Author: markt Date: Thu Feb 11 13:17:05 2010 New Revision: 908955 URL: http://svn.apache.org/viewvc?rev=908955&view=rev Log: Convert my ApacheCon securing Tomcat presentation to a how to
Added: tomcat/trunk/webapps/docs/security-howto.xml (with props) Modified: tomcat/trunk/webapps/docs/project.xml Modified: tomcat/trunk/webapps/docs/project.xml URL: http://svn.apache.org/viewvc/tomcat/trunk/webapps/docs/project.xml?rev=908955&r1=908954&r2=908955&view=diff ============================================================================== --- tomcat/trunk/webapps/docs/project.xml (original) +++ tomcat/trunk/webapps/docs/project.xml Thu Feb 11 13:17:05 2010 @@ -62,8 +62,11 @@ <item name="23) APR/Native" href="apr.html"/> <item name="24) Virtual Hosting" href="virtual-hosting-howto.html"/> <item name="25) Advanced IO" href="aio.html"/> - <item name="26) Additional Components" href="extras.html"/> - <item name="27) Mavenized" href="maven-jars.html"/> + <item name="26) Additional Components" + href="extras.html"/> + <item name="27) Mavenized" href="maven-jars.html"/> + <item name="28) Security Considerations" + href="security-howto.html"/> </menu> <menu name="Reference"> Added: tomcat/trunk/webapps/docs/security-howto.xml URL: http://svn.apache.org/viewvc/tomcat/trunk/webapps/docs/security-howto.xml?rev=908955&view=auto ============================================================================== --- tomcat/trunk/webapps/docs/security-howto.xml (added) +++ tomcat/trunk/webapps/docs/security-howto.xml Thu Feb 11 13:17:05 2010 @@ -0,0 +1,323 @@ +<?xml version="1.0"?> +<!-- + Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more + contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with + this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership. + The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0 + (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with + the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at + + http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 + + Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software + distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, + WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. + See the License for the specific language governing permissions and + limitations under the License. +--> +<!DOCTYPE document [ + <!ENTITY project SYSTEM "project.xml"> +]> +<document url="security-howto.html"> + + &project; + + <properties> + <title>Security Considerations</title> + </properties> + +<body> + + <section name="Introduction"> + <p>Tomcat is configured to be reasonable secure for must use cases by + default. Some environments may require more, or less, secure configurations. + This page is to provide a single point of reference for configuration + options that may impact security and to offer some commentary on the + expected impact of changing those options. The intention is to provide a + list of configuration options that should be considered when assessing the + security of a Tomcat installation.</p> + + <p><strong>Note</strong>: Reading this page is not a substitute for reading + and understanding the detailed configuration documentation. Fuller + descriptions of these attributes may be found in the relevant documentation + pages.</p> + </section> + + <section name="Non-Tomcat settings"> + <p>Tomcat configuration should not be the only line of defence. The other + components in the system (operating system, network, database, etc.) should + also be secured. For the operating system, consider limiting the privileges + of the user under which Tomcat is running and limiting access to Tomcat's + files by other users. At the network level, consider using a firewall to + limit both incoming and outgoing connections to only those connections you + expect to be present.</p> + </section> + + <section name="Default web applications"> + <p>Tomcat ships with a number of web applications by default. + Vulnerabilities have been discovered in these applications in the past. + Applications that are not required should be removed so the system will not + be at risk if another vulnerability is discovered.</p> + </section> + + <section name="Security manager"> + <p>Enabling the security manager causes web applications to be run in a + sandbox, significantly limiting a web applications ability to perform + malicious actions such as calling System.exit(), establishing network + connections or accessing the file system outside of the web application's + root and temporary directories.</p> + + <p>Tomcat is tested with the security manager enabled but the majority of + Tomcat users do not run with a security manager so Tomcat is not as well + tested in this configuration. There have been, and continue to be, bugs + reported that are triggered by running under a security manager.</p> + + <p>The restrictions imposed by a security manager are likely to break most + applications if the security manager is enabled. The security manager should + not be used without extensive testing. Ideally, the use of a security + manager should be introduced at the start of the development cycle as it can + be time-consuming to track down and fix issues caused by enabling a security + manager for a mature application.</p> + </section> + + <section name="server.xml"> + <subsection name="General"> + <p>The default server.xml contains a large number of comments, including + some example component definitions that are commented out. Removing these + comments makes it considerably easier to read and comprehend + server.xml.</p> + <p>If a component type is not listed, then there are no settings for that + type that directly impact security.</p> + </subsection> + + <subsection name="Server"> + <p>Setting the <strong>port</strong> attribute to <code>-1</code> disables + the shutdown port.</p> + <p>If the shutdown port is not disabled, a strong password should be + configured for <strong>shutdown</strong>.</p> + </subsection> + + <subsection name="Listeners"> + <p>The APR Lifecycle Listener is not stable if compiled on Solaris using + gcc. It using the APR/native connector on Solaris, comppile it with the + Sun Studio compiler.</p> + </subsection> + + <subsection name="Connectors"> + <p>By default, an HTTP and an AJP connector are configured. Connectors + that will not be used should be removed from server.xml.</p> + + <p>The <strong>address</strong> attribute may be used to control which IP + address the connector listens on for connections. By default, the + connector listens on all configured IP addresses.</p> + + <p>The <strong>allowTrace</strong> attribute may be used to enable TRACE + requests which can be useful for debugging. Due to the way some browsers + handle the response from a TRACE request (which exposes the browser to an + XSS attack), support for TRACE requests is disabled by default.</p> + + <p>The <strong>maxPostSize</strong> attribute controls the maximum size + of a POST request that will be parsed for parameters. The parameters are + cached for the duration of the request so this is limited to 2MB by + default to reduce exposure to a DOS attack.</p> + + <p>The <strong>maxSavePostSize</strong> attribute controls the saving of + POST requests during FORM and CLIENT-CERT authentication. The parameters + are cached for the duration of the authentication (that may be many + minutes) so this is limited to 4KB by default to reduce exposure to a DOS + attack.</p> + + <p>The <strong>xpoweredBy</strong> attribute controls whether or not the + X-Powered-By HTTP header is sent with each request. If sent, the value of + the header contains the Servlet and JSP specification versions, the full + Tomcat version (e.g. Apache Tomcat/7.0.0), the name of the JVM vendor and + the version of the JVM. This header is disabled by default. This header + can provide useful information to both legitimate clients and attackers. + </p> + + <p>The <strong>server</strong> attribute controls the value of the Server + HTTP header. The default value of this header for Tomcat 4.1.x, 5.0.x, + 5.5.x, 6.0.x and 7.0.x is Apache-Coyote/1.1. This header can provide + limited information to both legitimate clients and attackers.</p> + + <p>The <strong>SSLEnabled</strong>, <strong>scheme</strong> and + <strong>secure</strong> attributes may all be independently set. These are + normally used when Tomcat is located behind a reverse proxy and the proxy + is connecting to Tomcat via http or https. They allow Tomcat to see the + SSL attributes of the connections between the client and the proxy rather + than the proxy and Tomcat. For example, the client may connect to the + proxy over https but the proxy connects to Tomcat using http. If it is + necessary for Tomcat to be able to distinguish between secure and + non-secure connections received by a proxy, the proxy must use separate + connectors to pass secure and non-secure requests to Tomcat. If the + proxy uses AJP then the SSL attributes of the client conenction are + passed via the AJP protocol and separate connectors are not needed.</p> + + <p>The <strong>tomcatAuthentication</strong> attribute is used with the + AJP connectors to determine if Tomcat should authenticate the user or if + authentication can be delegated to the reverse proxy that will then pass + the authenticated username to Tomcat as part of the AJP protocol.</p> + + <p>The <strong>allowUnsafeLegacyRenegotiation</strong> attribute provides + a workaround for + <a href="http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2009-3555"> + CVE-2009-3555</a>, a TLS man in the middle attack. This workaround applies + to the BIO connector. It is only necessary if the underlying SSL + implementation is vulnerable to CVE-2009-3555. For more information on the + current state of this vulnerability and the work-arounds available see the + <a href="http://tomcat.apache.org/security-7.html">Tomcat 7 security + page</a>.</p> + </subsection> + + <subsection name="Host"> + <p>The host element controls deployment. Automatic deployment allows for + simpler management but also makes it easier for an attacker to deploy a + malicious application. Automatic deployment is controlled by the + <strong>autoDeploy</strong> and <strong>deployOnStartup</strong> + attributes. If both are <code>false</code>, only Contexts defined in + server.xml will be deployed and any changes will require a Tomcat restart. + </p> + + <p>In a hosted environment where web applications may not be trusted, set + the <strong>deployXml</strong> attribute to false to ignore any + context.xml packaged with the web application that may try to assigned + increased privileges to the web application. </p> + </subsection> + + <subsection name="Context"> + <p>The <strong>crossContext</strong> attribute controls if a context is + allowed to access the resources of another context. It is + <code>false</code> by default and should only be changed for trusted web + applications.</p> + + <p>The <strong>privileged</strong> attribute controls if a context is + allowed to use container provided servlets like the Manager servlet. It is + <code>false</code> by default and should only be changed for trusted web + applications.</p> + + <p>The <strong>allowLinking</strong> attribute controls if a context is + allowed to use linked files. If enabled and the context is undeployed, the + links will be followed when deleting the context resources. To avoid this + behaviour, use the <strong>aliases</strong> attribute. Changing this + setting from the default of <code>false</code> on case insensitive + operating systems (this includes Windows) will disable a number of + security and allow, amongst other things, direct access to the WEB-INF + directory.</p> + </subsection> + + <subsection name="Valves"> + <p>It is strongly recommended that an AccessLogValve is configured. These + are normally configured per host but may also be configured per engine or + per context as required.</p> + + <p>Any administrative application should be protected by a + RemoteAddressValve. (Note that this Valve is also available as a Filter). + The allow attribute should be used to limit access to a set of known + trusted hosts.</p> + + <p>The default ErrorReportValve includes the Tomcat version number in the + response sent to clients. To avoid this, custom error handling can be + configured within each web application. Alternatively, the version number + can be changed by creating the following file in + CATALINA_HOME/lib/org/apache/catalina/util/ServerInfo.properties with the + content as follows: + <source> +server.info=Apache Tomcat/7.0.x + </source> + Modify the values as required. Note that this will also change the version + number reported in some of the management tools and may make it harder to + determine the real version installed. The CATALINA_HOME/bin/version.bat|sh + script will still report the version number.</p> + + <p>The default ErrorReportValve can display stack traces and/or JSP + source code to clients when an error occurs. To avoid this, custom error + handling can be configured within each web application.</p> + </subsection> + + <subsection name="Realms"> + <p>The MemoryRealm is not intended for production use as any changes to + tomcat-users.xml require a restart of Tomcat to take effect.</p> + + <p>The JDBCRealm is not recommended for production use as it single + threaded for all authentication and authorisation options. Use the + DataSourceRealm instead.</p> + + <p>The UserDatabaseRealm is not intended for large-scale installations. It + is intended for small-scale, relatively static environments.</p> + + <p>The JAASRealm is not widely used and therefore the code is not as + mature as the other realms. Additional testing is recommended before using + this realm.</p> + + <p>By default, the realms not not implement any form of account lock-out. + This means that brute force attacks can be successful. To prevent a brute + force attack, the chosen realm should be wrapped in a LockOutRealm.</p> + </subsection> + + <subsection name="Manager"> + <p>The manager component is used to generate session IDs.</p> + + <p>The default entropy value has been shown to generate predictable values + under certain conditions. For more secure session generation, this should + be set to a long string. This is done automatically if the APR/native + library is installed, a random value will be obtained from APR.</p> + + <p>The class used to generate random session IDs may be changed by using + the <strong>randomClass</strong> attribute.</p> + + <p>The length of the session ID may be changed by using the + <strong>sessionIdLength</strong> attribute.</p> + </subsection> + </section> + + <section name="System Properties"> + <p>Setting <strong>org.apache.catalina.connector.RECYCLE_FACADES</strong> + system property to <code>true</code> will cause a new facade object to be + created for each request. This reduces the chances of a bug in an + application exposing data from one request to another.</p> + + <p>The <strong> + org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.ALLOW_BACKSLASH</strong> and + <strong>org.apache.tomcat.util.buf.UDecoder.ALLOW_ENCODED_SLASH</strong> + system properties allow non-standard parsing of the request URI. Using + these options when behind a reverse proxy may enable an attacker to bypass + any security constraints enforced by the proxy.</p> + + <p>The <strong> + org.apache.catalina.connector.Response.ENFORCE_ENCODING_IN_GET_WRITER + </strong> has security implications if disabled. Many user agents, in + breach of RFC2616, try and guess the character encoding of text media + types when the specification mandated default of ISO-8859-1 should be + used. If the response contains characters that are safe for ISO-8859-1 + but trigger an XSS if interpreted as UTF-7, some browsers will use UTF-7 + and trigger an XSS vulnerability.</p> + </section> + + <section name="CATALINA_BASE/conf/web.xml"> + <p>The DefaultServlet is configured with <strong>readonly</strong> set to + <code>true</code>. Changing this to <code>false</code> allows clients to + delete or modify static resources on the server and to upload new + resources. This should not normally be changed without requiring + authentication.</p> + + <p>The DefaultServlet is configured with <strong>listings</strong> set to + <code>false</code>. This isn't because allowing directory listings is + considered unsafe but because generating listings of directories with + thousands of files can consume significant CPU leading to a DOS attack. + </p> + </section> + + <section name="General"> + <p>BASIC and FORM authentication pass user names and passwords in clear + text. Web applications using these authentication mechanisms with clients + connecting over untrusted networks should use SSL.</p> + + <p>The session cookie for a session with an authenticated user are nearly + as useful as the user's password to an attacker and in nearly all + circumstances should be afforded the same level of protection as the + password itself. This usually means authenticating over SSL and continuing + to use SSL until the session ends.</p> + </section> + +</body> +</document> Propchange: tomcat/trunk/webapps/docs/security-howto.xml ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ svn:eol-style = native Propchange: tomcat/trunk/webapps/docs/security-howto.xml ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ svn:keywords = Date Author Id Revision --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@tomcat.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@tomcat.apache.org