threat-modeling.md

Threat Model Analysis for spring-projects/spring-boot

Threat: Unsecured Actuator Endpoint Exposure

Description: Attackers can access sensitive actuator endpoints (e.g., /actuator/env, /actuator/metrics, /actuator/health) if they are not properly secured. They can enumerate these endpoints using common paths and access them directly via HTTP requests if no authentication or authorization is in place. This allows attackers to gather information about the application's environment, configuration, and internal state.

Impact: Information disclosure (environment variables, configuration details, application metrics, internal paths), potential for further attacks based on exposed information, denial of service (if shutdown endpoint is exposed and misused).

Affected Spring Boot Component: Spring Boot Actuator Module

Risk Severity: High

Mitigation Strategies:

• Secure actuator endpoints using Spring Security.
• Implement authentication and authorization for actuator endpoints.
• Use management.endpoints.web.exposure.include to explicitly define exposed endpoints.
• Use management.endpoints.web.exposure.exclude to restrict endpoint exposure.
• Disable actuator endpoints in production if not necessary using management.endpoints.enabled: false.
• Change default actuator endpoint base path using management.endpoints.web.base-path.

Threat: Vulnerable Transitive Dependencies

Description: Spring Boot starters include numerous transitive dependencies. Attackers can exploit known vulnerabilities in these dependencies. They can identify vulnerable libraries by analyzing the application's dependencies (e.g., using dependency tree tools or vulnerability scanners) and then craft attacks targeting those specific vulnerabilities.

Impact: Application compromise, remote code execution, data breaches, denial of service, depending on the specific vulnerability in the dependency.

Affected Spring Boot Component: Spring Boot Dependency Management, Maven/Gradle build system

Risk Severity: High

Mitigation Strategies:

• Regularly update Spring Boot version to benefit from dependency updates.
• Use dependency vulnerability scanning tools (e.g., OWASP Dependency-Check, Snyk) to identify vulnerable dependencies.
• Monitor security advisories for Spring Boot and its dependencies.
• Apply dependency updates and patches promptly.
• Utilize Spring Boot's dependency management to ensure consistent and managed dependency versions.

Threat: Spring Security Misconfiguration

Description: When using Spring Security, misconfigurations in security rules, authentication mechanisms, or authorization policies can create vulnerabilities. Attackers can exploit these misconfigurations to bypass authentication or authorization checks, gaining unauthorized access to protected resources or functionalities. This could involve crafting specific requests that bypass incorrectly defined security filters or exploiting flaws in custom security logic.

Impact: Authentication bypass, authorization bypass, access control violations, data breaches, unauthorized actions.

Affected Spring Boot Component: Spring Security integration, Spring Security module

Risk Severity: Critical

Mitigation Strategies:

• Thoroughly test and review Spring Security configurations.
• Follow security best practices for authentication and authorization.
• Use security linters and static analysis tools to detect misconfigurations in Spring Security configurations.
• Implement comprehensive security testing, including penetration testing, to validate security configurations.
• Adopt a principle of least privilege for authorization rules.

Threat: Embedded Server Vulnerabilities

Description: Spring Boot applications rely on embedded servers like Tomcat, Jetty, or Undertow. Attackers can exploit known vulnerabilities in these embedded servers. They can target specific vulnerabilities by identifying the server type and version used by the application (often revealed in server headers or error messages) and then crafting exploits for those known weaknesses.

Impact: Remote code execution, denial of service, information disclosure, depending on the specific vulnerability in the embedded server.

Affected Spring Boot Component: Embedded Web Servers (Tomcat, Jetty, Undertow)

Risk Severity: High

Mitigation Strategies:

• Regularly update Spring Boot version, which typically updates embedded server versions.
• Stay informed about security advisories for the embedded server in use.
• Consider using a supported and actively maintained embedded server version.
• Monitor for and apply security patches released for the embedded server.

Threat: Mass Assignment Vulnerabilities

Description: Spring Boot's data binding can lead to mass assignment vulnerabilities if not carefully controlled. Attackers can manipulate request parameters to modify fields that should not be directly modifiable, potentially altering critical application state or data. They can achieve this by sending requests with unexpected parameters that match field names in domain objects, bypassing intended access controls.

Impact: Unauthorized modification of data, privilege escalation, data corruption, business logic bypass.

Affected Spring Boot Component: Spring MVC Data Binding, Jackson (for JSON binding)

Risk Severity: High

Mitigation Strategies:

• Use Data Transfer Objects (DTOs) to control data binding and decouple request data from domain entities.
• Explicitly define allowed fields for binding using annotations like @JsonProperty and validation annotations.
• Avoid binding directly to domain entities from request parameters.
• Implement proper input validation and sanitization to reject unexpected or malicious input.
• Use @ConstructorBinding or @ConfigurationPropertiesScan with caution and review bound properties.

Threat: SpEL Injection (If Used)

Description: If Spring Expression Language (SpEL) is used dynamically based on user input, attackers can inject malicious SpEL expressions. They can achieve this by providing crafted input that is then evaluated as SpEL, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution on the server. This is especially dangerous if SpEL is used in security contexts or in areas where user input is processed without proper sanitization.

Impact: Remote code execution, complete server compromise, data breaches, denial of service.

Affected Spring Boot Component: Spring Expression Language (SpEL), Spring Security Expression-Based Access Control (if used with SpEL)

Risk Severity: Critical

Mitigation Strategies:

• Avoid using SpEL dynamically with user-controlled input whenever possible.
• If dynamic SpEL is necessary, carefully sanitize and validate input to prevent injection.
• Use parameterized queries or safer alternatives to dynamic expression evaluation.
• Implement strict input validation and output encoding for any user-provided data that might be used in SpEL expressions.
• Regularly review and audit SpEL usage in the application code.
• Consider using a secure expression language or templating engine if dynamic expressions are required.