Threat: Malicious Markdown Injection
Description: An attacker injects malicious Markdown code into documentation source files. DocFX processes this, generating HTML documentation with harmful scripts. An attacker could then trick users into visiting the compromised documentation site, leading to XSS attacks. Impact: Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), session hijacking, cookie theft, redirection to malicious sites, defacement of documentation site, potential data breaches. DocFX Component Affected: Markdown Rendering Engine, Theme Engine (if themes render user content). Risk Severity: High Mitigation Strategies: * Sanitize and validate all documentation source content, especially from untrusted sources. * Implement a strong Content Security Policy (CSP) to restrict script execution in the documentation site. * Keep DocFX and its dependencies updated to patch Markdown rendering vulnerabilities. * Regularly audit documentation source files for suspicious content.
Description: An attacker compromises a theme repository or distributes a malicious DocFX theme. If a user installs and uses this theme, malicious code within the theme can execute during documentation generation. This could allow server-side actions during build time or inject malicious JavaScript into the generated documentation. Impact: Server-side code execution during documentation generation, XSS vulnerabilities in generated documentation, information disclosure, potential compromise of the build server. DocFX Component Affected: Theme Engine, Build Process. Risk Severity: High Mitigation Strategies: * Only use themes from trusted and reputable sources. * Thoroughly review and audit custom or third-party themes before use. * Implement input validation and sanitization when handling theme files. * Use a Content Security Policy (CSP) to restrict theme script execution in the generated documentation.
Threat: Configuration File Manipulation
Description: An attacker gains unauthorized access to docfx.json or other DocFX configuration files. They modify these files to alter the documentation generation process, potentially injecting malicious scripts, changing output paths to overwrite sensitive files, or manipulating build steps to introduce vulnerabilities.
Impact: Server-side code execution during documentation generation, information disclosure, denial of service, corruption of documentation build process, potential data breaches.
DocFX Component Affected: Configuration Loading, Build Process.
Risk Severity: High
Mitigation Strategies:
* Restrict access to DocFX configuration files to authorized personnel only using file system permissions and access control lists.
* Implement version control and auditing for configuration file changes.
* Validate and sanitize configuration file inputs to prevent injection attacks.
Description: DocFX itself contains software vulnerabilities in its core engine. An attacker provides specially crafted input that exploits these vulnerabilities, leading to denial of service, code execution on the server, or information disclosure. Impact: Denial of service, server-side code execution, information disclosure, corruption of documentation generation process, potential compromise of the build server. DocFX Component Affected: Core Engine (Parsing, Processing, Generation modules). Risk Severity: Critical Mitigation Strategies: * Keep DocFX updated to the latest version to benefit from security patches. * Monitor DocFX security advisories and patch promptly when vulnerabilities are announced. * Consider using static analysis security testing (SAST) tools on the DocFX codebase if customizing or extending it.
Threat: Dependency Vulnerabilities
Description: DocFX relies on third-party libraries and frameworks that may have known vulnerabilities. An attacker exploits these vulnerabilities indirectly through DocFX by providing input that triggers the vulnerable code path in a dependency. Impact: Denial of service, server-side code execution, information disclosure, or other impacts depending on the specific dependency vulnerability. DocFX Component Affected: Dependency Management, potentially various modules depending on the vulnerable dependency. Risk Severity: High Mitigation Strategies: * Regularly audit and update DocFX's dependencies to their latest secure versions. * Use dependency scanning tools to identify and remediate known vulnerabilities in DocFX's dependencies. * Monitor security advisories for DocFX's dependencies and patch promptly.
Description: DocFX inadvertently includes sensitive information in the generated documentation output, such as internal file paths, configuration details, or sensitive comments from source code. An attacker could discover this information by browsing the public documentation site or analyzing the generated files. Impact: Information disclosure of sensitive data, potentially leading to further attacks or compromise. DocFX Component Affected: Output Generation, potentially Source Code Parsing if comments are mishandled. Risk Severity: High Mitigation Strategies: * Carefully review the generated documentation output before publishing to ensure no sensitive information is exposed. * Configure DocFX to exclude sensitive files or directories from processing. * Implement access controls on the generated documentation site to restrict access to sensitive information if necessary. * Review DocFX configuration and source code parsing rules to prevent accidental inclusion of sensitive comments or metadata.
Description: Vulnerabilities in DocFX's rendering process or theme application could lead to XSS in the generated HTML, even with input sanitization. This could happen if DocFX fails to properly escape user-provided content or theme elements during HTML generation. An attacker exploits this by injecting malicious content that bypasses sanitization and executes in users' browsers. Impact: Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), session hijacking, cookie theft, redirection to malicious sites, defacement of documentation site. DocFX Component Affected: HTML Generation, Theme Engine, potentially Markdown Rendering Engine if escaping is insufficient. Risk Severity: High Mitigation Strategies: * Regularly test the generated documentation for XSS vulnerabilities using automated scanning tools and manual testing. * Implement a strong Content Security Policy (CSP) in the web server serving the documentation to mitigate XSS impact. * Ensure DocFX and themes are updated to the latest versions with security patches addressing rendering vulnerabilities. * Review custom themes and templates for potential XSS vulnerabilities.