CWE-732Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource

Description

The product specifies permissions for a security-critical resource in a way that allows that resource to be read or modified by unintended actors.

When a resource is given a permission setting that provides access to a wider range of actors than required, it could lead to the exposure of sensitive information, or the modification of that resource by unintended parties. This is especially dangerous when the resource is related to program configuration, execution, or sensitive user data. For example, consider a misconfigured storage account for the cloud that can be read or written by a public or anonymous user.

Common consequences

• Confidentiality→Read Application Data,Read Files or Directories
  An attacker may be able to read sensitive information from the associated resource, such as credentials or configuration information stored in a file.
• Access Control→Gain Privileges or Assume Identity
  An attacker may be able to modify critical properties of the associated resource to gain privileges, such as replacing a world-writable executable with a Trojan horse.
• Integrity,Other→Modify Application Data,Other
  An attacker may be able to destroy or corrupt critical data in the associated resource, such as deletion of records from a database.

Potential mitigations

• Implementation
  When using a critical resource such as a configuration file, check to see if the resource has insecure permissions (such as being modifiable by any regular user) [REF-62], and generate an error or even exit the software if there is a possibility that the resource could have been modified by an unauthorized party.
• Architecture and Design
  Divide the software into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Reduce the attack surface by carefully defining distinct user groups, privileges, and/or roles. Map these against data, functionality, and the related resources. Then set the permissions accordingly. This will allow you to maintain more fine-grained control over your resources. [REF-207]
• Architecture and Design,Operation
  [object Object]
• Implementation,Installation
  During program startup, explicitly set the default permissions or umask to the most restrictive setting possible. Also set the appropriate permissions during program installation. This will prevent you from inheriting insecure permissions from any user who installs or runs the program.
• System Configuration
  For all configuration files, executables, and libraries, make sure that they are only readable and writable by the software's administrator.
• Documentation
  Do not suggest insecure configuration changes in documentation, especially if those configurations can extend to resources and other programs that are outside the scope of the application.
• Installation
  Do not assume that a system administrator will manually change the configuration to the settings that are recommended in the software's manual.
• Operation,System Configuration
  Ensure that the software runs properly under the United States Government Configuration Baseline (USGCB) [REF-199] or an equivalent hardening configuration guide, which many organizations use to limit the attack surface and potential risk of deployed software.
• Implementation,System Configuration,Operation
  When storing data in the cloud (e.g., S3 buckets, Azure blobs, Google Cloud Storage, etc.), use the provider's controls to disable public access.

Related CWEs

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