attack-surface.md

Attack Surface Analysis for coollabsio/coolify

Attack Surface: Web Interface Authentication Bypass

• Description: Unauthorized access to the Coolify web interface, allowing attackers to control the platform and managed infrastructure.
• Coolify Contribution: Coolify's web interface is the primary control panel for managing the entire platform. Weak authentication mechanisms or vulnerabilities in the authentication process directly expose this critical control point.
• Example:
  • Exploiting a vulnerability in the login form to bypass authentication.
  • Brute-forcing weak default credentials if they are not changed after installation.
  • Session hijacking due to insecure session management.
• Impact: Full control over the Coolify instance, including infrastructure, deployed applications, and user data. This can lead to data breaches, service disruption, and complete system compromise.
• Risk Severity: Critical
• Mitigation Strategies:
  • Developers:
    • Implement strong and secure authentication mechanisms (e.g., robust password policies, multi-factor authentication - MFA).
    • Regularly audit and penetration test the authentication and authorization logic.
    • Ensure proper session management with secure cookies and session invalidation.
    • Patch any identified authentication vulnerabilities promptly.
  • Users:
    • Use strong, unique passwords for all Coolify user accounts.
    • Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) if available.
    • Regularly review user accounts and permissions, removing unnecessary access.
    • Keep Coolify updated to the latest version to benefit from security patches.

Attack Surface: API Authentication Vulnerabilities

• Description: Unauthorized access to the Coolify API, enabling attackers to programmatically control the platform and its resources.
• Coolify Contribution: Coolify's API provides programmatic access to its functionalities, used for automation, integrations, and potentially by the web interface itself. Weak API authentication exposes this powerful interface.
• Example:
  • Exploiting vulnerabilities in API key generation, storage, or validation.
  • Leaking API keys through insecure channels or misconfigurations.
  • Lack of proper authorization checks on API endpoints, allowing access to unauthorized resources.
• Impact: Similar to web interface bypass, attackers gain programmatic control over Coolify, leading to infrastructure manipulation, data breaches, and service disruption.
• Risk Severity: Critical
• Mitigation Strategies:
  • Developers:
    • Implement robust API authentication mechanisms (e.g., API keys, OAuth 2.0, JWT).
    • Ensure secure storage and handling of API keys.
    • Implement proper authorization checks on all API endpoints, following the principle of least privilege.
    • Implement rate limiting and abuse prevention mechanisms to protect against brute-force attacks on API authentication.
    • Regularly audit and penetration test the API security.
  • Users:
    • Securely store and manage API keys, avoiding hardcoding them in scripts or configuration files.
    • Use API keys with the least necessary privileges.
    • Rotate API keys regularly.
    • Monitor API access logs for suspicious activity.

Attack Surface: Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) in Web Interface/API

• Description: Coolify, acting on user-provided input, makes requests to internal or external resources that it should not access, potentially allowing attackers to access internal networks or sensitive services.
• Coolify Contribution: Features like fetching remote repositories, accessing external services during application deployment, or webhook integrations could be vulnerable to SSRF if user-provided URLs or parameters are not properly validated.
• Example:
  • An attacker provides a malicious URL to Coolify during application deployment (e.g., repository URL, webhook URL) that targets internal infrastructure or cloud metadata services to extract sensitive information or perform actions within the internal network.
  • Exploiting a vulnerability in a Coolify feature that fetches external resources based on user input without proper validation.
• Impact: Access to internal network resources, information disclosure (e.g., cloud metadata, internal service configurations), potential remote code execution on backend servers if internal services are vulnerable.
• Risk Severity: High
• Mitigation Strategies:
  • Developers:
    • Implement strict input validation and sanitization for all user-provided URLs and parameters used in server-side requests.
    • Use URL allowlisting to restrict the domains and protocols that Coolify can access.
    • Implement network segmentation to isolate Coolify backend services from internal networks.
    • Avoid directly using user input to construct URLs for server-side requests. Use URL parsing and validation libraries.
    • Disable or restrict access to sensitive internal services from Coolify backend servers.
  • Users:
    • Be cautious when providing URLs to Coolify, especially for external repositories or webhooks.
    • Monitor network traffic from the Coolify server for unexpected external requests.
    • Implement network security measures to protect internal networks from potential SSRF attacks originating from Coolify.

Attack Surface: Command Injection via Agent Communication

• Description: Attackers inject malicious commands that are executed by Coolify agents on target servers, leading to remote code execution on those servers.
• Coolify Contribution: Coolify server communicates with agents on target servers to perform deployment and management tasks. If the command communication and execution are not secure, it can be vulnerable to command injection.
• Example:
  • Exploiting a vulnerability in how Coolify server constructs commands sent to agents, allowing injection of arbitrary OS commands.
  • Manipulating parameters in deployment configurations that are passed to agent commands without proper sanitization.
• Impact: Remote code execution on target servers managed by Coolify, leading to server compromise, data breaches, and potential lateral movement within the infrastructure.
• Risk Severity: Critical
• Mitigation Strategies:
  • Developers:
    • Implement secure command construction and execution mechanisms. Avoid directly concatenating user input into commands.
    • Use parameterized commands or secure command execution libraries that prevent injection.
    • Strictly validate and sanitize all input used in commands sent to agents.
    • Implement least privilege principles for agent processes, limiting their access to system resources.
    • Regularly audit and penetration test the agent communication and command execution logic.
  • Users:
    • Ensure that the communication channel between Coolify server and agents is secure (e.g., using encrypted protocols).
    • Monitor agent logs for suspicious command execution attempts.
    • Harden target servers and implement intrusion detection systems to detect and prevent command injection attacks.

Attack Surface: Insecure Secrets Management

• Description: Weak storage, exposure, or handling of sensitive secrets (API keys, database credentials, etc.) within Coolify, leading to potential compromise of these secrets.
• Coolify Contribution: Coolify manages secrets for applications and infrastructure, including database credentials, API keys for integrations, and other sensitive configuration data. Insecure secret management directly exposes these critical assets.
• Example:
  • Storing secrets in plain text in configuration files, databases, or environment variables.
  • Exposing secrets in logs, error messages, or backups.
  • Lack of proper access controls to secrets, allowing unauthorized users or processes to access them.
• Impact: Data breaches, unauthorized access to services and applications, compromise of infrastructure components, and potential lateral movement within the system.
• Risk Severity: Critical
• Mitigation Strategies:
  • Developers:
    • Implement secure secret storage mechanisms, such as encrypted vaults or dedicated secrets management systems (e.g., HashiCorp Vault, Kubernetes Secrets).
    • Encrypt secrets at rest and in transit.
    • Implement strict access controls to secrets, following the principle of least privilege.
    • Avoid hardcoding secrets in code or configuration files.
    • Implement secret rotation policies.
    • Redact or mask secrets in logs and error messages.
  • Users:
    • Utilize Coolify's provided secrets management features securely.
    • Avoid storing secrets in plain text anywhere within the Coolify environment.
    • Regularly review and rotate secrets managed by Coolify.
    • Monitor access to secrets and investigate any suspicious activity.