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attack-surface.md

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Attack Surface Analysis for unetworking/uwebsockets

Attack Surface: WebSocket Protocol Implementation Vulnerabilities

  • Description: Flaws in uWebSockets' implementation of the WebSocket protocol (RFC 6455) that deviate from the standard or contain bugs in parsing and handling WebSocket frames and handshake.
  • uWebSockets Contribution: uWebSockets is responsible for the core WebSocket protocol logic. Bugs here are direct vulnerabilities.
  • Example: A buffer overflow in the frame parsing logic allows an attacker to send a specially crafted WebSocket frame that overwrites memory, leading to code execution on the server.
  • Impact: Remote Code Execution, Denial of Service, Protocol Downgrade, Security Bypass.
  • Risk Severity: Critical
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Keep uWebSockets Updated: Regularly update to the latest version to benefit from bug fixes and security patches.
    • Fuzzing uWebSockets (for library maintainers/advanced users): Employ fuzzing techniques to automatically discover protocol implementation bugs.

Attack Surface: HTTP Protocol Handling Vulnerabilities (Handshake)

  • Description: Vulnerabilities arising from uWebSockets' handling of HTTP requests specifically during the WebSocket handshake process.
  • uWebSockets Contribution: uWebockets includes HTTP parsing and request handling logic for the initial handshake. Flaws in this HTTP handling code are direct attack vectors.
  • Example: An HTTP Request Smuggling vulnerability in uWebSockets' HTTP parser allows an attacker to inject malicious requests during the handshake, potentially bypassing authentication or gaining unauthorized access.
  • Impact: Security Bypass, Data Injection, Unauthorized Access.
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Keep uWebSockets Updated: Updates often include fixes for HTTP parsing vulnerabilities.
    • Strict HTTP Header Validation in Application (for critical headers): While uWebSockets handles HTTP, perform application-level validation of critical HTTP headers if your application logic relies on them for security during the handshake.

Attack Surface: C++ Memory Safety Vulnerabilities

  • Description: Memory corruption vulnerabilities inherent to C++ programming within the uWebSockets codebase, such as buffer overflows, use-after-free, and integer overflows.
  • uWebSockets Contribution: As uWebSockets is written in C++, it is susceptible to common C++ memory safety issues if not carefully coded.
  • Example: A buffer overflow in the message processing logic allows an attacker to send a message larger than expected, overwriting adjacent memory regions and potentially gaining control of the server process.
  • Impact: Remote Code Execution, Denial of Service, Information Disclosure, Privilege Escalation.
  • Risk Severity: Critical
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Keep uWebSockets Updated: Updates often address memory safety bugs.
    • Memory Sanitizers during Development: Use memory sanitizers (like AddressSanitizer, MemorySanitizer) during development and testing of applications using uWebSockets to detect memory errors early.

Attack Surface: Concurrency Issues (Race Conditions, Deadlocks)

  • Description: Vulnerabilities arising from improper synchronization in uWebSockets' concurrent operations, leading to race conditions or deadlocks within the library itself.
  • uWebSockets Contribution: uWebSockets is designed for high performance and uses multi-threading or asynchronous operations. Incorrect synchronization in its internal logic can introduce concurrency issues.
  • Example: A race condition in connection handling allows an attacker to manipulate connection state in an unexpected way, potentially bypassing authentication or causing data corruption due to internal uWebsockets state issues.
  • Impact: Denial of Service (Deadlocks), Data Corruption, Security Bypass, Unpredictable Behavior.
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Keep uWebSockets Updated: Updates may include fixes for concurrency bugs.
    • Stress Testing and Concurrency Testing: Perform rigorous stress testing and concurrency testing of applications using uWebSockets to potentially trigger underlying concurrency issues in uWebsockets itself.

Attack Surface: Denial of Service (Resource Exhaustion due to uWebsockets design/defaults)

  • Description: DoS attacks that specifically exploit resource exhaustion vulnerabilities related to uWebSockets' design or default configurations, making the application unavailable.
  • uWebSockets Contribution: Default settings or design choices in uWebSockets might make it susceptible to certain types of resource exhaustion DoS if not properly configured.
  • Example: Default connection limits in uWebSockets are too high, allowing an attacker to easily launch a connection flood DoS attack and overwhelm the server.
  • Impact: Service Disruption, Financial Loss, Reputational Damage.
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Review and Harden uWebSockets Configuration: Carefully review uWebSockets configuration options and set secure resource limits (connection limits, message size limits, timeouts) appropriate for your application.
    • Implement Rate Limiting (application level): Implement application-level rate limiting on WebSocket connections and messages to further mitigate flood-based DoS attacks.