Debugging and trace information used to diagnose the Apache web server must be disabled.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-214294	AS24-U2-000640	SV-214294r881504_rule		Medium

Description
Information needed by an attacker to begin looking for possible vulnerabilities in a web server includes any information about the Apache web server and plug-ins or modules being used. When debugging or trace information is enabled in a production web server, information about the web server, such as web server type, version, patches installed, plug-ins and modules installed, type of code being used by the hosted application, and any backends being used for data storage, may be displayed. Since this information may be placed in logs and general messages during normal operation of the Apache web server, an attacker does not need to cause an error condition to gain access to this information.

Description

Information needed by an attacker to begin looking for possible vulnerabilities in a web server includes any information about the Apache web server and plug-ins or modules being used. When debugging or trace information is enabled in a production web server, information about the web server, such as web server type, version, patches installed, plug-ins and modules installed, type of code being used by the hosted application, and any backends being used for data storage, may be displayed. Since this information may be placed in logs and general messages during normal operation of the Apache web server, an attacker does not need to cause an error condition to gain access to this information.

STIG	Date
Apache Server 2.4 UNIX Site Security Technical Implementation Guide	2022-12-14

Details

Check Text ( C-15507r881502_chk )
Determine the location of the "HTTPD_ROOT" directory and the "httpd.conf" file: # apachectl -V \| egrep -i 'httpd_root\|server_config_file' -D HTTPD_ROOT="/etc/httpd" -D SERVER_CONFIG_FILE="conf/httpd.conf" Note: The apachectl front end is the preferred method for locating the Apache httpd file. For some Linux distributions "apache2ctl -V" or "httpd -V" can also be used. For any enabled "TraceEnable" directives, verify they are part of the server-level configuration (i.e., not nested in a "Directory" or "Location" directive). Also verify that the "TraceEnable" directive is set to "Off". If the "TraceEnable" directive is not part of the server-level configuration and/or is not set to "Off", this is a finding. If the directive does not exist in the "conf" file, this is a finding because the default value is "On".

Check Text ( C-15507r881502_chk )

Determine the location of the "HTTPD_ROOT" directory and the "httpd.conf" file:

# apachectl -V | egrep -i 'httpd_root|server_config_file'
-D HTTPD_ROOT="/etc/httpd"
-D SERVER_CONFIG_FILE="conf/httpd.conf"

Note: The apachectl front end is the preferred method for locating the Apache httpd file. For some Linux distributions "apache2ctl -V" or "httpd -V" can also be used.

For any enabled "TraceEnable" directives, verify they are part of the server-level configuration (i.e., not nested in a "Directory" or "Location" directive).

Also verify that the "TraceEnable" directive is set to "Off".

If the "TraceEnable" directive is not part of the server-level configuration and/or is not set to "Off", this is a finding.

If the directive does not exist in the "conf" file, this is a finding because the default value is "On".

Fix Text (F-15505r881503_fix)
Determine the location of the "HTTPD_ROOT" directory and the "httpd.conf" file: # apachectl -V \| egrep -i 'httpd_root\|server_config_file' -D HTTPD_ROOT="/etc/httpd" -D SERVER_CONFIG_FILE="conf/httpd.conf" Add or set the value of "TraceEnable" to "Off".