protecting web services and web applications.ppt
TRANSCRIPT
Protecting Web services and Web applications against security threats
Rix GroenboomSupport Manager, Parasoft UK Ltd
What We Will Explore
What threats we see today Practices for securing Web Services and
SOA Use of a Policy based Approach:
“Inside Out & Outside In”
First, Lets Redefine “SOAP”
SOAP = Service Oriented Architecture Protocol
Experience
Who is responsible for SOA security?
When is SOA security addressed?
What activities are involved in SOA security?
Structure of this presentation
Problems, Threats, and Solutions
“Testing Security Into The Application”
A Four-Step Approach To Securing SOAP
Examples of Threats Prevented
Problems: XML Bomb
bomb.xml
Problems: XML Bomb
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><!DOCTYPE SOAP-ENV:Envelope [ <!ELEMENT SOAP-ENV:Envelope ANY> <!ATTLIST SOAP-ENV:Envelope entityReference CDATA #IMPLIED> <!ENTITY x0 "Bomb!"> <!ENTITY x1 "&x0;&x0;"> <!ENTITY x2 "&x1;&x1;"> ... <!ENTITY x20 "&x19;&x19;"> <!ENTITY x21 "&x20;&x20;"> <!ENTITY x22 "&x21;&x21;">]>
Enterprise network protected by firewall
Application is the only way in
Must keep application open for business
User (potential hackers) must have access to the application
What is wrong with this picture ?
Software as a Service: Security Challenges
= Serious Security risks
DatabaseServer
Application Server
Legacy
Presentation Layer
Web Services
Application Logic Thin
ClientWeb Site
Software as a Service: Security Challenges
Web services vulnerabilities can be present in the: Operating system or the applications that ship with it Network Database Web server Application server XML parser or Web services implementation / stack Application code XML appliance
And, yes, that post-it note with the password under your drawer or keyboard…
Software as a Service: Security Challenges
Problems with Web services and SOA Cut through firewall
SOAP messages often travel over HTTP port 80 Business processes on the web
Expose internal APIs to anonymous users New technology, new mistakes
Once web apps are locked tighter, guess who’s next? Implied assumptions, external dependence
“I can’t see it, neither can a hacker” “We can trust that service to work properly” “The use of the service is constrained by the client
application”
The Y2K problem revisited !
Securing Web Services – Solutions So far
General Practices Define acceptable protocols
Shut down other services Lock down firewall (change port)
Enforce security mechanisms Authentication Access Control Auditing … to Z
Securing Web Services – Solutions So far
SOA Security Mechanisms WS-Security
XML Encryption XML Signature X509 Username Tokens SAML
WS-Trust WS-SecureConversation WS-SecurityPolicy WS-Federation WS-Privacy WS-*
General Web Services Threats
Common to all Web applications SQL Injections
Special characters in queries
Capture and Replay Attacks Man in the middle attacks
DoS (resulting from a large load) Blow up application from inside
Improper Error Handling Dump of stack trace etc
Broken Access Control Take over earlier sessions tokens etc
General Web Services Threats
Specific to XML Web services Large Payloads
Send huge XML load, or generate huge responses
XPath Injections Query XML documents for certain nodes
External Entity Attacks Misuse pointed to XML data using URI
XML Bombs Recursive XML entity declaration
General Web Services Threats
However, threats also come from within: Since 1999, the percentage of companies reporting a
computer-security incident from inside is almost the same as those reporting it from the outside
28.9% of of security incidents come from employees
Source: The Wall Street Journal Online (Feb 13, 2006) http://online.wsj.com/article/
SB113926053552466409.html
AuditsAssumptions
Challenge - Properly Addressing Security
Testing security “into” the Web service application: Common “end-of-cycle” security testing can detect some
standard application security vulnerabilities, however… Approaching security merely as a “bug finding” exercise is
inefficient and costly It is impossible to cover all possible execution paths with testing!
GAPNeed to be able to detect vulnerabilities as
early as possible.
Develop Test MonitorArchitect
Why More Testing Does Not Help ?
String username = request.getParameter("USER");String password = request.getParameter("PASSWORD");
An attacker passes ' or 1=1 # for usersname
SELECT user_id FROM UsersWHERE username='' or 1=1 #' AND password=‘foo’
String query = “SELECT user_id FROM Users WHERE username=‘” + username + “’ AND password=‘” + password + “’”;Statement.execute(query);
Securing Web Services
A different approach is needed A preventive, policy-based approach rather
than a reactive one Security, like quality, must be built into the
application and cannot be tested in Application are large and complex
We propose a combined approach: Outside In Inside Out
Securing Web Services: Step 1
Assessment: Impact & Risk Analyze the business process
Assets, users, entry points What needs to be protected? How? Outsource for expertise before implementation
Define security threats CIA: Confidentiality, Availability, Integrity Risk = Threat x Vulnerability x Expected Loss
– Threat = Motivated Attacker with Path to Valuable Asset
– Vulnerability = Weakness in system– Expected Loss = Impact of threat realization
Misusage, the general WS threats, etc.
Securing Web Services: Step 1
Assessment: Penetration Testing Find a few general vulnerabilities Many penetration activities can be automated
Generate injection attacks, XSS, scan for broken access control, etc.
Simulate large loads, generate big messages, etc. Penetration testing is not exhaustive But, a vulnerability you find
Is like a real bug: if you see one, there are 1000 you do not see !
“where smoke is, is fire” Helps you in Step 2
Securing Web Services: Step 2
Develop a Security Policy: A security policy is a set of guidelines that are an overall
strategy for application security
Secure implementation guidelines: Use trusted libraries Adhere to coding and XML standards
Release IO resources in the code Turn off DTD support in XML parsers Constrain schema types
Review implementation for errors Turn off features by default
Securing Web Services: Step 2
However, security policy also covers applications code Key areas that need are required:
Access control and Authentication Denial of Service Command Injection Concurrency Cryptography Error Handling Input Validation Logging Malicious Code Memory and Session Management
Securing Web Services: Step 3
Enforce Security Policy Throughout SDLC A policy without an automated enforcement
mechanisms is like law without police
Available techniques: Static / Dynamic Code analysis
Map policies to executable rules Configure the rules based on the policies and projects
at hand Compliance SOA Development Governance in SDLC
Like: SOAP, WSDL, Schema, XML Metadata. Runtime SOA Governance
Management, Registry, Orchestration
Securing Web Services: Step 4
Regression Testing Software development is an iterative process An iterative development process fails without
regression testing. The same applies to security Fixing a security vulnerability should be coupled
with a policy and an enforcement mechanism to prevent it from reoccurring again
Regression testing practices results in a visible quality process that reinforces trust
General Web Services Threats Prevented
SQL Injections Policy: Validate user input; strip potentially malicious
characters like ‘ and “ as soon as you get them Test: Penetrate, regression test
Capture and Replay Attacks Policy: Use signed random nonce values and
Timestamps Test: Penetrate, regression test
DoS (resulting from a large load) Policy: Secure coding standards Test: Simulate attacks, regression test
General Web Services Threats Prevented
Improper Error Handling Policy: Catch/handle all exceptions Test: Penetrate, regression test
Broken Access Control Policy: Baseline/extended security policies Test: Positive & negative conditions,
regression test Large Payloads
Policy: Constrain schema types Test: Simulate attacks, regression test
General Web Services Threats Prevented
XPath Injections Policy: Validate user input at the entry
point Test: Simulate attacks, regression test
External Entity Attacks Policy: Disable DTD processing in XML parser Test: Simulate attacks, regression test
XML Bombs Policy: Disable DTD processing in XML
parser Test: Simulate attacks, regression test
Securing Web Services
Old tricks for new dogs… Start from the beginning Assume the worst Use standards rather than “build your own” Be proactively consistent Consider external and internal threats Develop and enforce a security policy
Compliance Vs. Audit “Build it in”, not “test it in”
Company; Corporate Background
Founded in 1987, privately held
300+ employees worldwide
Headquarters in Monrovia, CA
10,000 customers worldwide
ABN AMRO, AXA, Bank of America, Bloomberg, Boeing, Cisco, DCA, Disney, HP, IBM, Lehman Brothers, Lockheed, Northrop, Panasonic UK, Philips, P&O Ferries, Royal Bank of Scotland
Technical innovator
Fifteen US patents for software technology
Conclusion
Thank you
Resources http://www.cgisecurity.com/ws/ http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/
tc_cat.php?cat=ws http://www.soaleaders.org/
Commercial http://www.parasoft.com/
Questions?