threat-modeling.md

Threat Model Analysis for wg/wrk

Threat: Accidental Denial of Service (DoS) in Production Environment

• Description: An operator misconfigures wrk with excessively high parameters (threads, connections, duration, request rate) and mistakenly targets a production environment. This overwhelms the live application and its infrastructure, causing a service outage for real users. The attacker in this scenario is unintentionally the operator due to critical misconfiguration and targeting error.
• Impact: Application becomes completely unavailable to legitimate users in production. Severe service disruption leading to significant financial loss, customer dissatisfaction, and major reputational damage. Potential legal and regulatory repercussions depending on the nature of the service and downtime.
• Affected wrk component: wrk core execution, command-line parameters, target selection.
• Risk Severity: High (Critical impact on production environment).
• Mitigation Strategies:
  • Strictly enforce testing in non-production environments (staging, pre-production). Implement technical controls to prevent wrk from being executed against production URLs by default.
  • Implement mandatory confirmation steps with clear warnings before running high-load tests, especially if production-like environments are involved.
  • Develop and enforce a rigorous change management process for load testing, including peer review of wrk configurations and target environments.
  • Utilize infrastructure as code and configuration management to clearly define and separate production and non-production environments, reducing the risk of accidental targeting.
  • Implement circuit breaker patterns and robust rate limiting in the production application as a last line of defense against unexpected surges in traffic, including accidental DoS from internal tools.

Threat: Lua Script Vulnerabilities - Code Injection

• Description: If Lua scripts used with wrk are dynamically generated or incorporate external input without proper sanitization, they become vulnerable to code injection. An attacker could manipulate external input to inject malicious Lua code into the wrk script. This injected code could then be executed by wrk, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution on the machine running wrk or unintended malicious actions during the test execution phase.
• Impact: Arbitrary code execution on the wrk testing machine. Full compromise of the testing environment is possible, allowing attackers to steal credentials, modify test data, or use the compromised machine for further attacks. Unintended and potentially damaging actions could be performed against the target application during testing if the injected code interacts with the application.
• Affected wrk component: wrk Lua scripting module, dynamic script generation functionality.
• Risk Severity: High (Potential for arbitrary code execution and environment compromise).
• Mitigation Strategies:
  • Avoid dynamic generation of Lua scripts whenever possible. Favor static, pre-defined scripts that are thoroughly reviewed and tested.
  • If dynamic script generation is unavoidable, rigorously sanitize and validate all external input before incorporating it into Lua scripts. Use secure coding practices to prevent injection vulnerabilities.
  • Implement input validation and output encoding within Lua scripts to mitigate potential injection risks.
  • Enforce code review for all Lua scripts used with wrk, focusing on security aspects and potential injection points.
  • Run wrk and test scripts with the least privileges necessary to minimize the impact of potential code execution vulnerabilities. Consider using sandboxing or containerization for the wrk execution environment.

Threat: Lua Script Vulnerabilities - Information Disclosure of Highly Sensitive Data

• Description: A developer unintentionally writes a Lua script for wrk that logs or otherwise exposes highly sensitive information (e.g., unencrypted API keys, database credentials, personally identifiable information - PII) during test execution. If an attacker gains unauthorized access to test logs, script outputs, or the wrk execution environment, they could retrieve this sensitive data.
• Impact: Exposure of highly sensitive information leading to a significant data breach. Potential for unauthorized access to critical systems, financial fraud, identity theft, and severe reputational damage. Legal and regulatory penalties due to data protection violations are highly likely.
• Affected wrk component: wrk Lua scripting module, custom scripts, logging mechanisms within scripts.
• Risk Severity: High (Potential for significant data breach and severe consequences).
• Mitigation Strategies:
  • Absolutely avoid hardcoding sensitive information directly into Lua scripts.
  • Implement secure logging practices within Lua scripts, ensuring that sensitive data is never logged in plain text. Sanitize or mask any potentially sensitive data before logging.
  • Utilize secure secrets management solutions to handle sensitive data required for testing. Retrieve secrets at runtime instead of embedding them in scripts.
  • Enforce strict access control to test logs, script outputs, and the wrk execution environment. Limit access to only authorized personnel on a need-to-know basis.
  • Regularly audit Lua scripts for potential information disclosure vulnerabilities and adherence to secure coding practices. Implement automated static analysis tools to detect potential issues.
  • Encrypt test logs and outputs at rest and in transit to protect sensitive data even if unauthorized access occurs.