Mitigation Strategies Analysis for laravel-backpack/crud

Mitigation Strategy: Strictly Define CRUD Operations

Description:

Identify Required Operations: For each entity managed by a CRUD controller (e.g., Product, User, Article), determine the absolute minimum set of CRUD operations (create, read, update, delete, list, show, reorder, revise) that users need to perform.
Explicitly Deny Access: In each CRUD Controller (e.g., ProductCrudController.php), within the setup() method, use $this->crud->denyAccess(['operation1', 'operation2', ...]); to explicitly disable any operations that are not required. For example: $this->crud->denyAccess(['create', 'update', 'delete']); to allow only listing and viewing of records.
Operation-Specific Setup: If different operations require different configurations (e.g., different fields, different validation), use operation-specific setup methods like setupListOperation(), setupCreateOperation(), etc., and call denyAccess() within those if needed to further refine access control.
Regular Review: Periodically review the enabled operations for each CRUD controller to ensure they still align with the application's requirements and user roles.

Threats Mitigated:

Unauthorized Data Creation (High Severity): Prevents users from creating new records via the CRUD interface if they shouldn't.
Unauthorized Data Modification (High Severity): Prevents users from updating existing records via the CRUD interface if they shouldn't.
Unauthorized Data Deletion (High Severity): Prevents users from deleting records via the CRUD interface if they shouldn't.
Unauthorized Data Access (Medium to High Severity): Limits access to specific CRUD operations, reducing the attack surface within the Backpack admin panel.

Impact:

Unauthorized Data Creation: Risk reduced to near zero for disabled operations within the CRUD interface.
Unauthorized Data Modification: Risk reduced to near zero for disabled operations within the CRUD interface.
Unauthorized Data Deletion: Risk reduced to near zero for disabled operations within the CRUD interface.
Unauthorized Data Access: Significantly reduces the risk by limiting the available actions within the CRUD interface.

Currently Implemented:

ProductCrudController: denyAccess(['create', 'delete']) implemented in setup().
UserCrudController: denyAccess(['create']) implemented in setup().

Missing Implementation:

ArticleCrudController: All operations are currently enabled. Needs review and restriction based on user roles.
CommentCrudController: Missing denyAccess() calls; all operations are enabled.

Mitigation Strategy: Leverage Backpack's Permission System (Pro/DevTools)

Description:

Define Granular Permissions: In config/backpack/permissions.php (or your chosen configuration file), define fine-grained permissions for each entity and each CRUD operation. Example: products.create, products.edit, products.list, products.delete, users.view, users.manage. Avoid broad permissions like "manage_products".
Assign Permissions to Roles: Create roles (e.g., "Admin", "Editor", "Viewer") and assign the appropriate, specific permissions to each role.
Check Permissions in Controllers: Within each CRUD Controller, use $this->crud->user()->hasPermissionTo('permission_name') within the relevant methods (e.g., setup(), setupCreateOperation(), and other operation-specific methods). This checks if the logged-in user has the required permission before allowing access to the operation or displaying specific fields/columns within the CRUD interface.
Conditional Logic: Use if statements based on the result of hasPermissionTo() to control the flow of execution and determine what the user can see and do within the CRUD interface. This includes showing/hiding buttons, fields, and columns.

Threats Mitigated:

Unauthorized Access (High Severity): Provides fine-grained control over access to all CRUD operations and features within the Backpack admin panel.
Privilege Escalation (High Severity): Prevents users from performing actions beyond their assigned permissions within the CRUD interface.
Data Breach (High Severity): Limits the potential damage from a compromised account by restricting access based on permissions, even within the admin panel.

Impact:

Unauthorized Access: Risk significantly reduced; access is strictly controlled by permissions within the CRUD context.
Privilege Escalation: Risk significantly reduced; users can only perform actions allowed by their permissions within the CRUD interface.
Data Breach: Reduces the scope of a potential breach by limiting data access within the admin panel.

Currently Implemented:

Basic roles and permissions defined in config/backpack/permissions.php.
UserCrudController: Uses hasPermissionTo() checks for managing users.

Missing Implementation:

ProductCrudController, ArticleCrudController, CommentCrudController: No permission checks implemented; relying solely on denyAccess(). Needs to be fully integrated with the permission system.
Permissions are not granular enough (e.g., only "manage_products", not "products.create", "products.edit", etc.). Needs refinement to be operation-specific.

Mitigation Strategy: Field-Level Access Control

Description:

Identify Sensitive Fields: Within each entity managed by a CRUD controller, determine which fields contain sensitive data or should only be editable by specific users or roles.
Use 'access' Key: In your field definitions within the CRUD Controller (e.g., in setupCreateOperation(), setupUpdateOperation()), add the 'access' key to the field configuration array.
Define Access Logic: The 'access' key can be:
- true: Always allow access to the field.
- false: Always deny access to the field (it will not be displayed).
- A closure: A function that returns true or false based on conditions. The closure can access the current $entry (if editing) and the logged-in user ($this->crud->user()). This allows for dynamic access control.

Example:

[
    'name' => 'secret_field',
    'label' => 'Secret Field',
    'type' => 'text',
    'access' => function ($entry, $user) {
        return $user->hasRole('admin'); // Only admins can see/edit this field
    }
],

Alternative: removeField(): Alternatively, use $this->crud->removeField('field_name'); or $this->crud->removeFields(['field1', 'field2']); conditionally within your operation setup methods (e.g., setupCreateOperation(), setupUpdateOperation()) to completely remove fields based on user roles or permissions. This is a more direct way to hide fields.

Threats Mitigated:

Unauthorized Data Modification (High Severity): Prevents unauthorized users from editing specific fields within the CRUD interface.
Data Disclosure (Medium to High Severity): Prevents sensitive fields from being displayed to unauthorized users within the CRUD forms.

Impact:

Unauthorized Data Modification: Risk significantly reduced for protected fields within the CRUD interface.
Data Disclosure: Risk significantly reduced for protected fields within the CRUD interface.

Currently Implemented:

UserCrudController: 'access' key used to restrict editing of the password field to only admins.

Missing Implementation:

ProductCrudController: No field-level access control implemented. Fields like cost_price should be restricted based on user roles.
ArticleCrudController: No field-level access control. Fields like publication_date might need restrictions for certain roles.

Mitigation Strategy: Column-Level Access Control (List View)

Description:

Identify Sensitive Columns: Within each entity's list view (the main table displaying records), determine which columns display sensitive data that should be hidden from certain users or roles.
Use 'access' Key (Similar to Fields): In your column definitions within the setupListOperation() method of your CRUD Controller, add the 'access' key to the column configuration array. The logic is the same as for fields (boolean or closure).

Example:

$this->crud->addColumn([
    'name' => 'cost_price',
    'label' => 'Cost Price',
    'access' => function ($entry, $user) {
        return $user->hasRole('admin'); // Only admins can see this column in the list view
    }
]);

Alternative: removeColumn(): Alternatively, use $this->crud->removeColumn('column_name'); or $this->crud->removeColumns(['col1', 'col2']); conditionally within setupListOperation() to completely remove columns from the list view based on user roles or permissions.

Threats Mitigated:

Data Disclosure (Medium to High Severity): Prevents sensitive columns from being displayed in the CRUD list view to unauthorized users.

Impact:

Data Disclosure: Risk significantly reduced for protected columns within the CRUD list view.

Currently Implemented:

UserCrudController: removeColumn('password') is used to prevent the password hash from being displayed in the list view.

Missing Implementation:

ProductCrudController: cost_price column is visible to all users who can access the list view. Needs 'access' control or removal based on user roles.
ArticleCrudController: No column-level access control implemented.

Mitigation Strategy: Custom Filters with Access Control

Description:

Review Custom Filter Logic: If you have created custom filters for your CRUD interfaces, carefully examine the apply() method (or the equivalent method where the filter logic is implemented) of your custom filter class.
Check Permissions: Within the apply() method, before applying the filter to the query, check if the logged-in user has the necessary permissions to access the data that would be returned by the filter. Use $this->crud->user()->hasPermissionTo() with an appropriate permission name.
Conditional Filtering: Only apply the filter to the query if the user has the required permission. If the user does not have permission, either:
- Return the query unmodified (effectively disabling the filter for that user).
- Throw an authorization exception (e.g., abort(403)). This will prevent the user from seeing any results.
Don't Trust Input: Do not blindly trust the filter input values provided by the user. Validate the filter input to prevent malicious manipulation or injection attacks.

Threats Mitigated:

Unauthorized Data Access (Medium to High Severity): Prevents users from using custom filters to bypass access controls and view unauthorized data through the CRUD interface.
Data Manipulation (Medium Severity): Prevents malicious filter input from altering the query in unexpected ways, potentially leading to data leakage or other issues.

Impact:

Unauthorized Data Access: Risk significantly reduced if filters properly enforce permissions within the CRUD context.
Data Manipulation: Risk reduced by validating filter input within the CRUD context.

Currently Implemented:

No custom filters are currently implemented in the project.

Missing Implementation:

If custom filters are added in the future, they must include permission checks and input validation within their apply() method.

Mitigation Strategy: Operation-Specific Validation

Description:

Identify Operation-Specific Rules: Determine if the validation rules for creating a resource are different from the rules for updating it. For example, a password field might be required when creating a user but not when updating other user details. Different operations often have different validation needs.
Use setValidation(): Within your CRUD Controller, use $this->crud->setValidation() within the setupCreateOperation() and setupUpdateOperation() methods (and any other relevant operation setup methods, like setupReorderOperation()).
Define Operation-Specific Rules: Pass an array of validation rules to setValidation(), or pass a Form Request class (recommended for more complex validation scenarios). This overrides any model-level validation for that specific CRUD operation.

Example (array):

// In setupCreateOperation()
$this->crud->setValidation([
    'name' => 'required|min:3',
    'email' => 'required|email|unique:users,email',
    'password' => 'required|min:8|confirmed',
]);

// In setupUpdateOperation()
$this->crud->setValidation([
    'name' => 'required|min:3',
    'email' => 'required|email|unique:users,email,' . $this->crud->getCurrentEntryId(), // Unique, except for the current entry being updated
]);

Example (Form Request):

// In setupCreateOperation()
$this->crud->setValidation(CreateUserRequest::class);

// In setupUpdateOperation()
$this->crud->setValidation(UpdateUserRequest::class);

Consistency: Ensure that your validation rules are consistent with your field definitions (e.g., required fields, data types).

Threats Mitigated:

Data Integrity Issues (Medium to High Severity): Ensures that data entered through the CRUD interface is valid for the specific operation being performed, preventing inconsistent or invalid data from being stored.
Injection Attacks (High Severity): While general input validation is assumed, operation-specific validation within the CRUD context can provide an additional layer of defense against injection attacks by enforcing stricter rules for specific fields during specific operations.

Impact:

Data Integrity Issues: Risk significantly reduced by enforcing appropriate validation rules within each CRUD operation.
Injection Attacks: Provides an additional layer of defense, but general input validation and output encoding are still crucial. This focuses the validation within the CRUD workflow.

Currently Implemented:

UserCrudController: Uses separate Form Requests for create and update operations.

Missing Implementation:

ProductCrudController, ArticleCrudController, CommentCrudController: Relying solely on model-level validation. Needs operation-specific validation, especially for update operations, to be implemented within the CRUD controllers.

Mitigation Strategy: Revisions Feature (Specific to CRUD)

Description:

Identify Sensitive Fields: If using Backpack's revisions feature, determine which fields in your models contain sensitive data that should not be tracked in revisions (e.g., passwords, API keys, personally identifiable information).

Use $dontKeepRevisionOf: In your Eloquent models that use the RevisionableTrait (provided by the venturecraft/revisionable package, which Backpack uses), add the $dontKeepRevisionOf property. This property is an array of field names that should be excluded from being tracked in revisions.

class User extends Model
{
    use \Backpack\CRUD\app\Models\Traits\CrudTrait;
    use \Venturecraft\Revisionable\RevisionableTrait;

    protected $dontKeepRevisionOf = [
        'password',
        'remember_token',
        'api_key',
    ];
}

Review Existing Revisions (if applicable): If you are enabling revisions on an existing model, or if you have changed the $dontKeepRevisionOf array, you may need to manually review and delete old revisions that contain sensitive data. This is a one-time cleanup task.
Access Control for Revisions (within CRUD): Ensure that only authorized users can view and revert to old revisions through the Backpack interface. Use Backpack's permission system (if you have Pro/DevTools) or integrate with Laravel Policies to control access to the revision history within the CRUD context. This might involve checking permissions within a custom revisions.blade.php view or within the revisions() method of your CRUD controller.

Threats Mitigated:

Data Disclosure (Medium to High Severity): Prevents sensitive data from being exposed in old revisions accessible through the Backpack CRUD interface.
Data Breach (High Severity): Reduces the impact of a data breach by limiting the amount of sensitive data available in revisions accessible through the CRUD interface.
Compliance Violations (Varies): Helps comply with data privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR) by ensuring that sensitive data is not retained unnecessarily within the CRUD's revision history.

Impact:

Data Disclosure: Risk significantly reduced for fields listed in $dontKeepRevisionOf within the context of the CRUD interface.
Data Breach: Reduces the scope of a potential breach by limiting the data stored in revisions accessible through CRUD.
Compliance Violations: Improves compliance with data retention policies within the CRUD's revision system.

Currently Implemented:

$dontKeepRevisionOf is used in the User model to exclude password and remember_token.

Missing Implementation:

$dontKeepRevisionOf is not used in other models that have revisions enabled (e.g., Product, Article). This needs to be reviewed and implemented within each relevant model.
Access control for viewing/reverting revisions is not explicitly enforced within the CRUD interface. This should be implemented using permissions (Backpack Pro/DevTools) or by customizing the revisions view/controller logic.

Provide feedback

Saved searches

Use saved searches to filter your results more quickly

mitigations.md

mitigations.md

Mitigation Strategies Analysis for laravel-backpack/crud

Mitigation Strategy: Strictly Define CRUD Operations

Mitigation Strategy: Leverage Backpack's Permission System (Pro/DevTools)

Mitigation Strategy: Field-Level Access Control

Mitigation Strategy: Column-Level Access Control (List View)

Mitigation Strategy: Custom Filters with Access Control

Mitigation Strategy: Operation-Specific Validation

Mitigation Strategy: Revisions Feature (Specific to CRUD)

Files

mitigations.md

Latest commit

History

mitigations.md

File metadata and controls

Mitigation Strategies Analysis for laravel-backpack/crud

Mitigation Strategy: Strictly Define CRUD Operations

Mitigation Strategy: Leverage Backpack's Permission System (Pro/DevTools)

Mitigation Strategy: Field-Level Access Control

Mitigation Strategy: Column-Level Access Control (List View)

Mitigation Strategy: Custom Filters with Access Control

Mitigation Strategy: Operation-Specific Validation

Mitigation Strategy: Revisions Feature (Specific to CRUD)