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attack-surface.md

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Attack Surface Analysis for mislav/will_paginate

Attack Surface: Parameter Tampering for Denial of Service (DoS) via Excessive per_page

  • Description: Attackers exploit the per_page parameter to request an extremely large number of records per page, overwhelming the application and database, leading to a Denial of Service.

    • How will_paginate contributes to the attack surface: will_paginate directly uses the per_page parameter to determine the number of records fetched in each paginated query. Without proper limits, it allows users to request arbitrarily large datasets.

    • Example: An attacker crafts a URL like /?per_page=999999999. When the application processes this request using will_paginate, it attempts to retrieve and render nearly a billion records. This can exhaust database resources, application server memory, and significantly slow down or crash the application for all users.

    • Impact: Denial of Service (DoS), application downtime, severe performance degradation, potential server instability and crashes.

    • Risk Severity: High

    • Mitigation Strategies:

      • Strict per_page Limit: Implement a hard limit on the maximum allowed value for the per_page parameter within your application. This limit should be set to a reasonable value that balances user experience with server capacity. Enforce this limit before passing the per_page value to will_paginate.
      • Input Validation and Rejection: Validate the per_page parameter to ensure it is a positive integer and within the defined acceptable range. Reject requests with per_page values exceeding the limit, returning an error to the user.
      • Resource Monitoring and Alerting: Implement monitoring for database and application server resource usage (CPU, memory, connections). Set up alerts to notify administrators of unusual spikes in resource consumption, which could indicate a DoS attack via per_page manipulation.
      • Rate Limiting (Aggressive): Consider implementing aggressive rate limiting specifically for requests involving pagination parameters, especially if DoS attacks via per_page are a significant concern.

Attack Surface: Indirect SQL Injection through Unsafe Dynamic Query Construction with Pagination

  • Description: While will_paginate itself doesn't directly cause SQL injection, it can become a component in an attack if developers incorrectly construct dynamic SQL queries in conjunction with will_paginate and fail to sanitize user-provided inputs used in those dynamic parts.

    • How will_paginate contributes to the attack surface: will_paginate generates the base SQL query structure for pagination (LIMIT and OFFSET clauses). If the application then adds to this query dynamically using unsanitized user input (e.g., for filtering or ordering), the pagination context can become part of a larger SQL injection vulnerability.

    • Example: An application allows users to sort paginated results by a column specified in a sort_by parameter. If the application naively inserts the sort_by parameter value directly into the ORDER BY clause of the SQL query alongside will_paginate's query generation, an attacker could inject malicious SQL code via the sort_by parameter. For instance, ?sort_by=id; DELETE FROM users; --.

    • Impact: Critical - Full database compromise, data breach, data manipulation, unauthorized access, potential complete takeover of the database server and potentially the application.

    • Risk Severity: Critical

    • Mitigation Strategies:

      • Strictly Use Parameterized Queries/ORM: Never construct dynamic SQL queries by directly concatenating user input strings. Always use parameterized queries or your ORM's (like ActiveRecord in Rails) built-in features for safe query construction. These methods automatically handle input sanitization and prevent SQL injection.
      • Input Validation and Whitelisting for Dynamic Elements: If dynamic query elements (like sort columns) are absolutely necessary, strictly validate and whitelist allowed values. Ensure that user input is checked against a predefined set of safe options and rejected if it doesn't match.
      • Code Review and Static Analysis (SQL Injection Focus): Conduct thorough code reviews specifically looking for dynamic SQL construction, especially in areas involving pagination and user-controlled parameters. Utilize static analysis tools that can detect potential SQL injection vulnerabilities.
      • Principle of Least Privilege (Database Access): Grant the application database user only the minimum necessary privileges required for its operation. Restrict write, delete, and administrative privileges to minimize the impact of a successful SQL injection attack.