Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel security, bug fix, and enhancement update

1. Architecture and Design · Language Selection

   Choose a language that provides automatic memory management.

2. Implementation · Attack Surface Reduction

   When freeing pointers, be sure to set them to NULL once they are freed. However, the utilization of multiple or complex data structures may lower the usefulness of this strategy.

OWASP Cheat Sheets

• XML Security (opens in a new tab)
• Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)

OWASP ASVS 4.0.3

• V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
• V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
• V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)

From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

1. Implementation

   For any pointers that could have been modified or provided from a function that can return NULL, check the pointer for NULL before use. When working with a multithreaded or otherwise asynchronous environment, ensure that proper locking APIs are used to lock before the check, and unlock when it has finished.

2. Requirements

   Select a programming language that is not susceptible to these issues.

3. Implementation

   Check the results of all functions that return a value and verify that the value is non-null before acting upon it.

OWASP Cheat Sheets

• Logging (opens in a new tab)
• Error Handling (opens in a new tab)

OWASP ASVS 4.0.3

• V11.1.7 (opens in a new tab)

From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

1. Architecture and Design

   Choose a language that provides automatic memory management.

2. Implementation

   When freeing pointers, be sure to set them to NULL once they are freed. However, the utilization of multiple or complex data structures may lower the usefulness of this strategy.

OWASP Cheat Sheets

• XML Security (opens in a new tab)
• Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)

OWASP ASVS 4.0.3

• V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
• V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
• V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)

From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

1. Implementation · Input Validation

   Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does.

2. Architecture and Design · Language Selection

   Use a language that provides appropriate memory abstractions.

OWASP Cheat Sheets

• XML Security (opens in a new tab)
• Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)

OWASP ASVS 4.0.3

• V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
• V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
• V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)

Attack patterns

• Overread Buffers (opens in a new tab)

From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

1. Requirements

   Use a language that is not susceptible to these issues. However, be careful of null byte interaction errors (CWE-626) with lower-level constructs that may be written in a language that is susceptible.

2. Implementation

   Ensure that all string functions used are understood fully as to how they append null characters. Also, be wary of off-by-one errors when appending nulls to the end of strings.

3. Implementation

   If performance constraints permit, special code can be added that validates null-termination of string buffers, this is a rather naive and error-prone solution.

OWASP Cheat Sheets

• XML Security (opens in a new tab)
• Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)

OWASP ASVS 4.0.3

• V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
• V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
• V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)

From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

1. Architecture and Design · Implementation

   Implement a reliable lock mechanism.

From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

1. Architecture and Design

   Use locking functionality. This is the recommended solution. Implement some form of locking mechanism around code which alters or reads persistent data in a multithreaded environment.

2. Architecture and Design

   Create resource-locking validation checks. If no inherent locking mechanisms exist, use flags and signals to enforce your own blocking scheme when resources are being used by other threads of execution.

OWASP Cheat Sheets

• Abuse Case (opens in a new tab)

OWASP ASVS 4.0.3

• V1.11.2 (opens in a new tab)

Attack patterns

• Leveraging Time-of-Check and Time-of-Use (TOCTOU) Race Conditions (opens in a new tab)
• Leveraging Race Conditions (opens in a new tab)

From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

1. Architecture and Design · Operation

   Very carefully manage the setting, management, and handling of privileges. Explicitly manage trust zones in the software.

2. Architecture and Design · Operation · Environment Hardening

   Run your code using the lowest privileges that are required to accomplish the necessary tasks. If possible, create isolated accounts with limited privileges that are only used for a single task. That way, a successful attack will not immediately give the attacker access to the rest of the software or its environment.

OWASP Cheat Sheets

• Docker Security (opens in a new tab)
• Third Party Javascript Management (opens in a new tab)
• Virtual Patching (opens in a new tab)
• Secure Design Principles (opens in a new tab)

OWASP ASVS 4.0.3

• V1.4.4 (opens in a new tab)
• V1.4.5 (opens in a new tab)
• V1.10.1 (opens in a new tab)

From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

1. Requirements

   Ensure that all protocols are strictly defined, such that all out-of-bounds behavior can be identified simply, and require strict conformance to the protocol.

2. Requirements · Language Selection

   Use a language that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.

3. Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks

   Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.

OWASP Cheat Sheets

• XML Security (opens in a new tab)
• Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)

OWASP ASVS 4.0.3

• V5.4.3 (opens in a new tab)
• V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
• V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)

Attack patterns

• Forced Integer Overflow (opens in a new tab)

From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

1. Requirements · Language Selection

   Use a language that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.

2. Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks

   Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.

3. Operation · Build and Compilation · Environment Hardening

   Use automatic buffer overflow detection mechanisms that are offered by certain compilers or compiler extensions. Examples include: the Microsoft Visual Studio /GS flag, Fedora/Red Hat FORTIFY_SOURCE GCC flag, StackGuard, and ProPolice, which provide various mechanisms including canary-based detection and range/index…

OWASP Cheat Sheets

• XML Security (opens in a new tab)
• Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)

OWASP ASVS 4.0.3

• V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
• V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
• V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)

Attack patterns

• Overflow Buffers (opens in a new tab)
• SOAP Array Overflow (opens in a new tab)

From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

1. Implementation

   Change the code's logic so that the resource is only closed once. This might require simplifying or refactoring. This fix can be simple to do in small code blocks, but more difficult when multiple closes are buried within complex conditionals.

2. Implementation · Refactoring

   It can be effective to implement a flag that is (1) set when the resource is opened, (2) cleared when it is closed, and (3) checked before closing. This approach can be useful when there are disparate cases in which closes must be performed.

3. Implementation · Refactoring

   When closing a resource, set the resource's associated variable to NULL or equivalent value for the given language. Some APIs will ignore this null value without causing errors.

From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

1. Implementation

   When copying character arrays or using character manipulation methods, the correct size parameter must be used to account for the null terminator that needs to be added at the end of the array.

From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

1. Requirements · Language Selection

   Use a language that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.

2. Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks

   Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.

3. Operation · Build and Compilation · Environment Hardening

   Use automatic buffer overflow detection mechanisms that are offered by certain compilers or compiler extensions. Examples include: the Microsoft Visual Studio /GS flag, Fedora/Red Hat FORTIFY_SOURCE GCC flag, StackGuard, and ProPolice, which provide various mechanisms including canary-based detection and range/index…

OWASP Cheat Sheets

• XML Security (opens in a new tab)
• Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)

OWASP ASVS 4.0.3

• V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
• V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
• V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)

From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

1. Implementation

   Explicitly initialize the resource before use. If this is performed through an API function or standard procedure, follow all required steps.

2. Implementation

   Pay close attention to complex conditionals that affect initialization, since some branches might not perform the initialization.

3. Implementation

   Avoid race conditions (CWE-362) during initialization routines.

From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

1. Implementation

   When processing structured incoming data containing a size field followed by raw data, ensure that you identify and resolve any inconsistencies between the size field and the actual size of the data.

2. Implementation

   Do not let the user control the size of the buffer.

3. Implementation

   Validate that the length of the user-supplied data is consistent with the buffer size.

OWASP Cheat Sheets

• XML Security (opens in a new tab)
• Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)

OWASP ASVS 4.0.3

• V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
• V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
• V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)

Attack patterns

• Buffer Overflow via Parameter Expansion (opens in a new tab)

From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

1. Requirements

   Specify which data in the software should be regarded as sensitive. Consider which types of users should have access to which types of data.

2. Implementation

   Ensure that any possibly sensitive data specified in the requirements is verified with designers to ensure that it is either a calculated risk or mitigated elsewhere.

3. System Configuration

   Setup default error messages so that unexpected errors do not disclose sensitive information.

OWASP Cheat Sheets

• Error Handling (opens in a new tab)
• Logging (opens in a new tab)
• Authorization (opens in a new tab)

OWASP ASVS 4.0.3

• V8.3.4 (opens in a new tab)
• V14.3.3 (opens in a new tab)
• V7.3.3 (opens in a new tab)

Attack patterns

• Choosing Message Identifier (opens in a new tab)
• Exploiting Incorrectly Configured SSL/TLS (opens in a new tab)
• WiFi MAC Address Tracking (opens in a new tab)
• WiFi SSID Tracking (opens in a new tab)
• Cellular Broadcast Message Request (opens in a new tab)

From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).