threat-modeling.md

Threat Model Analysis for phalcon/cphalcon

Threat: Memory Corruption in Request Parsing

• Description: An attacker crafts a malicious HTTP request with oversized headers or malformed data. Cphalcon's request parsing logic fails to properly handle this input, leading to a buffer overflow or other memory corruption. The attacker could send this request to a vulnerable endpoint to crash the application or potentially execute arbitrary code.
• Impact: Denial of service (application crash), potential arbitrary code execution on the server, information disclosure.
• Affected Cphalcon Component: Phalcon\Http\Request, core request handling in C.
• Risk Severity: Critical
• Mitigation Strategies:
  • Update cphalcon to the latest stable version with security patches.
  • Use a web application firewall (WAF) to filter out malformed requests.
  • Implement input validation at the application level as a defense-in-depth measure.

Threat: Use-After-Free in Object Handling

• Description: A vulnerability exists in cphalcon's object management. An attacker triggers a sequence of actions that leads to an object being freed prematurely, and then subsequently accessed by cphalcon code. This can be triggered via specific requests or interactions with application logic, leading to crashes or code execution.
• Impact: Denial of service (application crash), potential arbitrary code execution.
• Affected Cphalcon Component: Core object management within cphalcon, potentially affecting Mvc, Di, EventsManager.
• Risk Severity: Critical
• Mitigation Strategies:
  • Update cphalcon to the latest stable version with security patches.
  • Carefully review application code for complex object interactions with cphalcon, especially in event listeners or dependency injection.
  • Report any crashes or unexpected behavior to the cphalcon development team.

Threat: SQL Injection in Database Adapters (beyond application code)

• Description: Vulnerabilities exist within cphalcon's database adapters themselves, leading to SQL injection even when application code uses parameterized queries. An attacker crafts specific input that bypasses intended parameterization due to flaws in the adapter's query construction or escaping mechanisms.
• Impact: Data breach (unauthorized access to database data), data manipulation, potential denial of service of the database.
• Affected Cphalcon Component: Phalcon\Db\Adapter (and specific database adapter implementations like Mysql, Postgresql).
• Risk Severity: High
• Mitigation Strategies:
  • Always use parameterized queries or prepared statements in application code.
  • Keep cphalcon and database drivers updated to the latest versions.
  • Review security advisories for cphalcon and database drivers.
  • Limit database user privileges.

Threat: Vulnerabilities in Cryptographic Functions (if used from cphalcon directly)

• Description: If the application uses cryptographic functions provided directly by cphalcon, vulnerabilities in these implementations could exist. An attacker exploits these flaws to bypass encryption, decrypt data, or manipulate encrypted data, compromising confidentiality and integrity.
• Impact: Data breach (disclosure of sensitive encrypted data), authentication bypass, data integrity compromise.
• Affected Cphalcon Component: Potentially Phalcon\Security or other cryptographic components within cphalcon.
• Risk Severity: High
• Mitigation Strategies:
  • Prefer using well-vetted cryptographic libraries and PHP's built-in functions.
  • If using cphalcon's security components, ensure they are up-to-date and follow best practices.
  • Regularly audit the application's use of cryptography.

Threat: Exploitation of Known Vulnerabilities in Outdated Cphalcon Version

• Description: Using an outdated version of cphalcon exposes the application to publicly known vulnerabilities. Attackers target these known flaws to compromise applications running older, unpatched cphalcon versions.
• Impact: Various impacts depending on the specific vulnerability, including denial of service, arbitrary code execution, data breaches.
• Affected Cphalcon Component: All components of cphalcon in the outdated version.
• Risk Severity: Critical
• Mitigation Strategies:
  • Always use the latest stable version of cphalcon.
  • Establish a process for regularly updating cphalcon and its dependencies.
  • Monitor cphalcon release notes and security advisories.