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Threat Model Analysis for railsadminteam/rails_admin

Threat: Authentication Bypass via Weak Configuration

Description: Attacker attempts to access the RailsAdmin dashboard by exploiting disabled or weakly configured authentication. This could involve accessing the /admin path directly if authentication is not enabled, or trying default or easily guessable credentials if any are set.

Impact: Full unauthorized access to the RailsAdmin interface, allowing manipulation of application data, potentially leading to data breaches, service disruption, and server compromise.

Affected RailsAdmin Component: Authentication Module (config.authenticate_with)

Risk Severity: Critical

Mitigation Strategies:

  • Implement strong authentication using config.authenticate_with and integrate with a robust authentication library like Devise or Clearance.
  • Avoid using default credentials or easily guessable passwords for admin users.
  • Regularly review and test authentication configuration to ensure it is properly implemented and secure.

Threat: Authorization Bypass due to Permissive Rules

Description: Attacker, after potentially gaining access to the admin panel (or even without if authorization is globally weak), exploits overly permissive authorization rules to access or modify data they should not have access to. This could involve accessing sensitive models or performing actions beyond their intended role due to misconfigured config.authorize_with or inadequate access? checks.

Impact: Unauthorized data access, modification, or deletion. Privilege escalation within the application, allowing attackers to perform actions as administrators or other privileged users.

Affected RailsAdmin Component: Authorization Module (config.authorize_with, access? method)

Risk Severity: High

Mitigation Strategies:

  • Implement granular, role-based authorization using config.authorize_with to control access to models and actions based on user roles.
  • Define clear and restrictive authorization rules based on the principle of least privilege, granting only necessary access to each role.
  • Thoroughly test authorization logic for different user roles and model actions to ensure it functions as intended and prevents unauthorized access.

Threat: Sensitive Data Exposure in Admin Views

Description: Attacker, with access to the admin panel, views sensitive data (e.g., passwords, API keys, personal information, financial data) displayed in RailsAdmin lists, show pages, or forms. This occurs when sensitive attributes are not properly hidden or masked in RailsAdmin configurations, making them visible to unauthorized admin users.

Impact: Leakage of sensitive information, potentially leading to identity theft, financial loss, reputational damage, legal repercussions, or further attacks leveraging the exposed data.

Affected RailsAdmin Component: View Configuration (List, Show, Edit views, fields, exclude_fields)

Risk Severity: High

Mitigation Strategies:

  • Carefully configure list, show, and edit views to hide sensitive attributes using exclude_fields or by selectively defining visible fields.
  • Implement attribute masking or redaction for sensitive data displayed in RailsAdmin to prevent direct exposure of sensitive values.
  • Regularly review data displayed in the admin interface and ensure sensitive information is properly protected and not unnecessarily exposed to admin users.

Threat: Bulk Action Abuse for Malicious Operations

Description: Attacker with sufficient privileges misuses RailsAdmin's bulk actions (e.g., bulk delete, bulk edit) to perform large-scale malicious operations. This could involve deleting numerous records, modifying data in bulk to cause widespread corruption, or disrupting critical application functionality through bulk actions.

Impact: Large-scale data corruption or deletion, significant service disruption, business impact, potential for irreversible damage to application data and functionality.

Affected RailsAdmin Component: Bulk Actions Module

Risk Severity: High

Mitigation Strategies:

  • Restrict access to bulk actions to only highly privileged and trusted roles.
  • Implement confirmation steps and safeguards for bulk actions, such as requiring explicit confirmation before execution and providing clear warnings about the potential impact.
  • Carefully review and test bulk action implementations and ensure they are properly authorized and cannot be easily misused for malicious purposes. Consider adding audit logging for all bulk actions.