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attack-surface.md

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Attack Surface Analysis for apache/skywalking

Attack Surface: Unauthenticated gRPC/HTTP Endpoints on OAP Server

  • Description: The Observability Analysis Platform (OAP) server exposes gRPC and HTTP ports for agent communication and UI/API access. When authentication is disabled or misconfigured, these endpoints are accessible without authorization.
  • SkyWalking Contribution: SkyWalking OAP's design inherently requires these network endpoints for core functionality, creating this attack surface if security measures are not implemented.
  • Example: An attacker discovers an exposed OAP gRPC port (default 11800) without authentication. They can send crafted gRPC requests to overload the server, inject fabricated telemetry data, or attempt to exploit potential vulnerabilities in gRPC handling.
  • Impact:
    • Data Breach: Unauthorized access to sensitive monitoring data.
    • Data Manipulation: Injection of false data, leading to inaccurate insights and potentially flawed operational decisions.
    • Denial of Service (DoS): Overwhelming the OAP server, disrupting monitoring capabilities.
    • System Compromise: Potential exploitation of vulnerabilities through exposed endpoints, leading to further system compromise.
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Mandatory Authentication and Authorization: Enforce authentication for all gRPC and HTTP endpoints on the OAP server. Utilize SkyWalking's supported authentication mechanisms and choose a robust method.
    • Network Isolation: Deploy the OAP server within a secure, segmented network, restricting direct public internet exposure. Employ firewalls to limit access to only essential sources (agents, authorized users/systems).
    • Continuous Security Monitoring: Implement ongoing monitoring of network traffic to and from the OAP server to detect and respond to suspicious activities and unauthorized access attempts.

Attack Surface: Data Injection and Manipulation via Malicious Telemetry Data

  • Description: The OAP server processes telemetry data from SkyWalking agents. Insufficient data validation and sanitization can allow attackers to inject malicious data through compromised agents or by intercepting unencrypted agent traffic.
  • SkyWalking Contribution: SkyWalking's fundamental purpose is telemetry data ingestion and processing. This data pipeline is the direct entry point for this attack surface.
  • Example: An attacker compromises a SkyWalking agent or intercepts unencrypted agent communication. They inject malicious telemetry data containing fabricated metrics, logs with injection payloads, or traces designed to exploit deserialization flaws within the OAP server.
  • Impact:
    • Misleading Observability: Injected false data corrupts monitoring accuracy, leading to incorrect analysis, alerts, and potentially flawed operational responses.
    • Log Injection Attacks: Malicious code injected into logs can be executed when logs are viewed or processed by other systems.
    • Denial of Service (DoS): Malformed data can crash the OAP server or exhaust resources, disrupting monitoring.
    • Remote Code Execution (RCE): Exploitation of deserialization vulnerabilities in OAP through crafted telemetry data.
  • Risk Severity: High (escalating to Critical if deserialization vulnerabilities are exploitable for RCE)
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Enforce TLS/SSL Encryption for Agent Communication: Mandate TLS/SSL encryption for all communication between SkyWalking agents and the OAP server to prevent data interception and tampering during transit.
    • Rigorous Input Validation and Sanitization: Implement comprehensive input validation and sanitization on the OAP server for all incoming telemetry data. Validate data types, formats, and ranges, and sanitize data to prevent injection attacks.
    • Minimize Deserialization Risks: Reduce or eliminate the use of deserialization for processing incoming data formats where feasible. If deserialization is necessary, employ secure deserialization practices and maintain up-to-date deserialization libraries.
    • Agent Authentication and Authorization: Implement robust agent authentication and authorization mechanisms to ensure only verified SkyWalking agents can transmit data to the OAP server.

Attack Surface: Storage Layer Exploits Through OAP Server

  • Description: The OAP server interacts with backend storage systems (e.g., Elasticsearch, H2, MySQL) to persist telemetry data. Vulnerabilities in OAP's interaction with the storage or within the storage system itself can be exploited.
  • SkyWalking Contribution: SkyWalking's architecture relies on a storage backend for data persistence, making it susceptible to storage layer vulnerabilities through its interaction points.
  • Example: If Elasticsearch is used as storage, and OAP constructs Elasticsearch queries without proper sanitization (though less common in standard SkyWalking usage, but possible in custom extensions), an attacker might inject Elasticsearch query syntax to gain unauthorized data access or perform malicious actions on the Elasticsearch cluster via OAP.
  • Impact:
    • Data Breach: Unauthorized access to sensitive monitoring data stored in the backend storage system.
    • Data Manipulation: Modification or deletion of critical monitoring data within the storage backend.
    • Denial of Service (DoS): Overloading the storage layer or exploiting storage vulnerabilities to cause service disruption.
    • System Compromise: Potential for further compromise if storage system vulnerabilities are exploited to gain broader access.
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Harden Storage Backend Security: Implement robust security hardening measures for the chosen storage backend, following its security best practices. This includes strong access controls, regular security patching, and secure configuration.
    • Principle of Least Privilege for OAP Storage Access: Configure OAP's access to the storage backend with the principle of least privilege. Grant only the minimum necessary permissions required for OAP to function correctly.
    • Secure Query Construction Practices: Ensure OAP constructs queries to the storage backend securely, preventing injection vulnerabilities. Utilize parameterized queries or employ ORM frameworks that inherently mitigate injection risks.
    • Regular Storage Layer Security Audits: Conduct periodic security audits of the storage backend's configuration and access controls to ensure ongoing security and compliance.

Attack Surface: Weak Authentication and Authorization on OAP UI and APIs

  • Description: Inadequate or absent authentication and authorization mechanisms for the OAP UI and APIs allow unauthorized access to sensitive monitoring data and potentially administrative functionalities.
  • SkyWalking Contribution: SkyWalking provides a web-based UI and potentially APIs for interacting with monitoring data. These interfaces become attack vectors if not properly secured with strong authentication and authorization.
  • Example: Default credentials are used for the OAP UI, or a weak password policy is enforced. An attacker gains unauthorized access to the UI and can view sensitive monitoring data, modify configurations, or perform administrative actions if APIs are exposed without proper authorization controls.
  • Impact:
    • Data Breach: Unauthorized access to and potential exfiltration of sensitive monitoring data displayed in the UI and accessible via APIs.
    • Unauthorized Configuration Changes: Modification of OAP settings through the UI or APIs, potentially disrupting monitoring or weakening security posture.
    • Account Takeover: Compromise of user accounts due to weak authentication, leading to unauthorized access and control.
    • Abuse of UI/API Functionality: Unauthorized users can misuse UI and API functionalities, potentially disrupting monitoring operations or gaining further access to the SkyWalking system.
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Implement Strong Authentication Mechanisms: Enforce strong authentication for the OAP UI and APIs. This includes:
      • Mandatory Change of Default Credentials: Immediately change all default credentials for administrative accounts.
      • Enforce Strong Password Policies: Implement and enforce robust password policies (complexity, length, regular rotation).
      • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Enable and require MFA for administrative and sensitive user accounts to add an extra layer of security.
      • Integrate with Enterprise Identity Providers: Integrate SkyWalking authentication with established enterprise identity providers (e.g., LDAP, Active Directory, OAuth 2.0) for centralized and robust authentication management.
    • Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Implement granular Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to manage access to UI features and API endpoints based on user roles and privileges, ensuring least privilege access.
    • Regular Authentication/Authorization Security Audits: Conduct periodic security audits of authentication and authorization configurations to verify their effectiveness and identify any misconfigurations or weaknesses.

Attack Surface: Dependency Vulnerabilities in OAP and Agents

  • Description: OAP and SkyWalking agents rely on numerous third-party libraries and frameworks. Known vulnerabilities in these dependencies can be exploited to compromise SkyWalking components.
  • SkyWalking Contribution: SkyWalking's software architecture, like most modern applications, relies on external libraries. This dependency chain introduces the inherent risk of inheriting vulnerabilities present in these external components.
  • Example: OAP utilizes a vulnerable version of a web framework or a serialization library. A publicly disclosed vulnerability in this library allows for remote code execution. An attacker exploits this vulnerability to gain control of the OAP server.
  • Impact:
    • Remote Code Execution (RCE): On the OAP server or SkyWalking agents, allowing attackers to gain full control of the compromised system.
    • Denial of Service (DoS): Exploitation of vulnerable dependencies to cause crashes or resource exhaustion, leading to service disruption.
    • Information Disclosure: Exploitation of vulnerabilities to leak sensitive information from the OAP server or agents.
  • Risk Severity: Critical
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Automated Dependency Scanning: Implement automated dependency scanning tools to regularly scan OAP and agent dependencies for known vulnerabilities. Integrate these scans into the CI/CD pipeline.
    • Proactive Patching and Updates: Establish a process for promptly patching and updating OAP, agents, and their dependencies with the latest security updates. Closely monitor SkyWalking release notes and security advisories for vulnerability information.
    • Vulnerability Management Process: Develop and implement a comprehensive vulnerability management process to track, prioritize, and remediate identified dependency vulnerabilities effectively.
    • Software Composition Analysis (SCA): Utilize Software Composition Analysis (SCA) tools to gain deep visibility into the software bill of materials, manage open-source risks, and automate vulnerability detection and remediation.

Attack Surface: Agent Configuration Exposure and Manipulation Leading to OAP Credential Leakage

  • Description: If SkyWalking agent configurations are not properly secured, they can expose sensitive information, particularly OAP server credentials, or be manipulated by attackers to redirect data or impersonate agents.
  • SkyWalking Contribution: SkyWalking agents require configuration to connect to the OAP server. This configuration process, if not handled securely, creates a potential attack surface.
  • Example: Agent configuration files containing OAP server addresses and authentication tokens are stored in plaintext in version control systems or are accessible to unauthorized users on application servers. An attacker gains access to these configuration files, retrieves OAP credentials, and can then potentially impersonate agents, redirect monitoring data to a malicious OAP server, or even attempt to access the legitimate OAP server with stolen credentials.
  • Impact:
    • Exposure of Sensitive Credentials: Leakage of OAP server credentials, potentially allowing unauthorized access and control over the OAP infrastructure.
    • Agent Impersonation: Attackers can impersonate legitimate agents, sending malicious or fabricated data to the OAP server, corrupting monitoring data.
    • Data Redirection: Agents can be maliciously reconfigured to send monitoring data to an attacker-controlled OAP server, leading to data exfiltration or manipulation.
    • System Compromise: Potential for broader system compromise if leaked OAP credentials are used to gain further access to the OAP server or related systems.
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Secure Agent Configuration Storage: Store agent configurations securely and avoid storing sensitive information in plaintext in easily accessible locations or version control systems.
    • Implement Secure Configuration Management: Utilize secure configuration management practices to deploy and manage agent configurations, ensuring confidentiality and integrity.
    • Principle of Least Privilege for Agent Access: Restrict access to agent configuration files and directories to only authorized users and processes, following the principle of least privilege.
    • Configuration Encryption and Secrets Management: Encrypt sensitive information within agent configuration files and leverage dedicated secrets management systems to securely store and manage OAP credentials and other sensitive configuration parameters.

Attack Surface: Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) Vulnerabilities in SkyWalking UI Leading to Account Hijacking

  • Description: The SkyWalking UI, like any web application, is vulnerable to Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) if user inputs or data retrieved from the OAP server are not properly sanitized before being displayed.
  • SkyWalking Contribution: The SkyWalking UI is a web application component that displays monitoring data. This UI component introduces the standard web application attack surface of XSS.
  • Example: The SkyWalking UI displays log messages or trace details without proper HTML encoding. An attacker injects malicious JavaScript code into a log message. When another user views this log message in the UI, the malicious script executes in their browser, potentially stealing session cookies or performing actions on behalf of the user.
  • Impact:
    • Account Hijacking: XSS can be exploited to steal user session cookies, allowing attackers to impersonate legitimate users and gain unauthorized access to the SkyWalking UI and potentially OAP server functionalities.
    • UI Defacement: Attackers can use XSS to modify the content of the UI pages, potentially defacing monitoring dashboards and disrupting usability.
    • Redirection to Malicious Sites: XSS can be used to redirect users to attacker-controlled malicious websites, potentially leading to further compromise.
    • Client-Side Exploitation: Potential for further attacks by exploiting client-side vulnerabilities through malicious scripts injected via XSS.
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Robust Input Sanitization and Output Encoding: Implement rigorous input sanitization and context-aware output encoding throughout the SkyWalking UI codebase. Sanitize all user inputs and encode data retrieved from the OAP server before rendering it in web pages. Use appropriate output encoding based on the context (e.g., HTML encoding for HTML content, JavaScript encoding for JavaScript context).
    • Implement Content Security Policy (CSP): Deploy a strong Content Security Policy (CSP) to mitigate the impact of XSS vulnerabilities by strictly controlling the sources from which the browser is allowed to load resources, reducing the attack surface.
    • Regular Security Testing of UI: Conduct frequent security testing, including dedicated XSS vulnerability scanning and penetration testing, of the SkyWalking UI to identify and remediate potential XSS vulnerabilities proactively.