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threat-modeling.md

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Threat Model Analysis for lemmynet/lemmy

Threat: Malicious Federated Instance Content Injection

  • Description: A malicious instance federates with your Lemmy instance and pushes posts, comments, or community information containing malicious content (spam, phishing links, malware, propaganda, illegal content). The attacker leverages Lemmy's federation protocol to inject content into your instance's database and display it to your users.
  • Impact: Reputation damage, user dissatisfaction, potential malware infection of users, legal issues due to illegal content, flooding with spam.
  • Lemmy Component Affected: Federation module, Content ingestion/processing, Database.
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Implement robust content filtering and moderation tools within Lemmy.
    • Develop and enforce clear instance rules and content policies.
    • Implement instance blocking/silencing features in Lemmy to limit interaction with suspicious instances.
    • Regularly review federated instances and consider defederating from problematic ones.
    • Consider using allow-lists for federation instead of open federation (more restrictive but safer).

Threat: ActivityPub Protocol Exploits

  • Description: Attackers exploit vulnerabilities in Lemmy's implementation of the ActivityPub protocol. This could involve crafting malicious ActivityPub messages that, when processed by Lemmy, lead to remote code execution, data breaches, or denial of service. The attacker targets Lemmy's federation module and message processing logic.
  • Impact: Complete compromise of the Lemmy instance, data loss, service disruption, potential data breaches, remote code execution.
  • Lemmy Component Affected: Federation module, ActivityPub implementation, Message processing.
  • Risk Severity: Critical
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Keep your Lemmy instance updated to the latest version to patch known vulnerabilities in ActivityPub implementation.
    • Regularly monitor security advisories related to ActivityPub and Lemmy, and apply patches promptly.
    • Implement strict input validation and sanitization for all incoming ActivityPub messages within Lemmy's code.
    • Consider using a security scanner specifically designed to identify vulnerabilities in ActivityPub implementations.
    • Implement robust error handling and logging within Lemmy to detect and respond to suspicious ActivityPub activity.

Threat: Data Leakage via Federation

  • Description: Sensitive data (user information, private posts, etc.) from your instance is unintentionally or maliciously leaked to federated instances due to vulnerabilities or misconfigurations in Lemmy's federation process. The attacker exploits weaknesses in Lemmy's data handling during federation.
  • Impact: Privacy violations, data breaches, legal repercussions, loss of user trust.
  • Lemmy Component Affected: Federation module, Data serialization/deserialization within Lemmy, Privacy settings within Lemmy.
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Carefully review and configure Lemmy's federation settings to control data sharing.
    • Implement strict data sanitization and filtering within Lemmy before sending data over federation.
    • Regularly audit federation traffic and logs generated by Lemmy for suspicious data exchange.
    • Minimize the amount of sensitive data shared during federation by Lemmy's design.
    • Consider encrypting federated communication beyond standard HTTPS, if supported by Lemmy and necessary.

Threat: API Authentication/Authorization Vulnerabilities

  • Description: Vulnerabilities in Lemmy's API authentication or authorization mechanisms allow attackers to bypass authentication, elevate privileges, or access/modify sensitive data through the API. This could involve exploiting flaws in Lemmy's token handling, session management, or authorization checks. The attacker targets Lemmy's API endpoints and authentication/authorization modules.
  • Impact: Data breaches, unauthorized access, manipulation of the Lemmy instance, potential for complete system compromise.
  • Lemmy Component Affected: API module, Authentication module, Authorization module.
  • Risk Severity: Critical
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Implement robust and industry-standard authentication and authorization mechanisms (e.g., OAuth 2.0, JWT) within Lemmy's API.
    • Regularly audit and penetration test Lemmy's API specifically for authentication and authorization vulnerabilities.
    • Enforce the principle of least privilege for API access within Lemmy's authorization logic.
    • Implement input validation and sanitization for all API requests handled by Lemmy.
    • Securely store and manage API keys and tokens used by Lemmy.

Threat: Backend Component Vulnerabilities (Specific to Lemmy's stack)

  • Description: Vulnerabilities in specific backend components chosen and used by Lemmy (e.g., specific libraries, ORM usage patterns) are exploited. This is about vulnerabilities arising from Lemmy's architectural choices and dependencies, not just general OS/DB vulnerabilities. The attacker targets the underlying infrastructure and dependencies as used by Lemmy.
  • Impact: Range from information disclosure to remote code execution, depending on the vulnerability, potential for complete system compromise.
  • Lemmy Component Affected: Backend infrastructure as defined by Lemmy's stack, Dependencies used by Lemmy, ORM (if used by Lemmy).
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Keep all backend components and dependencies used by Lemmy updated to the latest versions.
    • Regularly scan for vulnerabilities in backend components within the context of Lemmy's stack using security scanners.
    • Follow security best practices for the specific database and backend technologies used by Lemmy.
    • Implement intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDS/IPS) to detect and block attacks targeting backend components relevant to Lemmy.

Threat: Database Specific Vulnerabilities (Lemmy's database interactions)

  • Description: Vulnerabilities arise from Lemmy's specific database queries, schema design, or ORM usage that are unique to Lemmy's implementation. This could lead to database injection attacks (beyond standard SQL injection if Lemmy uses a specific ORM in a vulnerable way), data corruption, or performance issues due to Lemmy's code. The attacker targets the database interaction layer of Lemmy.
  • Impact: Data breaches, data integrity issues, service disruption, performance degradation, potential for data loss.
  • Lemmy Component Affected: Database interaction layer in Lemmy, ORM (if used by Lemmy), Database queries generated by Lemmy, Database schema defined by Lemmy.
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Use parameterized queries or prepared statements in Lemmy's code to prevent database injection attacks.
    • Regularly review and optimize database queries within Lemmy's codebase for performance and security.
    • Implement database schema validation and integrity checks relevant to Lemmy's schema.
    • Follow database security best practices specifically for the database system used by Lemmy.
    • Regularly audit database access and logs for suspicious activity related to Lemmy's database interactions.

Threat: Insecure Default Configurations

  • Description: Lemmy's default configurations are insecure out-of-the-box, leaving the instance vulnerable if not properly hardened during deployment. This could include weak default passwords set by Lemmy, unnecessary services enabled by default in Lemmy, or insecure default settings for federation or API access provided by Lemmy. The attacker exploits known default configurations of Lemmy.
  • Impact: Easy exploitation of the instance, potential for complete system compromise, data breaches, service disruption.
  • Lemmy Component Affected: Installation scripts provided by Lemmy, Default configuration files distributed with Lemmy, Deployment process as guided by Lemmy's documentation.
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Change all default passwords immediately after Lemmy installation.
    • Review and harden all default configurations based on security best practices, referring to Lemmy's documentation for specific settings.
    • Disable or restrict access to unnecessary services and features that are enabled by default in Lemmy.
    • Follow a secure deployment checklist specifically tailored for Lemmy to ensure proper hardening.
    • Consult Lemmy's security documentation and community resources for guidance on secure configuration and deployment.