The Apache web server must generate a session ID long enough that it cannot be guessed through brute force.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-214252 | AS24-U1-000510 | SV-214252r1043181_rule | CCI-001188 | medium |
| Description | ||||
| Generating a session identifier (ID) that is not easily guessed through brute force is essential to deter several types of session attacks. By knowing the session ID, an attacker can hijack a user session that has already been user authenticated by the hosted application. The attacker does not need to guess user identifiers and passwords or have a secure token since the user session has already been authenticated. Generating session IDs that are at least 128 bits (16 bytes) in length will cause an attacker to take a large amount of time and resources to guess, reducing the likelihood of an attacker guessing a session ID. | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| Apache Server 2.4 UNIX Server Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2024-12-04 | |||
Details
Check Text (C-214252r1043181_chk)
Review the web server documentation and deployed configuration to determine the length of the generated session identifiers.
First ensure that "session_crypto" is enabled:
httpd -M |grep session_crypto
If the above command returns "session_crypto_module", the module is enabled in the running server.
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.
Review the "httpd.conf" file.
If the "SessionCryptoCipher" is not used or "SessionCryptoCipher" is not set to "aes256", this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-15464r277017_fix)
Configure the web server to generate session identifiers that are at least 128 bits in length.
Ensure that "session_crypto_module" is enabled.
Determine the location of the "httpd.conf" file by running the following command:
httpd -V
Review the "HTTPD_ROOT" path.
Navigate to the "HTTPD_ROOT"/conf directory.
Edit the "httpd.conf" file.
SessionCryptoCipher aes256
Restart Apache: apachectl restart