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separated log4net threat model (#4)
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FreeAndNil authored Aug 28, 2024
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4 changes: 3 additions & 1 deletion _threat-model-common.adoc
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Expand Up @@ -33,7 +33,9 @@ All configuration sources to an application must be trusted by the programmer.
When loading a configuration file from disk (especially when a monitor interval is configured to reload the file periodically), the location of the configuration file must be kept safe from unauthorized modifications.
Similarly, when loading a configuration file over the network such as through HTTP, this should be configured to use TLS or a secure connection in general with strong authentication guarantees.
This remote location must be kept safe from unauthorized modifications.
When configurations are modified through JMX, the JMX server should be safely configured to require authentication and a secure connection if being accessed over the network.
For Java-based projects supporting JNDI or JMX,
when configurations are modified through JMX, the JMX server should be safely configured to require authentication and a secure connection if being accessed over the network.
When configurations are provided through JNDI, these should only use the `java` scheme for sharing configurations in a Java EE or Jakarta EE application service.
JNDI-sourced configurations should not use other JNDI providers such as LDAP, DNS, or RMI, as all these providers are difficult to properly secure.
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61 changes: 61 additions & 0 deletions _threat-model-log4net.adoc
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////
Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
(the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at

https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.
////
[#threat-log4net]
=== Log4Net threat model
Below we share the threat model specific to link:/log4net[log4net].
[#threat-log4net-parametrized-logging]
==== Parameterized logging
When using a log message containing template parameters like `{0}`, only the format string is evaluated for parameters to be substituted.
The message parameters themselves are not evaluated for parameters; they are only included in the format string corresponding to their template position.
The conversion of message parameters into a string is done on-demand depending on the layout being used.
When structure-preserving transformations of log data are required, a structured layout (e.g., `XmlLayout`) should be used.
Format strings should be compile-time constants, and under no circumstances should format strings be built using user-controlled input data.
[#threat-log4net-unstructured-logging]
==== Unstructured logging
When using an unstructured layout such as `PatternLayout`, no guarantees can be made about the output format.
This layout is mainly useful for development purposes and should not be relied on in production applications.
For example, if a log message contains new lines, these are not escaped or encoded.
As such, when using unstructured layouts, no user-controlled input should be included in logs.
It is strongly recommended that a structured layout (e.g., `XmlLayout`) is used instead for these situations.
[#threat-log4net-structured-logging]
==== Structured logging
When using a structured layout (most layouts besides pattern layout), log messages are encoded according to various output formats.
These safely encode the various fields included in a log message.
For example, the `XmlLayout` can be used to output log messages in an XML structure where all log data is properly encoded into safely parseable XML.
This is the recommended mode of operation for use with log parsing and log collection tools that rely on log files or arbitrary output streams.
[#threat-log4net-log-masking]
==== Log masking
Log4Net, like any other generic logging library, cannot generically support log masking of sensitive data.
While custom plugins may be developed to attempt to mask various regular expressions (such as a string that looks like a credit card number), the general problem of log masking is equivalent to the halting problem in computer science where sensitive data can always be obfuscated in such a way as to avoid detection by log masking.
As such, it is the responsibility of the developer to properly demarcate sensitive data such that it can be consistently masked by log masking plugins.
[#threat-log4net-availability]
==== Availability
Log4Net goes to great lengths to minimize performance overhead along with options for minimizing latency or maximizing throughput.
However, we cannot guarantee availability of the application if the appenders cannot keep up with the logs being written.
Logging can cause applications to block and wait for a log message to be written.
2 changes: 2 additions & 0 deletions security.adoc
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Expand Up @@ -51,6 +51,8 @@ include::_threat-model-common.adoc[]
include::_threat-model-log4j.adoc[]
include::_threat-model-log4net.adoc[]
[#policy]
== Vulnerability handling policy
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