Imagine you’re watching a live stock trading dashboard, or chatting in a real-time messaging app — everything updates instantly without refreshing the page. That’s WebSockets in action.

But what if I told you: many real-time WebSocket servers don’t properly check who you are?

Yes, in many cases, a simple missing authentication check in WebSocket connections can allow attackers to hijack sessions, access internal APIs, or listen to sensitive live data.

Let’s uncover how this sneaky vulnerability works, how to detect it, and most importantly — how to exploit it.

What Is WebSocket Authentication Bypass?

WebSocket (wss:// or ws://) is a communication protocol used for real-time features like:

• Chat apps (e.g., Slack, Discord)
• Stock price tickers
• Notification systems
• Online games
• Collaboration tools (e.g., Google Docs)