On 11-12-13 12:37 PM, Bart Trojanowski wrote:
>
> http://www.jukie.net/~bart/html_test/?foo=foo
>
> html_test/index.html is just a static html.  It returns 200. the foo=foo
> seems to be ignored.
>
> -Bart
> ________

All this stuff is predicated on the webserver allowing bad things to 
happen.  In the apache configuration files, you specifically allow or 
deny access to directories on the server - and whether or not the server 
should follow symbolic links.  If you make sure Apache can't get outside 
the usual /var/www space, and that the webserver is running as the 
proper user, it should not be a problem.  Apache does ONLY what you 
allow, and will try pretty hard to prevent what you do not allow. 
Understanding the configuration files completely is pretty important. 
Just because someone tries to sneak a peek inside your system doesn't 
mean they can see anything.

Scripting or server side interpreted languages like PHP, Java etc. make 
it easily possible to do silly things - the gun is in your hand and 
where you point it is your fault.  Read about hardening your code, and 
configuration.

Going down the road of actively monitoring logs and altering iptables on 
the fly seems like a good idea, but in the real world, the number of bad 
guys (millions) outnumbers the good guy (only you) by a huge amount. 
Your iptables chains will quickly get monstrous, and not statistically 
provide any better sleep. Your best protection is good firewalling 
preventing access other than 80, 443 and 22.  Do not allow FTP, do not 
allow password based access even for SSH, and configure Apache properly.

Reduce the number of holes you punch through your firewalling to the 
absolute minimum, configure Apache properly, write solid server side 
code of any kind, audit the third party code you allow on your server (I 
don't allow ANY third party code without source inspection).

Testing is good, but not a panacea for failing to do the homework 
upfront.  No matter how well you test, there are better folks out there 
that will find things you didn't.

If you read ANY configuration files for Apache, PHP or whatever 
scripting languages are in use and do not fully understand the keywords 
and directives there, the ball is squarely in your court.  Trusting 
default settings and permissions is a recipe for disaster.

--
Bill Strosberg
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