Improve Security of the Server

[ajaynegi45]

Problem:

In its current state, the HTTP server lacks essential security features that are critical to protecting against various types of attacks and vulnerabilities. As we aim to make this server highly secure, we need to implement several features to safeguard user data, protect against common web threats, and ensure secure communication.

Without these security enhancements, the server is vulnerable to potential security breaches, such as:

• Unencrypted Communication: Without SSL/TLS, data sent over the network can be intercepted.
• Injection Attacks: Insufficient input validation may allow attackers to exploit vulnerabilities like SQL injection or cross-site scripting (XSS).
• DoS Attacks: Lack of rate limiting leaves the server open to Denial-of-Service attacks.
• Unauthorized Access: Without CORS support, clients from any origin can access server resources, which poses a security risk.

Introduction:

To improve the security of the server and protect it from these vulnerabilities, we need to implement the following features:

1. HTTPS and SSL/TLS Support

• Objective: Secure the communication between clients and the server by integrating SSL/TLS.
• Implementation Suggestion: Use libraries such as Netty or Java Secure Socket Extensions (JSSE) to enable encrypted communication using HTTPS.

2. Input Validation

• Objective: Strengthen the HttpParser to validate and sanitize incoming data to prevent injection attacks like SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS).
• Implementation Suggestion: Ensure that every user input is validated and properly escaped. Eg: libraries like OWASP Java Encoder to help with encoding input data and preventing XSS attacks.

3. Security Headers

• Objective: Add security headers such as:
  • Content-Security-Policy to restrict the loading of scripts and resources.
  • Strict-Transport-Security to enforce the use of HTTPS.
  • X-Content-Type-Options to prevent MIME type sniffing.
• Implementation Suggestion: Add middleware or interceptor logic in the server to include these headers in every HTTP response.

4. Rate Limiting and DoS Protection

• Objective: Implement rate limiting to prevent clients from overwhelming the server with too many requests, protecting against denial-of-service (DoS) attacks.
• Implementation Suggestion: A simple middleware can track the number of requests per IP address over a certain time frame and block excessive requests. Consider using a token bucket algorithm. Eg: library like Bucket4J to manage rate limiting.

5. CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing) Support

• Objective: Implement Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) to control which origins are allowed to interact with the server.
• Implementation Suggestion: Allow configuration for trusted origins. Ensure that CORS policies are defined clearly for headers like Access-Control-Allow-Origin and others.

6. Additional Security Features

• Encryption of Sensitive Data: Ensure that any sensitive data like passwords, API keys, and database credentials are encrypted before storage or transmission.
• Session Management: Implement secure session handling (if applicable) to prevent session hijacking and replay attacks.
• Security Audits: Add logging for security events like failed login attempts or unusual request patterns. Implement an auditing system to review security incidents.

Instructions for Contributors:

1. Before You Begin:

   • Read the Readme.md File: To understand the project’s overall goals, please review the Readme.md file. It will provide clarity on the purpose and mission of the project.
   • Check Contributing.md: Familiarize yourself with the guidelines in the Contributing.md file. It outlines important rules and processes that you should follow to ensure smooth collaboration.

2. Implementation Plan:

   • If you're interested in working on this issue, please first provide a detailed plan of how you intend to implement the security improvements. Break down each security feature you plan to add, and explain the approach, libraries, or patterns you will use. Minimise the library use.
   • Example: For HTTPS/SSL, explain how you will generate or acquire SSL certificates, how you will integrate them into the server, and what changes will be needed in the configuration.

3. Important Notes:

   • Please do not start coding until your implementation plan has been reviewed and approved.
   • Ensure all security features are well-tested. Include test cases for each feature to verify that the system behaves correctly under normal and malicious conditions.

4. Collaboration:

   • Feel free to discuss your approach with other contributors in the issue thread. Collaboration is encouraged to ensure the best solution is implemented.

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References:

• Netty Documentation
• JSSE Reference Guide
• OWASP Java Encoder
• Bucket4J Rate Limiting Library

By tackling this issue, you'll help ensure the server is protected from common security threats and is safer for production use.

Thank you for your contribution! Looking forward to your ideas and implementation plans.

[Guhapriya01]

Hi @ajaynegi45, I have an implementation plan for HTTPS and SSL/TLS Support that you mentioned.

1. HTTPS and SSL/TLS Support

• Implementation Steps:

  • Generate SSL Certificate:

    • Use keytool, which is included in the JDK, to generate a self-signed SSL certificate for development and testing purposes. This involves creating a keystore file that contains the certificate.

  • Integrate SSL Certificate:

    • Utilize Java Secure Socket Extensions (JSSE), which is part of the Java Standard Library, to enable HTTPS.
    • Configure the server to load the generated keystore and use the SSL certificate for encrypted communication on port 8043. This ensures that all data transmitted between the server and clients is encrypted.

2. HTTP to HTTPS Redirection

• Implementation Steps:
  • Implement logic in the server to listen on a separate port (e.g., 8080) for HTTP requests.
  • When an HTTP request is received, respond with a 301 status code and redirect to the corresponding HTTPS URL. This will ensure clients are automatically redirected to the secure connection.

Let me know if you need any more adjustments or details.

[ajaynegi45]

Hi @ajaynegi45, I have an implementation plan for HTTPS and SSL/TLS Support that you mentioned.

1. HTTPS and SSL/TLS Support

• Implementation Steps:

  • Generate SSL Certificate:

    • Use keytool, which is included in the JDK, to generate a self-signed SSL certificate for development and testing purposes. This involves creating a keystore file that contains the certificate.

  • Integrate SSL Certificate:

    • Utilize Java Secure Socket Extensions (JSSE), which is part of the Java Standard Library, to enable HTTPS.
    • Configure the server to load the generated keystore and use the SSL certificate for encrypted communication on port 8043. This ensures that all data transmitted between the server and clients is encrypted.

2. HTTP to HTTPS Redirection

• Implementation Steps:

  • Implement logic in the server to listen on a separate port (e.g., 8080) for HTTP requests.
  • When an HTTP request is received, respond with a 301 status code and redirect to the corresponding HTTPS URL. This will ensure clients are automatically redirected to the secure connection.

Let me know if you need any more adjustments or details.

Hi @Guhapriya01,

Thank you for providing a well-thought-out implementation plan for the HTTPS and SSL/TLS Support. Your approach using keytool for generating the SSL certificate and integrating it via JSSE is spot on for ensuring secure communication between clients and the server. I appreciate your attention to detail, including the HTTP-to-HTTPS redirection strategy.

I’m assigning you this issue to move forward with the implementation. As you work on it, please keep in mind that our primary goal is to maintain the server's lightweight and efficient nature. Ensure that the SSL/TLS integration doesn't add unnecessary overhead or complexity.

Looking forward to seeing your progress! Feel free to ask if you need any more clarifications or adjustments.

Best of luck with the implementation, and thanks again for contributing to the project!

[Guhapriya01]

Thank you for your feedback and for assigning me the task! I’ll proceed with the HTTPS and SSL/TLS integration, ensuring it remains lightweight and efficient.

I will reach out if any clarifications are needed.

[Guhapriya01]

Hi @ajaynegi45,

I have a question regarding handling sensitive information like the password and the keystore.jks file path. Since it's not recommended to hardcode these values, I was thinking of creating a separate configuration file similar to http.json. We could then load the values by converting the JSON into a Java object, as we do with http.json.

Because I noticed that you don't use any Spring annotations for configuration, and I wanted to clarify if this approach would be suitable in this case. Let me know your thoughts!