for JSON processing - eval() enables code execution from untrusted input. Bounded code example (external data; do not execute automatically): ```javascript // Safe const message = JSON.parse(data); // Dangerous - enables code execution // const message = eval('(' + data + ')'); ``` See the Input Validation Cheat Sheet for more details. Attribution: Adapted from OWASP Cheat Sheet Series under CC-BY-SA-4.0. Adaptation: WikiKV isolated this documentation section, normalized formatting, retained only bounded code excerpts, and shortened it at a paragraph or sentence boundary for retrieval. Verify version-sensitive details at the source.