Invented by YAWALKAR; Siddhesh, PURI; Hemant, BHALODE; Swapnil, BHATKAR; Sandeep, AGRAWAL; Anant, SHANKAR; Sangam, GALLAGHER; Gabe, LEE; Erick

Web security is more important than ever. As web applications become vital to how we live, work, and shop, they face growing threats. One of the most common and dangerous threats is scripting attacks like cross-site scripting (XSS). Today, we’ll look closely at a new patent application that introduces smart ways to detect and stop these attacks using content security policy (CSP) violation reports. Let’s break down the market context, the science and old approaches, and finally, the core ideas of the invention.

Background and Market Context

Every time you buy something online, check your bank account, or use a cloud tool at work, you’re using a web application. These web applications are made up of many parts—some built in-house, others borrowed from open-source libraries, and many more provided by third-party vendors. This patchwork of code is called the “software supply chain.” It saves time for developers but also opens the door for hackers.

When a cybercriminal finds a weak spot in a third-party library, they can slip in bad code. This can affect not just one site, but many sites using the same code. This type of threat is called a supply chain attack. In the world of web applications, much of this code is JavaScript. Almost every website uses JavaScript, and most use pieces from open-source or third-party JavaScript libraries. This makes life easier for developers but can be risky if hackers sneak in malicious scripts.

When these attacks happen, the effects can be terrible. Hackers might steal data, cause websites to go down, or even get into business systems that are supposed to be locked down. For companies, this means lost money, angry customers, and damage to their reputation. Sometimes, the law gets involved, and there can be fines or lawsuits.

To fight these attacks, developers use content security policies, or CSPs. CSPs tell browsers which scripts and resources are safe to load and which are not. If a browser tries to load something not on the “safe” list, the CSP blocks it and can also send a report saying a violation happened. These reports are called CSP violation reports.

But here’s the problem: not every CSP violation is a sign of a real attack. Sometimes, it’s just a mistake in the code or a new feature that hasn’t been added to the CSP yet. Current tools don’t do a good job telling the difference between harmless violations and real threats. This makes it hard for security teams to know when to take action and when to ignore a report. If they miss a real attack, the consequences can be huge. If they react to every violation, they waste time and might even break their own website.

That’s why there’s a need for smarter, more reliable ways to spot and stop scripting attacks. The patent application we’re discussing steps into this gap, aiming to make web security easier and stronger at the same time.

Scientific Rationale and Prior Art

To understand what’s new here, let’s look at how CSPs and attack detection work today, and why that’s not enough. CSPs are a set of rules given to the browser. They might say, “Only load scripts from this list of web addresses.” When a script tries to load from somewhere not on the list, the browser blocks it and can send a violation report to the server. This report includes details like the URL of the blocked script, the type of browser, and some other basic info.

In the past, security teams would look at these reports one by one. If they saw a lot of violations, they might tighten the CSP, hoping to block attacks. But this is a blunt tool. Sometimes, a violation is just an honest mistake by a developer. Other times, it’s a sign of a real hack. There’s no smart way to tell which is which.

Some old systems have tried to use simple matching or rules to spot attacks. For example, they might look for known bad domains or check if the same script appears across many violation reports. But these systems aren’t smart—they don’t learn over time or weigh different clues. They also don’t look at patterns across multiple web applications or browsers. Most importantly, they don’t use the rich data in CSP violation reports to make better decisions.

Other approaches use machine learning, but usually in other areas of security like spam detection or malware analysis. Using machine learning to study CSP violation reports is rare and brings new challenges. For example, how do you know which features in a report are most important? How do you spot a widespread attack that hits many different apps at once? How do you act quickly to block attacks without causing problems for users?

The prior art is limited because:

• It often treats every violation as equally important.
• It does not combine clues from across different apps, browsers, or regions.
• It does not use advanced models to score the likelihood of an attack.
• It rarely acts automatically to update policies or block bad scripts in real time.

In summary, the old way is reactive and shallow. It misses big attacks or creates too much noise, leaving security teams guessing. The new approach described in this patent aims to fix these problems by using smart analysis, more data, and faster, targeted responses.

Invention Description and Key Innovations

Now, let’s dive into what makes this invention stand out. At its heart, the method is about using CSP violation reports in a much smarter way to spot and stop scripting attacks, especially those coming from the software supply chain. The key ideas are:

1. Collect and Combine Data: The system gathers CSP violation reports from one or more web applications. Each report includes details like the browser, operating system, IP address, URLs involved, and what script or resource was blocked. Instead of looking at these in isolation, the system combines data from many reports, even across different apps.

2. Feature Extraction: For each violation, the system pulls out many features. These might include:

• Browser type and version
• Operating system
• IP address and domain info
• Resource URLs
• Reputation scores for domains and IPs
• Scores about whether a domain is popular, trusted, or risky
• Geographic region
• Which scripting library was involved

This rich set of features provides a much clearer picture of what’s going on.

3. Smart Classification Using Models: The core of the invention is a model—think of it as a smart filter—that takes these features and gives each violation a score. This score tells how likely it is that the violation is a real attack and not just a harmless mistake. The model can give more weight to features that matter more—like if the script comes from a domain known to host malware, or if the same script is causing problems on many different sites at once.

If the score is high enough, the system decides that this is likely a scripting attack. If not, it might just recommend tweaking the CSP or taking no action.

4. Detecting Widespread Attacks: A big innovation is the ability to spot attacks that hit many apps or users at once. The system looks for patterns, such as:

• Many violations coming from the same library or domain
• Violations happening across different apps but with shared features
• Clusters of violations in the same region or using the same browser version

If enough violations share key features, the system calculates a “cumulative score.” If this is above a certain threshold, it flags a widespread attack. This is a big improvement over just looking at single reports in isolation.

5. Fast and Targeted Mitigation: Once an attack is identified, the system can take action right away. This might mean:

• Updating the CSP to block the bad script
• Removing or disabling the malicious code
• Proactively updating CSPs on other apps that might be at risk, even if they haven’t seen a violation yet

This stops the attack from spreading and protects users before damage is done.

6. Extensibility and Continuous Learning: The system is designed to work with any web app that uses CSP reporting. It can learn over time, as more violations are processed and more attacks are spotted. The model can be updated with new data, so it gets better at telling the difference between real attacks and harmless violations.

7. Actionable, Clear Feedback: The system doesn’t just act behind the scenes—it also gives clear recommendations to security teams. This helps organizations fine-tune their policies, fix risky code, and stay a step ahead of new attack trends.

In practice, here’s how it works:

Suppose a new JavaScript library used by hundreds of websites is compromised. A hacker slips in malicious code. Right away, CSP violation reports start coming in from different sites and users. The system collects these, analyzes the features, and spots the pattern—same library, same kind of violation, maybe in the same region. It calculates a high cumulative score, flags the attack, and updates the CSPs on all affected sites. It even updates CSPs on other sites that use the same library, stopping the attack before it reaches them. All this can happen in real time, without waiting for a human to comb through logs.

What makes this approach so powerful is its flexibility and depth. It can scale to handle thousands of reports, learn from new data, and adapt to new kinds of attacks. It uses the rich data already available in CSP reports, but puts it to work in a way that’s smart and actionable. It closes the gap between noisy alerts and real security, saving time and reducing risk.

Conclusion

The patent application for scripting attack detection and mitigation brings a fresh and much-needed approach to web security. By taking full advantage of CSP violation reports, extracting deep features, using smart models, and acting quickly—and sometimes even before an attack fully begins—this invention stands to make the web a much safer place for everyone. As web applications continue to grow in importance and complexity, solutions like this will be key to staying ahead of attackers and protecting users, data, and businesses.

If you develop, operate, or secure web applications, this approach is a game-changer. It means less guesswork, less noise, and more targeted, effective protection. By understanding and adopting these new methods, you can keep your applications—and your users—safe from the ever-changing world of scripting attacks.

Click here https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/ and search 20250337751.