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Security controls bypass or absence

Need​

Implementation of robust security controls and mechanisms

Context​

  • Usage of Scala for building scalable and high-performance applications
  • Usage of play.api.mvc for handling HTTP requests and building web applications in Play Framework

Description​

Non compliant code​

import play.api.mvc._

object Application extends Controller {
  def index = Action {
    Ok("Welcome!")
  }

  def adminDashboard = Action {
    Ok("Welcome to the admin dashboard!")
  }
}

In the above Scala code, we have a simple web application built with the Play framework. The application consists of two main routes:

  • / which maps to the index action.
  • /adminDashboard which maps to the adminDashboard action.

The index action is supposed to be accessible by all users, while the adminDashboard action should only be accessible by admin users.

The vulnerability in this code lies in the absence of any security controls or checks to verify the user's role before granting them access to the adminDashboard action. As it stands, any user, regardless of their role, can access the admin dashboard simply by navigating to /adminDashboard.

This is a serious security flaw as it allows for unauthorized access to sensitive information and functionality. The absence of security controls allows for the bypassing of any form of access control that might be in place.

To fix this vulnerability, we need to implement middleware that checks the role of the authenticated user before granting them access to certain routes. If the user is not an admin, they should be redirected to a 403 error page.

Steps​

  • Implement authentication and authorization mechanisms to control access to sensitive functionality.
  • Use a role-based access control (RBAC) system to define different levels of access for different user roles.
  • Ensure that only authenticated and authorized users can access the adminDashboard endpoint.
  • Implement session management to track user sessions and prevent unauthorized access.
  • Consider implementing additional security measures such as CSRF protection to prevent cross-site request forgery attacks.

Compliant code​

import play.api.mvc._
import play.api.mvc.Security.Authenticated

object Application extends Controller {
  def index = Action {
    Ok("Welcome!")
  }

  def adminDashboard = Authenticated {
    Action {
    Ok("Welcome to the admin dashboard!")
    }
  }
}

The updated code now includes an Authenticated wrapper around the adminDashboard action. This ensures that only authenticated users can access this endpoint.

The Authenticated wrapper is a built-in feature of the Play framework that checks if a user is authenticated before allowing them to access a certain action. If the user is not authenticated, they will be redirected to a login page.

This is a simple form of role-based access control (RBAC), where different levels of access are defined for different user roles. In this case, only authenticated users (i.e., users who have logged in) can access the adminDashboard endpoint.

In addition to this, it's recommended to implement session management to track user sessions and prevent unauthorized access. This could involve using secure cookies to store session information, and ensuring that session IDs are regenerated after login to prevent session fixation attacks.

Finally, consider implementing additional security measures such as CSRF protection to prevent cross-site request forgery attacks. This could involve using anti-CSRF tokens in forms, and checking these tokens on the server side before processing form submissions.

References​

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