attack-surface.md

Attack Surface Analysis for railsadminteam/rails_admin

Attack Surface: Authentication Bypass

• Description: Attackers gain unauthorized access to the RailsAdmin interface, bypassing intended authentication mechanisms.
• RailsAdmin Contribution: RailsAdmin provides a powerful administrative interface. If authentication is weak or misconfigured specifically for RailsAdmin, or if it relies on application-level authentication that is bypassed, it becomes a direct and easily exploitable entry point to administrative functions.
• Example: A developer uses a very simple password for the RailsAdmin authentication or forgets to implement authentication altogether, relying solely on application-level authentication which has a vulnerability. An attacker discovers the /admin path and gains full administrative access to the application's data through RailsAdmin.
• Impact: Complete compromise of application data, potential data breaches, data manipulation, and application downtime.
• Risk Severity: Critical
• Mitigation Strategies:
  • Implement strong authentication specifically for RailsAdmin: Use robust authentication methods like Devise or similar, and ensure RailsAdmin is configured to enforce this authentication independently of application-level authentication.
  • Utilize http_basic_auth in production (as a basic measure): For a quick and simple layer, use http_basic_auth in your RailsAdmin initializer in production, but this should be considered a supplementary measure, not the primary authentication.
  • Restrict access by IP: Limit access to the /admin path to specific trusted IP addresses or networks using web server configurations or middleware.
  • Regularly audit authentication configuration: Review and test authentication setup for RailsAdmin to ensure it is working as intended and is secure, especially after any configuration changes.

Attack Surface: Mass Assignment Vulnerabilities

• Description: Attackers modify sensitive model attributes they should not have access to by exploiting mass assignment vulnerabilities through the RailsAdmin interface.
• RailsAdmin Contribution: RailsAdmin automatically generates forms for editing model attributes based on database schema. This default behavior, without proper model-level protection, directly exposes models to mass assignment vulnerabilities through the readily available RailsAdmin edit interface.
• Example: A User model has an is_admin attribute that should only be modified programmatically. RailsAdmin, by default, includes this field in the edit form. If mass assignment is not properly restricted on the User model, an attacker with access to the RailsAdmin user edit form could potentially set is_admin to true for their own user, granting themselves administrative privileges.
• Impact: Privilege escalation, unauthorized data modification, data corruption, and potential security breaches.
• Risk Severity: High
• Mitigation Strategies:
  • Utilize Strong Parameters: In Rails models, leverage strong_parameters (or attr_accessible in older Rails versions) to explicitly define and whitelist attributes that are safe for mass assignment. Ensure sensitive attributes like is_admin, passwords, etc., are not permitted for mass assignment.
  • Review model configurations in context of RailsAdmin: Specifically review your models that are managed through RailsAdmin and ensure mass assignment protection is correctly configured to prevent unintended modifications via the admin interface.
  • Customize RailsAdmin forms to exclude sensitive fields: Use RailsAdmin's configuration options to explicitly exclude sensitive attributes from edit forms if they should never be directly modifiable through the admin interface, regardless of mass assignment protection.

Attack Surface: Direct Object Manipulation & Data Injection

• Description: Attackers inject malicious data or manipulate existing data in the database through RailsAdmin forms due to insufficient input validation and sanitization at the model level, which RailsAdmin directly exposes.
• RailsAdmin Contribution: RailsAdmin provides a user-friendly interface for direct interaction with database records. This ease of access amplifies the risk of data injection if underlying models lack robust validation and sanitization, as RailsAdmin provides a convenient tool for attackers to exploit these weaknesses.
• Example: A blog post model's content field is vulnerable to XSS because it doesn't sanitize user input. An attacker uses the RailsAdmin edit form to inject malicious JavaScript code into the content field. When this blog post is displayed on the website, the injected script executes in users' browsers.
• Impact: Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), data corruption, application errors, and potential for further exploitation, including session hijacking and account takeover.
• Risk Severity: High
• Mitigation Strategies:
  • Implement robust input validation in models: Use Rails validations in your models to enforce data integrity, format constraints, and prevent injection attacks. Validate data before it reaches the database.
  • Sanitize user inputs in models or views: Sanitize all user inputs, especially those displayed in views, to prevent XSS and other injection attacks. Use Rails' built-in sanitization helpers or dedicated libraries like rails_sanitize. Apply sanitization consistently, ideally at the model level before saving data.
  • Review model validations and sanitization in context of RailsAdmin: Ensure comprehensive validations and sanitization are in place for all models accessible and editable through RailsAdmin, as this interface provides a direct path for data manipulation.

Attack Surface: File Upload Vulnerabilities

• Description: Attackers upload malicious files through RailsAdmin's file upload functionality, leading to code execution, information disclosure, or denial of service.
• RailsAdmin Contribution: RailsAdmin often handles file uploads for models, making it a direct interface for file uploads. If the application's file upload handling is not secure, RailsAdmin becomes the readily available tool for attackers to exploit these weaknesses and upload malicious files.
• Example: An attacker uploads a malicious executable file (e.g., a PHP script, a shell script) disguised as a seemingly harmless file type through a RailsAdmin file upload field associated with a model. If the application is misconfigured and the uploaded file is stored in a web-accessible directory and the server is configured to execute files from that directory, the attacker can achieve remote code execution.
• Impact: Remote Code Execution (RCE), server compromise, information disclosure, and denial of service.
• Risk Severity: Critical
• Mitigation Strategies:
  • Strictly validate file types: Implement robust file type validation based on file content (magic numbers) and not just file extensions. Whitelist allowed file types and reject all others.
  • Sanitize file names: Sanitize uploaded file names to prevent path traversal and other injection attacks. Remove or replace potentially harmful characters.
  • Store uploads securely outside web-accessible directories: Store uploaded files in a location that is not directly accessible by the web server. Serve files through a dedicated controller action that enforces access control and sets appropriate Content-Type headers.
  • Implement file size limits: Limit the size of uploaded files to prevent denial of service and resource exhaustion.
  • Consider using a dedicated file upload service: For enhanced security and features, consider using a dedicated cloud-based file upload service that handles security aspects like virus scanning and content moderation.
  • Virus scanning for uploads: Integrate virus scanning for uploaded files to detect and prevent the storage of malicious files.

Attack Surface: Custom Actions Code Injection

• Description: Vulnerabilities in custom actions defined within RailsAdmin can lead to code injection and remote code execution.
• RailsAdmin Contribution: RailsAdmin's custom action feature allows developers to extend the admin interface with custom logic, which can involve arbitrary code execution. If these custom actions are not implemented with extreme care and security in mind, they can directly introduce code injection vulnerabilities within the RailsAdmin context.
• Example: A custom action in RailsAdmin is created to perform database operations based on user-provided input from the admin interface. If this input is not properly sanitized and is directly incorporated into a database query (e.g., using string interpolation instead of parameterized queries), an attacker could craft malicious input to inject SQL code and execute arbitrary database commands, potentially leading to data breaches or even gaining control of the database server.
• Impact: Remote Code Execution (RCE) on the application server or database server, server compromise, data breaches, and denial of service.
• Risk Severity: Critical
• Mitigation Strategies:
  • Securely implement custom actions with extreme caution: Treat custom actions as highly sensitive code areas. Never directly execute user-provided input as code or shell commands.
  • Always use parameterized queries or ORM methods for database interactions: When custom actions interact with the database, always use parameterized queries or ORM methods (like ActiveRecord in Rails) to prevent SQL injection. Never construct SQL queries by directly concatenating user input.
  • Thoroughly validate and sanitize user input in custom actions: Validate and sanitize all user input received by custom actions before using it in any operation.
  • Principle of least privilege for custom action access: Restrict access to custom actions to only the administrators who absolutely require them. Implement granular authorization for custom actions.
  • Mandatory code review for custom actions: Require mandatory security-focused code reviews for all custom actions before they are deployed to production. Security experts should review these actions specifically for injection vulnerabilities and secure coding practices.