mitigations.md

Mitigation Strategies Analysis for go-gitea/gitea

Mitigation Strategy: Enforce Strong Password Policies within Gitea

• Description:

  • Step 1: Access the Gitea server and locate the app.ini configuration file.
  • Step 2: Within the [security] section of app.ini, configure password complexity settings. Utilize options like PASSWORD_COMPLEXITY to define minimum length, character requirements (uppercase, lowercase, numbers, symbols), and potentially password history if supported by Gitea or plugins. Consult Gitea documentation for specific configuration parameters.
  • Step 3: Restart the Gitea service for the configuration changes to take effect.
  • Step 4: Communicate the enforced password policy to all Gitea users, highlighting the new requirements during account creation and password reset processes.

• Threats Mitigated:

  • Brute-Force Attacks - Severity: High
  • Credential Stuffing - Severity: High
  • Dictionary Attacks - Severity: Medium
  • Weak Password Guessing - Severity: Medium

• Impact:

  • Brute-Force Attacks: Medium Risk Reduction - Strong passwords increase the difficulty of brute-force attacks targeting Gitea logins.
  • Credential Stuffing: High Risk Reduction - Unique, complex passwords reduce the success rate of credential stuffing attacks using leaked password databases against Gitea accounts.
  • Dictionary Attacks: High Risk Reduction - Complex passwords are significantly less vulnerable to dictionary-based password cracking attempts on Gitea accounts.
  • Weak Password Guessing: High Risk Reduction - Enforces password complexity, preventing users from choosing easily guessable passwords for their Gitea accounts.

• Currently Implemented: Partially implemented. Gitea likely has configurable password complexity settings in app.ini, but the specific policy enforcement and user communication might be lacking.

• Missing Implementation: Formal documentation of the Gitea password policy, proactive communication of the policy to users, and potentially leveraging any advanced password policy features or plugins available within Gitea.

Mitigation Strategy: Implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) in Gitea

• Description:

  • Step 1: Enable MFA within Gitea's app.ini configuration file. Set ENABLE_MULTI_FACTOR_AUTH = true in the [security] section. Configure preferred MFA methods like TOTP or WebAuthn as supported by Gitea. Refer to Gitea documentation for specific MFA configuration options.
  • Step 2: Restart the Gitea service to activate MFA.
  • Step 3: Encourage or mandate MFA enrollment for all Gitea users, especially administrators and users with access to sensitive repositories, through Gitea's user settings interface.
  • Step 4: Provide clear instructions and support documentation to guide users through the MFA setup process within their Gitea user profiles.
  • Step 5: Monitor MFA adoption rates within Gitea and proactively encourage users who haven't enabled it to do so.

• Threats Mitigated:

  • Account Takeover (due to compromised Gitea passwords) - Severity: High
  • Phishing Attacks (targeting Gitea credentials) - Severity: Medium (reduces impact after credential compromise)
  • Insider Threats (rogue employees with stolen Gitea credentials) - Severity: Medium

• Impact:

  • Account Takeover: High Risk Reduction - MFA significantly reduces the risk of Gitea account takeover, even if passwords are compromised.
  • Phishing Attacks: Medium Risk Reduction - While phishing can still steal Gitea credentials, MFA prevents account access without the second factor, limiting the damage.
  • Insider Threats: Medium Risk Reduction - Adds an extra layer of security to Gitea accounts, even if internal credentials are known.

• Currently Implemented: Potentially partially implemented. Gitea supports MFA, but it might not be actively enforced or universally adopted by all users within the project.

• Missing Implementation: Mandatory MFA policy for critical Gitea roles, a structured user onboarding process that includes MFA setup, active monitoring of MFA enrollment across Gitea users, and a defined incident response plan for MFA-related security incidents within Gitea.

Mitigation Strategy: Utilize Gitea Branch Protection Features

• Description:

  • Step 1: Within Gitea, navigate to the settings of each repository requiring branch protection.
  • Step 2: Identify critical branches within each repository (e.g., main, master, release) that need protection.
  • Step 3: Configure branch protection rules for these branches through Gitea's repository settings interface.
  • Step 4: Enforce "Required Pull Request Reviews" before merging into protected branches. Define the necessary number of reviewers and specify reviewer groups or individuals within Gitea.
  • Step 5: Restrict "Direct Pushes" to protected branches, ensuring all code changes are submitted via pull requests within Gitea.
  • Step 6: Consider enabling other Gitea branch protection options like "Require status checks to pass before merging" to integrate with CI/CD pipelines and automated security checks.

• Threats Mitigated:

  • Accidental Code Changes to Production/Stable Gitea Branches - Severity: Medium
  • Malicious Code Injection (via compromised Gitea developer accounts or insiders) - Severity: High
  • Lack of Code Review for critical Gitea branches - Severity: Medium (indirectly mitigated by enforcing reviews)

• Impact:

  • Accidental Code Changes: High Risk Reduction - Prevents unintended, direct modifications to critical Gitea branches, ensuring code stability.
  • Malicious Code Injection: Medium Risk Reduction - The code review process enforced by Gitea branch protection adds a layer of defense against malicious code introduction, relying on reviewer vigilance within Gitea.
  • Lack of Code Review: High Risk Reduction - Gitea branch protection directly enforces code review for designated branches, improving code quality and security.

• Currently Implemented: Likely partially implemented. Gitea's branch protection features are available, but their consistent configuration across all repositories and critical branches might be inconsistent.

• Missing Implementation: A standardized branch protection policy applied consistently across all relevant Gitea repositories, regular audits of branch protection configurations within Gitea, and training for developers on effectively utilizing Gitea pull requests and code review workflows.

Mitigation Strategy: Implement Gitea Pre-Receive Hooks for Security Checks

• Description:

  • Step 1: Develop or acquire pre-receive hook scripts designed to perform security-focused checks on code pushed to Gitea repositories. These scripts can include:
    • Static Application Security Testing (SAST) scans tailored for the project's languages and frameworks.
    • Secret scanning to detect and prevent the commit of sensitive information (API keys, passwords) into Gitea repositories.
    • Custom code quality and security policy checks specific to the project.
  • Step 2: Configure these pre-receive hooks within Gitea. This typically involves placing the scripts in the repository's .git/hooks directory for initial testing and then configuring Gitea to execute them server-side. Refer to Gitea documentation on server-side hook management and configuration.
  • Step 3: Thoroughly test and refine the pre-receive hooks to ensure their effectiveness, minimize false positives, and avoid introducing excessive delays to the Git push process within Gitea.
  • Step 4: Establish a process for regularly updating and maintaining the pre-receive hook scripts to adapt to new vulnerabilities, evolving security best practices, and project-specific security requirements within Gitea.

• Threats Mitigated:

  • Introduction of Vulnerable Code into Gitea Repositories - Severity: Medium to High (depending on vulnerability type)
  • Accidental Exposure of Secrets within Gitea Repositories (API keys, passwords) - Severity: High
  • Code Quality Issues in Gitea Repositories - Severity: Low to Medium (indirectly mitigates potential vulnerabilities arising from poor code quality)

• Impact:

  • Introduction of Vulnerable Code: Medium Risk Reduction - SAST scans integrated into Gitea pre-receive hooks can detect many common vulnerabilities before code is merged, but may not catch all types of vulnerabilities.
  • Accidental Exposure of Secrets: High Risk Reduction - Secret scanning in Gitea pre-receive hooks can effectively prevent accidental commits of secrets, reducing the risk of exposure.
  • Code Quality Issues: Low to Medium Risk Reduction - Enforcing code quality checks through Gitea pre-receive hooks improves overall code quality, potentially reducing the likelihood of certain classes of vulnerabilities.

• Currently Implemented: Likely not implemented or only partially implemented. Pre-receive hooks require custom script development and Gitea server-side configuration, which is not a default Gitea setup.

• Missing Implementation: Development and deployment of pre-receive hook scripts specifically for security checks (SAST, secret scanning, custom security policies) within Gitea, integration of these hooks into Gitea's server-side hook configuration for relevant repositories, and ongoing maintenance and improvement of these Gitea security hooks.

Mitigation Strategy: Regularly Update the Gitea Instance

• Description:

  • Step 1: Subscribe to Gitea's official security advisories, release notes, and update channels to stay informed about new Gitea versions, security patches, and vulnerability disclosures.
  • Step 2: Establish a routine process for regularly checking for available Gitea updates. This could involve automated checks or scheduled manual reviews of Gitea release information.
  • Step 3: Plan and schedule updates to the latest stable version of Gitea. Prioritize security updates and patches. Implement a testing phase in a staging environment mirroring the production Gitea instance before applying updates to production.
  • Step 4: Apply security updates and patches to the production Gitea instance promptly after they are released and tested, minimizing the window of opportunity for vulnerability exploitation.
  • Step 5: Document the Gitea update process, maintain a detailed record of applied updates and versions, and establish rollback procedures in case of update failures.

• Threats Mitigated:

  • Exploitation of Known Gitea Vulnerabilities - Severity: High
  • Zero-Day Exploits targeting Gitea (reduced risk by staying up-to-date and patching quickly) - Severity: High

• Impact:

  • Exploitation of Known Gitea Vulnerabilities: High Risk Reduction - Applying Gitea updates and patches directly eliminates known vulnerabilities within the Gitea application itself.
  • Zero-Day Exploits targeting Gitea: Medium Risk Reduction - While updates cannot prevent zero-day exploits, a proactive and timely Gitea update strategy significantly reduces the time window during which a zero-day vulnerability could be exploited if discovered and patched by the Gitea project.

• Currently Implemented: Potentially inconsistently implemented. Gitea update processes might exist, but regular, timely updates, especially for security patches, might not be consistently prioritized or executed.

• Missing Implementation: A formalized Gitea update policy that mandates timely security updates, automated Gitea update checks and notifications, a dedicated staging environment for testing Gitea updates, a clearly documented Gitea update procedure including rollback steps, and regular audits of the currently running Gitea version and patch status.

Mitigation Strategy: Secure Gitea Configuration via app.ini Hardening

• Description:

  • Step 1: Conduct a thorough security review of the Gitea app.ini configuration file. Focus specifically on the [security] and [database] sections, but also review other sections for potential security implications.
  • Step 2: Ensure the SECRET_KEY in app.ini is a strong, randomly generated string of sufficient length. Regenerate it immediately if it is weak, default, or potentially compromised.
  • Step 3: Carefully evaluate the implications of disabling Git hooks (DISABLE_GIT_HOOKS) in app.ini. Generally, Git hooks should remain enabled for security and automation purposes. Only disable them if there is a compelling and well-understood reason.
  • Step 4: Enable CAPTCHA (ENABLE_CAPTCHA = true) for Gitea login and registration forms within app.ini to mitigate brute-force attacks targeting user authentication.
  • Step 5: Secure the database connection settings in app.ini. Use strong, unique credentials for the Gitea database user. Restrict database access to only the Gitea instance and consider using environment variables for sensitive database credentials instead of hardcoding them directly in app.ini.
  • Step 6: Disable or restrict any unnecessary features or services within Gitea by reviewing other sections of app.ini. Reducing the attack surface by disabling unused functionalities enhances security.
  • Step 7: Implement a process for regularly reviewing and auditing the app.ini configuration to ensure it remains securely configured and aligned with current security best practices for Gitea.

• Threats Mitigated:

  • Unauthorized Access to Gitea due to weak secrets - Severity: High
  • Brute-Force Attacks on Gitea Login/Registration - Severity: Medium
  • SQL Injection vulnerabilities (if database credentials are compromised or misconfigured in Gitea) - Severity: High
  • Privilege Escalation within Gitea (if unnecessary features are enabled and exploitable) - Severity: Medium

• Impact:

  • Unauthorized Access: High Risk Reduction - A strong SECRET_KEY in Gitea's app.ini protects against various attacks that rely on predictable or easily guessable secrets within the Gitea application.
  • Brute-Force Attacks: Medium Risk Reduction - Enabling CAPTCHA in Gitea makes automated brute-force attacks against login and registration significantly more difficult.
  • SQL Injection: Medium Risk Reduction - Secure database configuration within Gitea reduces the risk of SQL injection vulnerabilities arising from misconfigurations or vulnerabilities within Gitea itself.
  • Privilege Escalation: Medium Risk Reduction - Disabling unnecessary features in Gitea reduces the overall attack surface and the potential for exploitation of those features to achieve privilege escalation.

• Currently Implemented: Likely partially implemented. Basic Gitea configuration is in place, but specific security hardening steps within app.ini and regular security audits of the configuration might be missing.

• Missing Implementation: A formal security checklist for reviewing Gitea's app.ini configuration, systematic implementation of all recommended hardening settings within app.ini, automated configuration checks to detect deviations from secure settings, and a schedule for regular audits of app.ini to ensure ongoing security and compliance with best practices.