An attacker can use Server Side Include (SSI) Injection to send code to a web application that then gets executed by the web server. Doing so enables the attacker to achieve similar results to Cross Site Scripting, viz., arbitrary code execution and information disclosure, albeit on a more limited scale, since the SSI directives are nowhere near as powerful as a full-fledged scripting language. Nonetheless, the attacker can conveniently gain access to sensitive files, such as password files, and execute shell commands.
Likelihood Of Attack
High
Typical Severity
High
Relationships
This table shows the other attack patterns and high level categories that are related to this attack pattern. These relationships are defined as ChildOf and ParentOf, and give insight to similar items that may exist at higher and lower levels of abstraction. In addition, relationships such as CanFollow, PeerOf, and CanAlsoBe are defined to show similar attack patterns that the user may want to explore.
Nature
Type
ID
Name
ChildOf
Standard Attack Pattern - A standard level attack pattern in CAPEC is focused on a specific methodology or technique used in an attack. It is often seen as a singular piece of a fully executed attack. A standard attack pattern is meant to provide sufficient details to understand the specific technique and how it attempts to accomplish a desired goal. A standard level attack pattern is a specific type of a more abstract meta level attack pattern.
Standard Attack Pattern - A standard level attack pattern in CAPEC is focused on a specific methodology or technique used in an attack. It is often seen as a singular piece of a fully executed attack. A standard attack pattern is meant to provide sufficient details to understand the specific technique and how it attempts to accomplish a desired goal. A standard level attack pattern is a specific type of a more abstract meta level attack pattern.
Determine applicability: The adversary determines whether server side includes are enabled on the target web server.
Techniques
Look for popular page file names. The attacker will look for .shtml, .shtm, .asp, .aspx, and other well-known strings in URLs to help determine whether SSI functionality is enabled.
Fetch .htaccess file. In Apache web server installations, the .htaccess file may enable server side includes in specific locations. In those cases, the .htaccess file lives inside the directory where SSI is enabled, and is theoretically fetchable from the web server. Although most web servers deny fetching the .htaccess file, a misconfigured server will allow it. Thus, an attacker will frequently try it.
Experiment
Find Injection Point: Look for user controllable input, including HTTP headers, that can carry server side include directives to the web server.
Techniques
Use a spidering tool to follow and record all links. Make special note of any links that include parameters in the URL.
Use a proxy tool to record all links visited during a manual traversal of the web application. Make special note of any links that include parameters in the URL. Manual traversal of this type is frequently necessary to identify forms that are GET method forms rather than POST forms.
Exploit
Inject SSI: Using the found injection point, the adversary sends arbitrary code to be inlcuded by the application on the server side. They may then need to view a particular page in order to have the server execute the include directive and run a command or open a file on behalf of the adversary.
Prerequisites
A web server that supports server side includes and has them enabled
User controllable input that can carry include directives to the web server
Skills Required
[Level: Medium]
The attacker needs to be aware of SSI technology, determine the nature of injection and be able to craft input that results in the SSI directives being executed.
Resources Required
None: No specialized resources are required to execute this type of attack. Determining whether the server supports SSI does not require special tools, and nor does injecting directives that get executed. Spidering tools can make the task of finding and following links easier.
Consequences
This table specifies different individual consequences associated with the attack pattern. The Scope identifies the security property that is violated, while the Impact describes the negative technical impact that arises if an adversary succeeds in their attack. The Likelihood provides information about how likely the specific consequence is expected to be seen relative to the other consequences in the list. For example, there may be high likelihood that a pattern will be used to achieve a certain impact, but a low likelihood that it will be exploited to achieve a different impact.
Scope
Impact
Likelihood
Confidentiality
Read Data
Confidentiality
Integrity
Availability
Execute Unauthorized Commands
Mitigations
Set the OPTIONS IncludesNOEXEC in the global access.conf file or local .htaccess (Apache) file to deny SSI execution in directories that do not need them
All user controllable input must be appropriately sanitized before use in the application. This includes omitting, or encoding, certain characters or strings that have the potential of being interpreted as part of an SSI directive
Server Side Includes must be enabled only if there is a strong business reason to do so. Every additional component enabled on the web server increases the attack surface as well as administrative overhead
Example Instances
Consider a website hosted on a server that permits Server Side Includes (SSI), such as Apache with the "Options Includes" directive enabled.
Whenever an error occurs, the HTTP Headers along with the entire request are logged, which can then be displayed on a page that allows review of such errors. A malicious user can inject SSI directives in the HTTP Headers of a request designed to create an error.
When these logs are eventually reviewed, the server parses the SSI directives and executes them.
Related Weaknesses
A Related Weakness relationship associates a weakness with this attack pattern. Each association implies a weakness that must exist for a given attack to be successful. If multiple weaknesses are associated with the attack pattern, then any of the weaknesses (but not necessarily all) may be present for the attack to be successful. Each related weakness is identified by a CWE identifier.
Description
This table shows the other attack patterns and high level categories that are related to this attack pattern. These relationships are defined as ChildOf and ParentOf, and give insight to similar items that may exist at higher and lower levels of abstraction. In addition, relationships such as CanFollow, PeerOf, and CanAlsoBe are defined to show similar attack patterns that the user may want to explore.
Content History
