ActiveX

The goal in testing ActiveX controls is to make sure other sites can t use the control in a malicious manner on the target machine. Refer to Chapter 18.

Sample Test Cases
Test Case	Description
Check for safe for scripting and safe for initialization	COM objects that are marked safe for scripting and safe for initialization can potentially be repurposed in a malicious Web site.
Check if Sitelock is implemented	If the ActiveX control uses Sitelock, try to bypass it using URL encoding tricks, IP obfuscation, etc.
Identify how each method can be abused or repurposed	See if methods can do things beyond what was intended. For example, accessing a file on a network share, making HTTP requests , performing local fileoperations, etc.
Use error handling	By using error handling you can look for information disclosure bugs .
Find unsafe nested objects	By accessing unsafe objects through your control, you can do whatever is unsafe in those objects.
Check DllCanUnloadNow reference counting	If the DLL can be unloaded prematurely, arbitrary code can be run.
Look for spoofing issues	Often, to mitigate security concerns, dialog boxes are displayed that can be fooled.
Look for overflows	Test each persistent property, method, and event parameter for overruns.
Test that control doesn t bypass browser security	The browser includes a lot of security around pop-ups, cross-domain access, and so forth make sure your control doesn t make that security useless.