The Apache web server must invalidate session identifiers upon hosted application user logout or other session termination.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-214250	AS24-U1-000460	SV-214250r881433_rule		Medium

Description
Captured sessions can be reused in "replay" attacks. This requirement limits the ability of adversaries from capturing and continuing to employ previously valid session IDs. Session IDs are tokens generated by web applications to uniquely identify an application user's session. Unique session IDs help to reduce predictability of said identifiers. When a user logs out, or when any other session termination event occurs, the web server must terminate the user session to minimize the potential for an attacker to hijack that particular user session. Satisfies: SRG-APP-000220-WSR-000201, SRG-APP-000295-WSR-000012

Description

Captured sessions can be reused in "replay" attacks. This requirement limits the ability of adversaries from capturing and continuing to employ previously valid session IDs. Session IDs are tokens generated by web applications to uniquely identify an application user's session. Unique session IDs help to reduce predictability of said identifiers. When a user logs out, or when any other session termination event occurs, the web server must terminate the user session to minimize the potential for an attacker to hijack that particular user session. Satisfies: SRG-APP-000220-WSR-000201, SRG-APP-000295-WSR-000012

STIG	Date
Apache Server 2.4 UNIX Server Security Technical Implementation Guide	2023-12-18

Details

Check Text ( C-15464r881431_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. Search for the following directive: "SessionMaxAge" # cat //httpd.conf \| grep -i "SessionMaxAge" Verify the value of "SessionMaxAge" is set to "600" or less. If the "SessionMaxAge" does not exist or is set to more than "600", this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-15464r881431_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.

Search for the following directive:

"SessionMaxAge"

# cat //httpd.conf | grep -i "SessionMaxAge"

Verify the value of "SessionMaxAge" is set to "600" or less.

If the "SessionMaxAge" does not exist or is set to more than "600", this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-15462r881432_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 the following line to the "httpd.conf" file: SessionMaxAge 600 Restart Apache: apachectl restart