attack-surface.md

Attack Surface Analysis for dalance/procs

Attack Surface: Vulnerabilities in procs Dependencies

• Description: procs relies on third-party libraries (crates). If these dependencies contain vulnerabilities, applications using procs can inherit those vulnerabilities, creating a significant attack surface.
• Procs Contribution: procs directly depends on these libraries for various functionalities. A vulnerability in a dependency that is actively used by procs becomes a vulnerability in procs itself, and thus in applications using it.
• Example: If a dependency used by procs for string processing has a critical remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability, and procs passes process names or command-line arguments (obtained from the OS) to this vulnerable dependency without proper sanitization, it could be exploited by an attacker who can influence process names or command lines on the system.
• Impact: Remote Code Execution (RCE), significant information disclosure, complete system compromise, Denial of Service (DoS) depending on the nature of the dependency vulnerability.
• Risk Severity: High
• Mitigation Strategies:
  • Strict Dependency Management: Implement a robust dependency management process. Regularly audit procs's dependencies using tools like cargo audit to identify known vulnerabilities.
  • Timely Updates: Promptly update procs's dependencies to the latest versions, especially when security patches are released for identified vulnerabilities. Monitor security advisories for procs and its dependencies.
  • Dependency Review: Periodically review procs's dependency tree and assess the trustworthiness and security posture of each dependency. Consider alternative libraries if critical vulnerabilities are frequently found in a particular dependency.
  • Vendoring (Advanced): For highly sensitive applications, consider vendoring dependencies to have more control over the supply chain and ensure consistent versions are used.

Attack Surface: Unbounded Resource Consumption during Process Information Gathering

• Description: The process of gathering information about all running processes can be resource-intensive. If procs or the application using it doesn't implement proper limits or optimizations, an attacker could trigger excessive process listing, leading to resource exhaustion and Denial of Service.
• Procs Contribution: procs is designed to retrieve process information. If used without care, especially in scenarios where an attacker can control the frequency or scope of process listing, procs can become a vector for resource exhaustion.
• Example: An unauthenticated API endpoint in an application uses procs to list all processes on the server in response to every request. An attacker could send a flood of requests to this endpoint, forcing the server to repeatedly gather process information, consuming excessive CPU, memory, and I/O, ultimately leading to a Denial of Service for legitimate users.
• Impact: Denial of Service (DoS), system unavailability, performance degradation for other applications and services on the same system.
• Risk Severity: High
• Mitigation Strategies:
  • Implement Rate Limiting: If process listing functionality is exposed through an API or user interface, implement rate limiting to restrict the number of requests from a single user or source within a given timeframe.
  • Limit Scope of Process Listing: Design the application to only retrieve necessary process information. Avoid listing all processes if only a subset is required. Implement filtering within the application logic or utilize procs's filtering capabilities (if available and secure) to reduce the amount of data processed.
  • Asynchronous Operations: Perform process information gathering asynchronously to prevent blocking the main application thread and improve responsiveness under load.
  • Resource Monitoring and Throttling: Monitor resource usage (CPU, memory, I/O) when using procs. Implement throttling mechanisms to limit the frequency or intensity of process listing if resource consumption exceeds acceptable thresholds.
  • Input Validation and Sanitization (Context Dependent): While less directly applicable to procs's core function, ensure that any input that indirectly controls procs's behavior (e.g., filters passed to the application which are then used with procs) is properly validated and sanitized to prevent unintended or malicious usage patterns.