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Threat Model Analysis for bitwarden/server

Threat: Weak Server Admin Credentials

  • Description: An attacker attempts to brute-force or guess the server admin portal credentials. Successful access grants administrative control over the Bitwarden server.
    • Impact: Full server compromise, unauthorized access to all vaults managed by the server, complete data exfiltration, service disruption, and manipulation of server settings, potentially impacting all users.
    • Affected Component: Admin Portal Authentication Module
    • Risk Severity: Critical
    • Mitigation Strategies:
      • Enforce strong, unique passwords for all admin accounts.
      • Mandate immediate password change upon initial admin account setup.
      • Implement and enforce Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for all admin access.
      • Regularly audit and review admin user accounts and permissions.
      • Restrict admin portal access to specific trusted IP ranges or networks using firewall rules.

Threat: API Authentication Bypass Vulnerabilities

  • Description: An attacker exploits vulnerabilities in the Bitwarden API authentication mechanisms to bypass security checks. This could involve flaws in token validation, OAuth 2.0 implementation, or JWT handling within the server's API layer. Successful bypass allows unauthorized API access.
    • Impact: Unauthorized access to user vaults via the API, large-scale data exfiltration, potential account takeover by manipulating API endpoints, and possible service disruption through API abuse.
    • Affected Component: API Authentication Middleware, API Gateway, Specific API Endpoints
    • Risk Severity: Critical
    • Mitigation Strategies:
      • Conduct rigorous security audits and penetration testing specifically targeting the API authentication and authorization logic.
      • Implement robust input validation and sanitization for all API requests to prevent injection attacks.
      • Strictly adhere to security best practices for OAuth 2.0 and JWT implementation.
      • Regularly apply security patches and updates provided by Bitwarden, especially those related to API security.
      • Implement API rate limiting and request throttling to mitigate abuse and DoS attempts.

Threat: Server-Side Encryption Weakness or Failure

  • Description: The server-side encryption protecting vault data at rest is weak, flawed in implementation, or fails entirely. An attacker who gains unauthorized access to the server's database (e.g., through SQL injection, database misconfiguration, or compromised backups) can then decrypt the vault data.
    • Impact: Mass compromise of user vault data stored in the database, leading to complete loss of confidentiality for all passwords and sensitive information managed by the Bitwarden server.
    • Affected Component: Database Encryption Module, Key Management System
    • Risk Severity: Critical
    • Mitigation Strategies:
      • Utilize strong, industry-standard encryption algorithms like AES-256 for database encryption.
      • Implement a robust and secure key management system, including secure key generation, storage, rotation, and access control.
      • Regularly audit and verify the encryption implementation and key management procedures by security experts.
      • Ensure proper configuration of database encryption settings and regularly test decryption/encryption processes.

Threat: Session Hijacking and Fixation Vulnerabilities

  • Description: Vulnerabilities in the server's session management allow attackers to hijack or fixate user sessions. This could be due to predictable session IDs, lack of proper session invalidation, or session fixation flaws in the server-side session handling logic. Successful hijacking allows impersonation of legitimate users.
    • Impact: Unauthorized access to individual user vaults, data exfiltration on a per-user basis, account takeover, and potential manipulation of vault data for targeted users.
    • Affected Component: Session Management Module, Authentication Handlers
    • Risk Severity: High
    • Mitigation Strategies:
      • Use cryptographically strong and unpredictable session IDs.
      • Implement HTTP-only and Secure flags for session cookies to prevent client-side script access and transmission over insecure channels.
      • Enforce short session timeouts and automatic session invalidation after inactivity.
      • Regenerate session IDs after successful login and critical actions to prevent session fixation.
      • Properly invalidate sessions on the server-side upon user logout.

Threat: Denial of Service (DoS) and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attacks

  • Description: Attackers launch DoS or DDoS attacks targeting the Bitwarden server infrastructure. This could involve overwhelming server resources (CPU, memory, network bandwidth) through various methods, including API abuse, resource exhaustion vulnerabilities in server code, or network-level flooding.
    • Impact: Service unavailability, preventing legitimate users from accessing their vaults and Bitwarden services, potentially leading to significant disruption and business impact.
    • Affected Component: Server Infrastructure, API Endpoints, Network Infrastructure
    • Risk Severity: High
    • Mitigation Strategies:
      • Implement robust rate limiting and request throttling for all API endpoints.
      • Optimize server resource utilization and application performance to handle legitimate traffic efficiently.
      • Deploy DDoS protection mechanisms such as Web Application Firewalls (WAFs), Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) with DDoS mitigation capabilities, and intrusion prevention systems (IPS).
      • Implement network-level filtering and traffic shaping to mitigate volumetric attacks.
      • Continuously monitor server resources and network traffic for signs of DoS/DDoS attacks and have incident response plans in place.