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sec-design.md

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Okay, let's create a design document for the rocket project, focusing on aspects relevant to threat modeling.

BUSINESS POSTURE

Business Priorities and Goals:

  • Provide a simple, fast, and secure web framework for Rust.
  • Enable rapid development of web applications and APIs.
  • Attract developers to the Rust ecosystem by offering a user-friendly web development experience.
  • Maintain a high level of code quality and security.
  • Foster a strong community around the framework.

Most Important Business Risks:

  • Security vulnerabilities in the framework could lead to exploitation of applications built with Rocket, damaging the reputation of the framework and potentially harming users.
  • Performance issues could hinder the adoption of Rocket, especially for high-traffic applications.
  • Lack of features or poor developer experience could make Rocket less competitive compared to other web frameworks.
  • Inability to keep up with the evolving Rust language and ecosystem could lead to compatibility issues and hinder future development.
  • Insufficient community engagement and contribution could slow down the development and maintenance of the framework.

SECURITY POSTURE

Existing Security Controls:

  • security control: Type-safe language (Rust): The use of Rust inherently provides memory safety and helps prevent common vulnerabilities like buffer overflows and dangling pointers. (Described in Rust language documentation)
  • security control: Built-in CSRF protection: Rocket provides mechanisms to protect against Cross-Site Request Forgery attacks. (Described in Rocket documentation)
  • security control: Request Guards: These allow developers to implement custom security checks and data validation before a request is handled. (Described in Rocket documentation)
  • security control: Managed state: Rocket's managed state feature allows for secure sharing of data between different parts of the application. (Described in Rocket documentation)
  • security control: Templating engine (Tera/Handlebars): Using a templating engine helps prevent Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities by automatically escaping output. (Described in Rocket and templating engine documentation)
  • security control: HTTPS support: Rocket can be configured to use HTTPS, encrypting communication between the client and server. (Described in Rocket documentation)
  • security control: Regular security audits and dependency updates: The Rocket project likely performs these, although specific details would need confirmation. (Assumed based on best practices)

Accepted Risks:

  • accepted risk: Reliance on third-party libraries: Rocket, like any framework, depends on external crates. Vulnerabilities in these dependencies could impact Rocket's security. This is mitigated by careful selection and updates of dependencies.
  • accepted risk: Developer errors: While Rocket provides security features, developers can still introduce vulnerabilities in their application code. This is mitigated by promoting secure coding practices and providing documentation.
  • accepted risk: Configuration errors: Misconfiguration of Rocket or its deployment environment can lead to security weaknesses. This is mitigated by providing clear documentation and secure defaults.

Recommended Security Controls:

  • security control: Content Security Policy (CSP): Implement CSP headers to mitigate XSS and data injection attacks.
  • security control: HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS): Enforce HTTPS connections to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks.
  • security control: Security Headers: Implement other security-related HTTP headers like X-Frame-Options, X-XSS-Protection, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  • security control: Input validation and sanitization: While Request Guards help, explicitly validate and sanitize all user inputs at multiple layers.
  • security control: Regular penetration testing: Conduct periodic penetration tests to identify vulnerabilities that automated tools might miss.
  • security control: Dependency vulnerability scanning: Integrate automated tools to scan for known vulnerabilities in dependencies.
  • security control: Secrets management: Securely store and manage sensitive information like API keys and database credentials.

Security Requirements:

  • Authentication:
    • Support for various authentication mechanisms (e.g., API keys, JWT, OAuth 2.0).
    • Secure storage of user credentials (e.g., using password hashing with salt).
    • Protection against brute-force attacks (e.g., rate limiting, account lockout).
  • Authorization:
    • Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) or Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) to restrict access to resources based on user roles or attributes.
    • Fine-grained access control at the route and resource level.
  • Input Validation:
    • Strict validation of all user inputs based on expected data types, formats, and lengths.
    • Whitelist validation preferred over blacklist validation.
    • Sanitization of inputs to prevent injection attacks.
  • Cryptography:
    • Use of strong, industry-standard cryptographic algorithms and libraries.
    • Secure key management practices.
    • Protection of sensitive data in transit and at rest.

DESIGN

C4 CONTEXT

graph LR
    User(("User"))
    RocketApp[("Rocket Web Application")]
    Database[("Database")]
    ExternalAPI[("External API")]
    AuthService[("Authentication Service")]

    User -- "Uses" --> RocketApp
    RocketApp -- "Reads/Writes" --> Database
    RocketApp -- "Makes API calls" --> ExternalAPI
    RocketApp -- "Authenticates users" --> AuthService
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Element Descriptions:

  • Element:

    • Name: User
    • Type: Person
    • Description: A person interacting with the Rocket Web Application through a web browser or other client.
    • Responsibilities: Accessing and using the features provided by the application.
    • Security controls: Browser security features, user-provided credentials.

  • Element:

    • Name: Rocket Web Application
    • Type: Software System
    • Description: The web application built using the Rocket framework.
    • Responsibilities: Handling user requests, processing data, interacting with other systems, and providing the application's functionality.
    • Security controls: All listed in the "Security Posture" section.

  • Element:

    • Name: Database
    • Type: Software System
    • Description: A database system used to store application data.
    • Responsibilities: Storing and retrieving data as requested by the Rocket application.
    • Security controls: Database access controls, encryption at rest, regular backups.

  • Element:

    • Name: External API
    • Type: Software System
    • Description: An external API that the Rocket application interacts with.
    • Responsibilities: Providing specific services or data to the Rocket application.
    • Security controls: API keys, rate limiting, authentication, authorization.

  • Element:

    • Name: Authentication Service
    • Type: Software System
    • Description: A service responsible for authenticating users. This could be a separate service or integrated within the Rocket application.
    • Responsibilities: Verifying user credentials and issuing authentication tokens.
    • Security controls: Secure password storage, multi-factor authentication, protection against common authentication attacks.

C4 CONTAINER

graph LR
    User(("User"))
    WebApp[("Web Application\n(Rust, Rocket)")]
    Database[("Database\n(e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL)")]
    ExternalAPI[("External API")]
    AuthService[("Authentication Service")]

    User -- "HTTPS" --> WebApp
    WebApp -- "SQL/ORM" --> Database
    WebApp -- "HTTP/HTTPS" --> ExternalAPI
    WebApp -- "Auth Protocol" --> AuthService
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Element Descriptions:

  • Element:

    • Name: User
    • Type: Person
    • Description: A person interacting with the Rocket Web Application.
    • Responsibilities: Accessing and using the features provided by the application.
    • Security controls: Browser security features, user-provided credentials.

  • Element:

    • Name: Web Application (Rust, Rocket)
    • Type: Container
    • Description: The core application code, built using the Rocket framework and Rust. This container handles request routing, business logic, and data processing.
    • Responsibilities: Handling user requests, processing data, interacting with other systems, and providing the application's functionality.
    • Security controls: All listed in the "Security Posture" section, implemented within the Rust code and Rocket framework features.

  • Element:

    • Name: Database (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL)
    • Type: Container
    • Description: The database system used to store application data.
    • Responsibilities: Storing and retrieving data as requested by the Rocket application.
    • Security controls: Database access controls, encryption at rest, regular backups, SQL injection prevention (through ORM or parameterized queries).

  • Element:

    • Name: External API
    • Type: Container
    • Description: An external API that the Rocket application interacts with.
    • Responsibilities: Providing specific services or data to the Rocket application.
    • Security controls: API keys, rate limiting, authentication, authorization, input validation on the API side.

  • Element:

    • Name: Authentication Service
    • Type: Container
    • Description: A service responsible for authenticating users.
    • Responsibilities: Verifying user credentials and issuing authentication tokens.
    • Security controls: Secure password storage, multi-factor authentication, protection against common authentication attacks, secure communication protocols.

DEPLOYMENT

Possible Deployment Solutions:

  1. Traditional Server Deployment: Deploying the Rocket application on a physical or virtual server (e.g., using a provider like AWS EC2, DigitalOcean, or a self-hosted server).
  2. Containerized Deployment (Docker): Packaging the Rocket application and its dependencies into a Docker container and deploying it on a container orchestration platform (e.g., Kubernetes, Docker Swarm, AWS ECS).
  3. Serverless Deployment: Deploying individual Rocket routes as serverless functions (e.g., using AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, Google Cloud Functions). This is less common for a full Rocket application but can be used for specific parts.

Chosen Solution: Containerized Deployment (Docker with Kubernetes)

graph LR
    Internet(("Internet"))
    LoadBalancer[("Load Balancer")]
    KubernetesCluster[("Kubernetes Cluster")]
    RocketPod1(("Rocket Pod 1"))
    RocketPod2(("Rocket Pod 2"))
    DatabasePod(("Database Pod"))

    Internet -- "HTTPS" --> LoadBalancer
    LoadBalancer -- "HTTPS" --> RocketPod1
    LoadBalancer -- "HTTPS" --> RocketPod2
    RocketPod1 -- "TCP" --> DatabasePod
    RocketPod2 -- "TCP" --> DatabasePod
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Element Descriptions:

  • Element:

    • Name: Internet
    • Type: Network
    • Description: The public internet.
    • Responsibilities: Routing traffic to the load balancer.
    • Security controls: Network firewalls, DDoS protection.

  • Element:

    • Name: Load Balancer
    • Type: Infrastructure
    • Description: A load balancer (e.g., provided by a cloud provider or a self-hosted solution like Nginx or HAProxy) that distributes incoming traffic across multiple instances of the Rocket application.
    • Responsibilities: Distributing traffic, health checks, SSL termination.
    • Security controls: SSL/TLS encryption, DDoS protection, Web Application Firewall (WAF).

  • Element:

    • Name: Kubernetes Cluster
    • Type: Infrastructure
    • Description: A Kubernetes cluster that manages the deployment and scaling of the Rocket application and its dependencies.
    • Responsibilities: Orchestrating containers, managing resources, providing networking and service discovery.
    • Security controls: Kubernetes RBAC, network policies, pod security policies, secrets management.

  • Element:

    • Name: Rocket Pod 1
    • Type: Container Instance
    • Description: An instance of the Rocket application running within a Kubernetes pod.
    • Responsibilities: Handling user requests.
    • Security controls: All application-level security controls, container isolation.

  • Element:

    • Name: Rocket Pod 2
    • Type: Container Instance
    • Description: Another instance of the Rocket application running within a Kubernetes pod.
    • Responsibilities: Handling user requests.
    • Security controls: All application-level security controls, container isolation.

  • Element:

    • Name: Database Pod
    • Type: Container Instance
    • Description: An instance of the database server running within a Kubernetes pod.
    • Responsibilities: Storing and retrieving data.
    • Security controls: Database access controls, encryption at rest, regular backups, network policies to restrict access to the database pod.

BUILD

graph LR
    Developer(("Developer"))
    GitRepository[("Git Repository\n(e.g., GitHub)")]
    CI[("CI/CD Pipeline\n(e.g., GitHub Actions)")]
    BuildArtifact[("Build Artifact\n(e.g., Docker Image)")]
    ContainerRegistry[("Container Registry\n(e.g., Docker Hub, ECR)")]

    Developer -- "Pushes code" --> GitRepository
    GitRepository -- "Triggers build" --> CI
    CI -- "Runs tests,\nbuilds image,\nperforms security scans" --> BuildArtifact
    BuildArtifact -- "Pushes image" --> ContainerRegistry
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Build Process Description:

  1. Developer: The developer writes code and pushes it to a Git repository (e.g., GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket).
  2. Git Repository: The repository hosts the source code and triggers the CI/CD pipeline upon code changes (e.g., a push to the main branch).
  3. CI/CD Pipeline: A CI/CD pipeline (e.g., GitHub Actions, Jenkins, CircleCI, GitLab CI) is triggered. This pipeline automates the build, test, and deployment process.
    • Security Checks:
      • Static Application Security Testing (SAST): Tools like Clippy (for Rust) are used to analyze the source code for potential vulnerabilities.
      • Dependency Scanning: Tools scan for known vulnerabilities in project dependencies.
      • Linting: Code linters (e.g., Clippy) enforce coding standards and best practices.
      • Unit Tests: Automated tests verify the functionality of individual components.
      • Integration Tests: Tests verify the interaction between different parts of the application.
  4. Build Artifact: The CI/CD pipeline produces a build artifact, typically a Docker image containing the compiled Rocket application and its dependencies.
  5. Container Registry: The Docker image is pushed to a container registry (e.g., Docker Hub, Amazon ECR, Google Container Registry) for storage and later deployment.

Security Controls in Build Process:

  • security control: Code review: All code changes are reviewed by other developers before being merged.
  • security control: SAST: Static analysis tools are used to identify potential vulnerabilities in the code.
  • security control: Dependency scanning: Automated tools scan for known vulnerabilities in dependencies.
  • security control: Least privilege: Build processes should run with minimal necessary permissions.
  • security control: Signed commits: Developers sign their commits to ensure authenticity and prevent tampering.
  • security control: Immutable build artifacts: Once built, the artifact (Docker image) should not be modified.

RISK ASSESSMENT

Critical Business Processes:

  • User authentication and authorization.
  • Data storage and retrieval.
  • API interactions (if applicable).
  • Serving web content.

Data Sensitivity:

  • User credentials (passwords, API keys): Highly sensitive.
  • Personally Identifiable Information (PII): Sensitivity depends on the specific data collected (e.g., name, email, address, financial information).
  • Application data: Sensitivity depends on the nature of the application (e.g., financial data, health data, proprietary business data).
  • Session data: Moderately sensitive.

QUESTIONS & ASSUMPTIONS

Questions:

  • What specific external APIs does the Rocket application interact with?
  • What type of database is used?
  • What is the expected traffic volume and scaling requirements?
  • Are there any specific compliance requirements (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS)?
  • What is the current process for security audits and penetration testing?
  • What is the current process for managing secrets (e.g., API keys, database credentials)?
  • What is the team's experience with secure coding practices and security testing?

Assumptions:

  • BUSINESS POSTURE: The Rocket project prioritizes security and aims to provide a secure framework for web development.
  • SECURITY POSTURE: The Rocket project follows best practices for secure software development, including regular security audits and dependency updates.
  • DESIGN: The application will be deployed in a containerized environment using Docker and Kubernetes. The application will use a relational database. The application will interact with external APIs over HTTPS. The application will use a CI/CD pipeline for automated builds and deployments.