VMware vRealize Automation 7.x vAMI Security Technical Implementation Guide

Encryption is critical for protection of remote access sessions. If encryption is not being used for integrity, malicious users may gain the ability to modify the application server configuration. The use of cryptography for ensuring integrity of remote access sessions mitigates that risk. Application servers utilize a web management interface and scripted commands when allowing remote access. Web access requires the use of TLS and scripted access requires using ssh or some other form of approved cryptography. Application servers must have a capability to enable a secure remote admin capability. FIPS 140-2 approved TLS versions include TLS V1.0 or greater. FIPS 140-2 approved TLS versions must be enabled and non-FIPS-approved SSL versions must be disabled. NIST SP 800-52 specifies the preferred configurations for Government systems.

Privileged commands are commands that change the configuration or data of the application server. Since this type of command changes the application server configuration and could possibly change the security posture of the application server, these commands need to be logged to show the full-text of the command executed. Without the full-text, reconstruction of harmful events or forensic analysis is not possible. Organizations can consider limiting the additional log information to only that information explicitly needed for specific log requirements. At a minimum, the organization must log either full-text recording of privileged commands or the individual identities of group users, or both. The organization must maintain log trails in sufficient detail to reconstruct events to determine the cause and impact of compromise.

If log data were to become compromised, then competent forensic analysis and discovery of the true source of potentially malicious system activity is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. In addition, access to log records provides information an attacker could potentially use to his or her advantage. Application servers contain admin interfaces that allow reading and manipulation of log records. Therefore, these interfaces should not allow unfettered access to those records. Application servers also write log data to log files that are stored on the OS, so appropriate file permissions must also be used to restrict access. Log information includes all information (e.g., log records, log settings, transaction logs and log reports) needed to successfully log information system activity. Application servers must protect log information from unauthorized modification.

Protection of log data includes assuring log data is not accidentally lost or deleted. Backing up log records to a different system or onto separate media from the system that the vAMI is actually running on helps to assure that in the event of a catastrophic system failure, the log records will be retained.

Application servers have the ability to specify that the hosted applications utilize shared libraries. The application server must have a capability to divide roles based upon duties wherein one project user (such as a developer) cannot modify the shared library code of another project user. The application server must also be able to specify that non-privileged users cannot modify any shared library code at all.

Application servers provide a myriad of differing processes, features and functionalities. Some of these processes may be deemed to be unnecessary or too unsecure to run on a production DoD system. Application servers must provide the capability to disable or deactivate functionality and services that are deemed to be non-essential to the server mission or can adversely impact server performance, for example, disabling dynamic JSP reloading on production application servers as a best practice.

To assure accountability and prevent unauthorized access, application server users must be uniquely identified and authenticated. This is typically accomplished via the use of a user store which is either local (OS-based) or centralized (LDAP) in nature. To ensure support to the enterprise, the authentication must utilize an enterprise solution.

The cornerstone of the PKI is the private key used to encrypt or digitally sign information. If the private key is stolen, this will lead to the compromise of the authentication and non-repudiation gained through PKI because the attacker can use the private key to digitally sign documents and can pretend to be the authorized user. Both the holders of a digital certificate and the issuing authority must protect the computers, storage devices, or whatever they use to keep the private keys. Java-based application servers utilize the Java keystore, which provides storage for cryptographic keys and certificates. The keystore is usually maintained in a file stored on the file system.

This control focuses on communications protection at the session, versus packet level. At the application layer, session IDs are tokens generated by web applications to uniquely identify an application user's session. Web applications utilize session tokens or session IDs in order to establish application user identity. Proper use of session IDs addresses man-in-the-middle attacks, including session hijacking or insertion of false information into a session. Application servers must provide the capability to perform mutual authentication. Mutual authentication is when both the client and the server authenticate each other.

This requirement focuses on communications protection at the application session, versus network packet level. The intent of this control is to establish grounds for confidence at each end of a communications session in the ongoing identity of the other party and in the validity of the information being transmitted. Unique session IDs are the opposite of sequentially generated session IDs, which can be easily guessed by an attacker. Unique session identifiers help to reduce predictability of said identifiers. Unique session IDs address man-in-the-middle attacks, including session hijacking or insertion of false information into a session. If the attacker is unable to identify or guess the session information related to pending application traffic, they will have more difficulty in hijacking the session or otherwise manipulating valid sessions.

Fail-secure is a condition achieved by the vAMI in order to ensure that in the event of an operational failure, the system does not enter into an unsecure state where intended security properties no longer hold. Preserving information system state information also facilitates system restart and return to the operational mode of the organization with less disruption of mission-essential processes.

Application servers provide remote access capability and must be able to enforce remote access policy requirements or work in conjunction with enterprise tools designed to enforce policy requirements. Automated monitoring and control of remote access sessions allows organizations to detect cyber attacks and also ensure ongoing compliance with remote access policies by logging connection activities of remote users. Examples of policy requirements include, but are not limited to, authorizing remote access to the information system, limiting access based on authentication credentials, and monitoring for unauthorized access.

When dealing with access restrictions pertaining to change control, it should be noted that any changes to the software and/or application server configuration can potentially have significant effects on the overall security of the system. Access restrictions for changes also include application software libraries. If the application server provides automatic code deployment capability, (where updates to applications hosted on the application server are automatically performed, usually by the developers' IDE tool), it must also provide a capability to restrict the use of automatic application deployment. Automatic code deployments are allowable in a development environment, but not in production.

DoS is a condition when a resource is not available for legitimate users. When this occurs, the organization either cannot accomplish its mission or must operate at degraded capacity. To reduce the possibility or effect of a DoS, the application server must employ defined security safeguards. These safeguards will be determined by the placement of the application server and the type of applications being hosted within the application server framework. There are many examples of technologies that exist to limit or, in some cases, eliminate the effects of DoS attacks (e.g., limiting processes or restricting the number of sessions the application opens at one time). Employing increased capacity and bandwidth, combined with service redundancy or clustering, may reduce the susceptibility to some DoS attacks.

Preventing the disclosure of transmitted information requires that the application server take measures to employ some form of cryptographic mechanism in order to protect the information during transmission. This is usually achieved through the use of Transport Layer Security (TLS).Transmission of data can take place between the application server and a large number of devices/applications external to the application server. Examples are a web client used by a user, a backend database, a log server, or other application servers in an application server cluster. If data is transmitted unencrypted, the data then becomes vulnerable to disclosure. The disclosure may reveal user identifier/password combinations, website code revealing business logic, or other user personal information. FIPS 140-2 approved TLS versions include TLS V1.0 or greater. TLS must be enabled and non-FIPS-approved SSL versions must be disabled. NIST SP 800-52 specifies the preferred configurations for Government systems.

Information can be either unintentionally or maliciously disclosed or modified during reception, including, for example, during aggregation, at protocol transformation points, and during packing/unpacking. These unauthorized disclosures or modifications compromise the confidentiality or integrity of the information. Protecting the confidentiality and integrity of received information requires that application servers take measures to employ approved cryptography in order to protect the information during transmission over the network. This is usually achieved through the use of Transport Layer Security (TLS), SSL VPN, or IPsec tunnel. The application server must utilize approved encryption when receiving transmitted data.

Logging the access to the application server allows the system administrators to monitor user accounts. By logging successful/unsuccessful logons, the system administrator can determine if an account is compromised (e.g., frequent logons) or is in the process of being compromised (e.g., frequent failed logons) and can take actions to thwart the attack. Logging successful logons can also be used to determine accounts that are no longer in use.

Determining when a user has accessed the management interface is important to determine the timeline of events when a security incident occurs. Generating these events, especially if the management interface is accessed via a stateless protocol like HTTP, the log events will be generated when the user performs a logon (start) and when the user performs a logoff (end). Without these events, the user and later investigators cannot determine the sequence of events and therefore cannot determine what may have happened and by whom it may have been done. The generation of start and end times within log events allow the user to perform their due diligence in the event of a security breach.

An asymmetric encryption key must be protected during transmission. The public portion of an asymmetric key pair can be freely distributed without fear of compromise, and the private portion of the key must be protected. The application server will provide software libraries that applications can programmatically utilize to encrypt and decrypt information. These application server libraries must use NIST-approved or NSA-approved key management technology and processes when producing, controlling, or distributing symmetric and asymmetric keys.

Information stored in one location is vulnerable to accidental or incidental deletion or alteration. Protecting log data is important during a forensic investigation to ensure investigators can track and understand what may have occurred. Off-loading should be set up as a scheduled task but can be configured to be run manually, if other processes during the off-loading are manual. Off-loading is a common process in information systems with limited log storage capacity.

Configuring the application to implement organization-wide security implementation guides and security checklists ensures compliance with federal standards and establishes a common security baseline across DoD that reflects the most restrictive security posture consistent with operational requirements. Configuration settings are the set of parameters that can be changed that affect the security posture and/or functionality of the system. Security-related parameters are those parameters impacting the security state of the application, including the parameters required to satisfy other security control requirements.

Security flaws with software applications are discovered daily. Vendors are constantly updating and patching their products to address newly discovered security vulnerabilities. Organizations (including any contractor to the organization) are required to promptly install security-relevant software updates (e.g., patches, service packs, and hot fixes). Flaws discovered during security assessments, continuous monitoring, incident response activities, or information system error handling must also be addressed expeditiously.

Organization-defined time periods for updating security-relevant software may vary based on a variety of factors including, for example, the security category of the information system or the criticality of the update (i.e., severity of the vulnerability related to the discovered flaw).

This requirement will apply to software patch management solutions used to install patches across the enclave and to applications themselves that are not part of that patch management solution. For example, many browsers today provide the capability to install their own patch software. Patch criticality, as well as system criticality will vary. Therefore, the tactical situations regarding the patch management process will also vary. This means that the time period used must be a configurable parameter. Time frames for application of security-relevant software updates may be dependent upon the Information Assurance Vulnerability Management (IAVM) process.

The application will be configured to check for and install security-relevant software updates within an identified time period from the availability of the update. The specific time period will be defined by an authoritative source (e.g., IAVM, CTOs, DTMs, and STIGs).