Objective:
The primary objective of this deep security analysis is to thoroughly evaluate the security posture of the eShopOnContainers application, as described in the provided Security Design Review document. This analysis aims to identify potential security vulnerabilities and weaknesses across all key components of the application architecture. The ultimate goal is to provide the development team with actionable, specific, and tailored security recommendations and mitigation strategies to enhance the overall security of eShopOnContainers and protect it against potential threats relevant to an e-commerce platform.
Scope:
This analysis encompasses all components and data flows explicitly outlined in the "Project Design Document: eShopOnContainers for Threat Modeling" Version 1.1, dated 2023-10-27. The scope includes, but is not limited to:
- External Clients: Browser Client (MVC), Mobile Client (Xamarin), Admin Client (Blazor).
- API Gateway (Ocelot).
- Identity Server 4.
- Backend Services: Catalog Service, Ordering Service, Basket Service, Marketing Service, Payment Service (Mock), Locations Service.
- Databases: Catalog DB, Ordering DB, Basket DB (Redis), Identity DB.
- Event Bus (RabbitMQ/Azure Service Bus).
- Data Flows: User Browsing Catalog, Adding Item to Basket, Placing an Order, Authentication Flow.
- Technology Stack: As detailed in the document.
This analysis is based solely on the provided documentation and inferred architecture. A full security audit would require code review, penetration testing, and infrastructure assessment, which are outside the scope of this document.
Methodology:
This deep analysis will employ a risk-based approach, focusing on identifying potential threats and vulnerabilities within each component and data flow of eShopOnContainers. The methodology involves the following steps:
- Decomposition: Breaking down the eShopOnContainers architecture into its key components and data flows as described in the Security Design Review.
- Threat Identification: For each component and data flow, identifying potential security threats based on common attack vectors, industry best practices, and the specific context of an e-commerce application. This will leverage the security considerations already outlined in the design review document.
- Vulnerability Mapping: Mapping identified threats to potential vulnerabilities within the eShopOnContainers architecture and technology stack.
- Risk Assessment (Qualitative): Assessing the potential impact and likelihood of each identified threat, focusing on the business context of an online e-commerce store (data confidentiality, integrity, availability, financial transactions, customer trust).
- Recommendation and Mitigation Strategy Formulation: Developing specific, actionable, and tailored security recommendations and mitigation strategies for each identified threat. These strategies will be practical and applicable to the eShopOnContainers project, considering its .NET, Docker, and Kubernetes based architecture.
- Documentation: Documenting the analysis process, findings, recommendations, and mitigation strategies in a clear and structured manner.
This methodology will ensure a systematic and comprehensive security analysis, providing valuable insights for the development team to improve the security posture of eShopOnContainers.
Functionality: User interfaces for customers and administrators to interact with the e-commerce platform.
Security Implications:
- Client-Side Vulnerabilities (XSS, CSRF, Insecure Storage, JavaScript Vulnerabilities): Clients are the entry point for user interaction and are vulnerable to attacks targeting the user's browser or device. XSS can lead to account hijacking, data theft, and defacement. CSRF can result in unauthorized actions performed by authenticated users without their consent. Insecure storage of tokens or API keys in the client can lead to credential compromise. Vulnerable JavaScript libraries can be exploited to compromise client-side security.
- Authentication and Authorization (Insecure Flow, Insufficient Authorization): Clients initiate authentication and authorization processes. Weaknesses in these flows can lead to unauthorized access to the application and its resources. Insufficient authorization checks in the client-side application can lead to users accessing features or data they are not permitted to.
- Input Validation (Client-Side Bypass): Client-side validation is easily bypassed. Relying solely on it for security is a critical vulnerability.
- Secure Communication (Lack of HTTPS): Communication over HTTP exposes sensitive data in transit, including credentials and personal information, to interception by attackers.
Specific Implications for eShopOnContainers:
- E-commerce Specific XSS: Product descriptions, reviews, and user-generated content are potential injection points for XSS attacks. Compromised admin client can lead to full platform takeover.
- CSRF in Order Placement/Basket Management: CSRF vulnerabilities in basket management or order placement endpoints could lead to users being tricked into performing unintended actions, like adding items to their basket or placing orders without their knowledge.
- Mobile Client Token Storage: If the mobile client stores authentication tokens insecurely, a compromised mobile device could grant an attacker persistent access to the user's account.
- Admin Client Blazor WASM Security: Blazor WebAssembly applications execute client-side, making them susceptible to client-side vulnerabilities. Security best practices for WASM applications need to be strictly followed.
Functionality: Single entry point, request routing, authentication/authorization, cross-cutting concerns.
Security Implications:
- Gateway Security (DDoS, API Abuse, Configuration Compromise): As the single entry point, the API Gateway is a prime target for DDoS attacks. Improper rate limiting can lead to API abuse and resource exhaustion. Compromising the gateway configuration can lead to routing manipulation, bypassing security controls, and exposing backend services directly.
- Authentication and Authorization Enforcement (Bypass, Incorrect Routing): Misconfiguration or vulnerabilities in Ocelot can lead to bypassing authentication and authorization, granting unauthorized access to backend services. Incorrect routing rules can expose internal services or grant unintended access.
- Input Validation (Insufficient Gateway Validation): Failure to validate inputs at the gateway level allows malicious requests to reach backend services, increasing the attack surface.
- Rate Limiting and Throttling (Ineffective Rate Limiting): Poorly configured rate limiting may not effectively prevent API abuse, brute-force attacks, or resource exhaustion.
- Secure Configuration (Insecure Storage): Insecure storage of gateway configuration files, especially if they contain sensitive information like API keys or routing rules, can lead to compromise.
Specific Implications for eShopOnContainers:
- E-commerce API Abuse: Attackers could attempt to abuse APIs for price manipulation, inventory manipulation, or denial of service by overwhelming backend services through the gateway.
- Routing Misconfiguration Risks: Incorrect routing could expose sensitive admin APIs or internal services to public access.
- Gateway as a Bottleneck: If the gateway itself is not hardened and scalable, it can become a single point of failure and a performance bottleneck under attack.
- Ocelot Configuration Security: Ensure Ocelot configuration is stored securely and access is restricted to authorized personnel.
Functionality: Centralized identity and access management, authentication, authorization, token management.
Security Implications:
- Identity Server Security (Compromise, Vulnerabilities): A compromised Identity Server grants attackers access to the entire system. Unpatched vulnerabilities in IdentityServer4 software can be exploited.
- Secure Credential Storage (Weak Hashing, Lack of Salting): Weak password hashing or lack of salting makes user credentials vulnerable to offline brute-force attacks if the database is compromised.
- Token Security (JWT Key Exposure, Weak Algorithm, Token Leakage): Exposure of the JWT signing key allows attackers to forge valid tokens. Weak signing algorithms can be cracked. Token leakage through insecure channels or logging can lead to account compromise.
- Vulnerability Management (Outdated Version): Running an outdated IdentityServer4 version exposes the system to known vulnerabilities.
- Account Security (Brute-Force, Credential Stuffing, Account Takeover, Lack of MFA, Weak Policies): Identity Server is the target for account-based attacks. Lack of MFA and weak password policies significantly increase the risk of account compromise.
- Protocol Implementation Vulnerabilities (Misconfiguration of OIDC/OAuth 2.0): Incorrect implementation or misconfiguration of authentication protocols can introduce security flaws and bypasses.
Specific Implications for eShopOnContainers:
- E-commerce Account Security: Customer accounts contain sensitive personal and financial information. Compromising Identity Server or user accounts can lead to significant data breaches and financial losses.
- Admin Account Security: Admin accounts in Identity Server control access to the entire e-commerce platform. Securing these accounts with MFA and strong policies is critical.
- JWT Key Management: Securely managing and rotating the JWT signing key is paramount. Key exposure would be catastrophic.
- Identity Server Hardening: Identity Server needs to be hardened according to best practices, including regular patching, secure configuration, and robust monitoring.
Functionality: Core business logic and data management for e-commerce functionalities.
Security Implications:
- API Security (Broken Auth, Broken Authz, Injection, Data Exposure, Rate Limiting, Misconfiguration, Logging): Backend APIs are the workhorses of the application and are vulnerable to a wide range of API security threats. Broken authentication and authorization can lead to unauthorized access and data breaches. Injection flaws can compromise data integrity and system availability. Improper data exposure can leak sensitive information. Lack of rate limiting can lead to DoS. Security misconfigurations can create vulnerabilities. Insufficient logging hinders incident detection and response.
- Input Validation (Server-Side Failures): Insufficient server-side input validation allows malicious data to be processed, leading to injection attacks, data corruption, and application errors.
- Authorization Enforcement (Bypass Checks): Vulnerabilities allowing bypass of authorization checks within services can lead to privilege escalation and unauthorized actions.
- Data Protection (Insecure Storage, Data Breach): Storing sensitive data unencrypted in databases increases the impact of data breaches.
- Service-to-Service Communication Security (Unencrypted, Lack of Mutual Auth): Unencrypted communication between services exposes data in transit to interception. Lack of mutual authentication allows for service impersonation.
- Dependency Management (Vulnerable Dependencies): Using vulnerable third-party libraries introduces vulnerabilities into the backend services.
- Error Handling and Logging (Verbose Errors, Insecure Logging): Verbose error messages can expose sensitive information. Insecure logging practices can log sensitive data or be insufficient for security monitoring.
- Business Logic Security (Logic Flaws): Flaws in business logic can be exploited for malicious purposes, such as price manipulation or unauthorized discounts.
Specific Implications for eShopOnContainers:
- E-commerce Business Logic Exploitation: Attackers could exploit business logic flaws in ordering, basket, or marketing services to gain unauthorized discounts, manipulate prices, or bypass payment processes.
- Data Sensitivity in Backend Services: Ordering Service and Payment Service (even mock) handle sensitive customer and order data. Robust data protection measures are crucial.
- Service-to-Service Security in Microservices: As a microservices architecture, secure communication between services is essential to prevent lateral movement and data breaches within the system.
- Dependency Vulnerabilities in .NET Core: Regularly scanning and updating .NET Core dependencies is vital to mitigate vulnerabilities in backend services.
Functionality: Persistent data storage for various services.
Security Implications:
- Database Security (Unauthorized Access, Default Credentials, Unpatched Servers): Databases are prime targets for attackers seeking sensitive data. Unauthorized access, default credentials, and unpatched database servers are critical vulnerabilities.
- Access Control (Excessive Privileges, Lack of ACLs): Granting excessive database privileges to users or services increases the risk of data breaches. Insufficiently restrictive access controls allow unauthorized access to database resources.
- Data Encryption (Lack of Encryption at Rest/Transit): Lack of encryption at rest exposes sensitive data if the database storage is compromised. Lack of encryption in transit exposes data during communication with the database.
- Input Validation (Database Level - SQL Injection): Lack of parameterized queries or stored procedures can lead to SQL injection vulnerabilities, allowing attackers to manipulate database queries and potentially gain unauthorized access or modify data.
- Database Auditing and Monitoring (Insufficient Auditing, Lack of Monitoring): Insufficient auditing hinders the ability to track database access and modifications, making it difficult to detect and investigate security incidents. Lack of monitoring prevents real-time detection of suspicious database activity.
- Backup and Recovery (Insecure Backups, Lack of Integrity Checks): Insecurely stored backups can be compromised, leading to data breaches. Lack of backup integrity checks can result in corrupted or unusable backups.
Specific Implications for eShopOnContainers:
- E-commerce Data at Risk: Databases store critical e-commerce data, including product catalogs, order details, customer information, and identity data. Securing these databases is paramount.
- SQL Injection in .NET/EF Core: Developers must be vigilant in preventing SQL injection vulnerabilities when using Entity Framework Core to interact with SQL Server databases.
- Redis Security for Basket Data: While Redis is in-memory, securing access to the Redis instance containing basket data is important to prevent unauthorized modification or access to user baskets.
- Database Credential Management: Securely managing database credentials and avoiding hardcoding them in application code is crucial.
Functionality: Asynchronous communication between microservices.
Security Implications:
- Message Bus Security (Unauthorized Access, Default Credentials, Unpatched Servers): Unauthorized access to the message bus can allow attackers to eavesdrop on inter-service communication, inject malicious messages, or disrupt service functionality. Default credentials and unpatched message bus servers are vulnerabilities.
- Message Encryption (Lack of Encryption): Sensitive data transmitted over the event bus without encryption is vulnerable to interception.
- Access Control (Unrestricted Publishing/Subscription): Lack of access controls on message queues and topics can allow unauthorized services or attackers to publish or subscribe to messages, potentially leading to data breaches or service disruption.
- Message Integrity (Message Tampering): Without integrity checks, messages can be tampered with during transit, potentially leading to data corruption or malicious actions.
- Denial of Service (Message Bus DoS): Attacks targeting the message bus can disrupt communication between services, leading to application-wide failures.
- Configuration Security (Insecure Storage): Insecure storage of message bus configuration, including credentials, can lead to unauthorized access.
Specific Implications for eShopOnContainers:
- E-commerce Event Data Security: Events published on the bus might contain sensitive order information or customer data. Ensuring confidentiality and integrity of these messages is important.
- Inter-Service Communication Security: As the backbone of inter-service communication, securing the event bus is critical for the overall security of the microservices architecture.
- RabbitMQ/Azure Service Bus Hardening: Properly configuring and hardening RabbitMQ or Azure Service Bus, including access controls, encryption, and monitoring, is essential.
- Message Integrity for Business Transactions: Ensuring message integrity is crucial for reliable and secure processing of business transactions communicated via the event bus.
Based on the identified security implications, the following are specific recommendations and tailored mitigation strategies for eShopOnContainers:
3.1. External Clients (Browser, Mobile, Admin)
| Threat | Recommendation