The OWASP Top 10 is a list of the ten most critical security risks facing web applications, published and updated by the Open Web Application Security Project, a respected non-profit community. It is not a law or a certificate. It is a shared checklist that developers use to make sure they have not left the most common doors wide open.
Think of it as the security equivalent of a pre-flight checklist. A pilot does not invent fresh checks for every flight; they run through a proven list of the things most likely to go wrong. The Top 10 plays the same role for web apps, covering categories like broken access control, injection flaws and cross-site scripting. Each entry comes with guidance on what the risk is and how to close it.
The list shifts over time as attack patterns change, which is part of its value. The 2021 edition, for instance, moved broken access control to the number one spot, reflecting how often it shows up in real breaches. It tracks what is actually being exploited in the wild rather than theory. One caveat worth keeping in mind: the entries are broad categories, not a step-by-step recipe, so two teams can both claim to “cover injection” and still leave very different gaps.
Covering it is a strong floor, but it works best alongside hands-on penetration testing that probes for problems no checklist anticipates, plus automated vulnerability scanning that keeps watching after launch.
At TopDevs we review every build against the OWASP Top 10 before launch, so the most common and most damaging mistakes are caught long before an attacker finds them.
