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Breaking CORS by "trying to fix it"

· 6 min read
Abdeldjalil Fortas
A part-time Karantika lover

Okay, that's another article about CORS on the internet.

CORS errors are definitely one of the most frustrating errors we face when working on web applications. I don't know what HTTP wizard or how expert you are, but I am sure that you definitely react like Michael Scott here:

Michael Scott screaming at CORS issue

Meme shamelessly stolen from this blog

We may break "CORS" or at least break the security barriers it adds by trying to fix it (without understanding it correctly).

Why you should kick idle users out of your website

· 6 min read
Abdeldjalil Fortas
A part-time Karantika lover

If you use any applications that handle sensitive information, you might already have a situation where you get a countdown before you get logged off, this happens if you don’t interact with the website after a certain (short) period.

Streaming platforms also ask you if you are still watching before they stop the video or navigate to the next episode.

CTF as a developer (Pt. 1): Template engines & SSTI

· 8 min read
Abdeldjalil Fortas
A part-time Karantika lover

Being a software developer is a responsibility, it’s a job where we provide secure and stable services and infrastructure to users who trust us (or trust regulations that ensure we are trustworthy).

To learn more about cybersecurity principles, and why some “best practices” matter, I decided to play some CTF challenges instead of only relying on reading articles and scrolling into OWASP top 10’s documentation.

My beginning was with HackTheBox. For some reason, some of the challenges I did had Server-side Template Injection (SSTI) vulnerabilities which I’m starting this blog series with.

Trying to become a better developer by learning more about aviation

· 16 min read
Abdeldjalil Fortas
A part-time Karantika lover

In the last few months, I started geeking more about aviation-related topics. Mostly by watching A LOT of videos explaining how things work, and how accidents happened in that highly regulated and safe field.

I really don’t know why the aviation domain precisely but, I think it has a sweet spot for me where I learn new things, while I let go of things I don’t understand very well so that I don’t dive too deep into searching and reading. For example, I can understand what “Wake turbulence” is, but I can’t explain it in physics terms, which is fine for a hobbyist.

I’m learning front-end development, again — Part 1 (Browser rendering optimization)

· 13 min read
Abdeldjalil Fortas
A part-time Karantika lover

TLDR; I disregarded front-end development until I started reading about some of its advanced concepts and challenges, I learned more about browser rendering optimization, website performances, and web accessibility. In this article, I’m going to share some notes I took when learning browser rendering optimization.