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attack-surface.md

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Attack Surface Analysis for ankane/pghero

Attack Surface: Authentication Bypass

  • Description: Accessing PgHero without proper authentication, circumventing the main application's security controls.
  • How PgHero Contributes: PgHero is often mounted as a separate Rack application, which, if misconfigured, can be accessed directly without going through the application's authentication.
  • Example: An attacker navigates directly to /pghero and gains access to the dashboard without needing to log in to the main application.
  • Impact: Unauthorized access to sensitive database performance data, potential for further attacks based on revealed information.
  • Risk Severity: Critical
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Integrate Authentication: Ensure PgHero is always protected by the application's primary authentication mechanism. Use middleware or routing constraints to enforce this. For example, in Rails, use authenticate blocks within the route definition for PgHero.
    • Route Constraints: Use route constraints to restrict access based on user roles or IP addresses.
    • Never Expose Directly: Never expose PgHero directly to the public internet without authentication.

Attack Surface: Weak Authentication Credentials

  • Description: Using default, easily guessable, or weak passwords for PgHero's authentication.
  • How PgHero Contributes: PgHero's authentication is often configured separately from the main application (e.g., via environment variables), increasing the risk of weak credentials being used.
  • Example: PgHero is configured with the default username/password combination (if any exists in older versions) or a simple password like "password123".
  • Impact: Unauthorized access to the PgHero dashboard, leading to information disclosure and potential for further attacks.
  • Risk Severity: Critical
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Strong Passwords: Enforce strong, unique passwords for PgHero. Use a password manager.
    • Credential Rotation: Regularly rotate PgHero's credentials.
    • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): If possible, integrate PgHero with an MFA solution. This is often achievable by integrating with the main application's authentication, which might already support MFA.

Attack Surface: Insufficient Authorization

  • Description: All authenticated users having access to PgHero, even those with low privileges within the main application.
  • How PgHero Contributes: PgHero provides access to sensitive database information that should only be available to authorized personnel.
  • Example: A regular user of the application, after logging in, can access /pghero and view database performance metrics.
  • Impact: Information disclosure; potential for privilege escalation within the application.
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Implement RBAC within the application and restrict PgHero access to specific roles (e.g., "admin", "developer").
    • Authorization Libraries: Use authorization libraries like CanCanCan or Pundit to manage access control consistently.
    • Conditional Access: Use conditional logic within the application to determine whether a user should have access to PgHero based on their role or other attributes.

Attack Surface: Running Query Disclosure

  • Description: Exposure of currently executing SQL queries, potentially including sensitive data in query parameters.
  • How PgHero Contributes: PgHero's features often include displaying running or recently executed queries.
  • Example: An attacker views the "Running Queries" section of PgHero and sees a query containing a user's email address or other PII.
  • Impact: Data breach; potential violation of privacy regulations.
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Restrict Access: Again, controlling access to PgHero is paramount.
    • Parameterized Queries: Always use parameterized queries (prepared statements) to prevent sensitive data from appearing directly in query strings. This is a fundamental security best practice, not just for PgHero.
    • Avoid Sensitive Data in Queries: Refactor application logic to avoid including sensitive data directly in queries whenever possible.

Attack Surface: Potential for Query Execution (Configuration Dependent)

  • Description: The possibility, depending on configuration, for PgHero to be used to execute arbitrary SQL queries.
  • How PgHero Contributes: While primarily read-only, some configurations or older versions might have features that could be abused to execute queries.
  • Example: An attacker exploits a misconfigured "Explain" feature or a hidden debugging endpoint to run arbitrary SQL commands.
  • Impact: Complete database compromise; data theft, modification, or deletion.
  • Risk Severity: Critical
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Read-Only User: Use a read-only database user for PgHero's connection to the database. This is the most important mitigation for this risk.
    • Configuration Review: Thoroughly review PgHero's configuration and ensure that no features allow arbitrary query execution.
    • Disable Unnecessary Features: Disable any PgHero features that are not strictly required.
    • Auditing: Regularly audit PgHero's configuration and database permissions.