Browser Security and Exploitation

As a critical discipline within cybersecurity, Browser Security and Exploitation focuses on the web browser as a primary attack surface for computer systems. This field encompasses both the defensive strategies used to protect users and the offensive techniques used to compromise them. Defensively, it involves the study and implementation of security mechanisms like sandboxing, the same-origin policy (SOP), and content security policies (CSP) to isolate web content and prevent malicious scripts from accessing sensitive data. Offensively, it involves discovering and leveraging vulnerabilities in the browser's code, its extensions, or the web technologies it processes (e.g., JavaScript, WebAssembly) to bypass these protections, execute arbitrary code, and gain control over a user's machine.

1. Introduction to Browser Security
   1. Browser as Attack Surface
      1. Browser Usage Statistics and Prevalence
      2. Browser Integration with Operating Systems
      3. Exposure to Untrusted Content
      4. Attack Vectors Unique to Browsers
      5. Browser Attack Surface Components
   2. Attacker Goals and Motivations
      1. Code Execution in Browser Context
      2. Privilege Escalation to Operating System Level
      3. Persistence Mechanisms
      4. Data Exfiltration Techniques
      5. System Compromise Objectives
   3. Security Terminology and Concepts
      1. Vulnerability Definition and Classification
      2. Exploit Development Process
      3. Payload Types and Delivery
      4. Attack Surface Analysis
      5. Threat Modeling Fundamentals
      6. Security Boundary Concepts
      7. Risk Assessment Principles