CSE 8990-01

Special Topics in Computer Science: Secure Coding

Spring 2007

Preparation for Exam 1

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Examination 1 will be given Tuesday 2/27.

The material covered by the exam will include all lectures from 1/11 through 2/22. The coverage is based on what was said, written on the board, and projected on the screen in class, including student presentations.

The readings in the textbook are intended to clarify the presentations in class.

The following illustrate the types of questions on the exam. The following questions will not be on the exam.

Short specific answers will get more credit than long vague answers.

• What are the steps in the Vulnerability Life Cycle Model?
• What was a vulnerability that the Morris Internet Worm exploited? Briefly explain the vulnerability.
• What is the vulnerability in the following C code? Explain.
  ---- to be provided ----
  What change will fix the vulnerability? Explain your fix rather than just provide new code.
• Suppose the value of the variable Ident is copied from a Web form.
  a. What is the vulnerability? Explain.
  b. What could be the consequence of exploitation?
  string sqlstring="SELECT ccnum" + " FROM cust WHERE id=" + Ident;
  SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand(sqlstring,sql);
  ccnum = (string)cmd.ExecuteScalar();
• Give an example of a --- to be provided ---- vulnerability?
• Why would a company be satisfied with anything less than perfect software security?
• What is an example of security related requirements that are imposed on a public company by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)?
• Why is the Common Criteria relevant to a company that develops firewall software?
• What two (2) categories of requirements templates are provided by the Common Criteria?
• What factors would you evaluate when managing software security risk?