Within the app/controllers/work_info_controller.rb file the follow code can be found:

				
				 class WorkInfoController < ApplicationController

				  def index
				    @user = User.find_by_user_id(params[:user_id])
				    if !(@user)
				      flash[:error] = "Sorry, no user with that user id exists"
				      redirect_to home_dashboard_index_path
				    end
				  end

				end 
				
			  

Instead of using the current_user object which, takes the user ID value from the user's session and is normally resilient against tampering, the user ID is pulled from the request parameter (user id in the RESTful URL). Additionally, even in the session, User IDs should be sufficiently random and the sessions stored in a persistent manner (ActiveRcord) versus using the Base64 encoded / HMAC validation session schema.

Insecure Direct Object Reference - ATTACK

Navigate to the work info page, observe your user ID in the URL /railsgoat/users/<:user id>/work_info. Now change it to someone else's user ID.

Example - /railsgoat/users/2/work_info

Insecure Direct Object Reference - SOLUTION

The easiest way to fix this is to reference the current_user object. Also, it might make sense to not disclose any more sensitive information than necessary (re: error message).

				  def index
				    @user = current_user
				    if !(@user) || @user.admin 
				      flash[:error] = "Apologies, looks like something went wrong"
				      redirect_to home_dashboard_index_path
				    end
				  end
			  

Hmmm, that's a lot of info under work info, hope that is secure