PLAN Phase : Threat Modeling for Ghost app

https://github.com/asafahmadov/GhostCMS

Threat modeling is arguably the most important security practice. It delivers immediate results and helps establish a security mindset in developers to improve security in all their future projects.

Threat modeling is a simple concept, though it can be detailed and technical if need be. Threat modeling reveals and documents a realistic security view of your application that includes:

• How attackers can abuse the application's design

• How to fix vulnerabilities

• How important it is to fix issues

Threat modeling effectively puts you in the mindset of an attacker. It lets you see the application through an attacker's eyes. You learn how to block attempts before attackers can do anything about it. If your team has user personas in the design, you can treat the attacker as a hostile user persona.

There are published approaches for threat modeling that range from simple question and answer methods to detailed tool-based analysis. You can base your approach on methodologies like the STRIDE model, the DREAD model, or OWASP threat modeling. Here’s a basic threat modeling process for Ghost on Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) using GitLab CI/CD:

1. System Overview

   • Application: Ghost (a blogging platform).

   • Repository: Hosted on GitLab.

   • Infrastructure: Cluster on Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE).

   • CI/CD: GitLab CI/CD pipeline.

   • Additional Components: Database.

Data Flow: Detail how data moves through this system. For example, developers push code to GitLab -> GitLab CI/CD pipeline -> GKE cluster -> Ghost App -> Database.

Identify Threat Agents

• External hackers.

• Malicious insiders.

• Non-malicious users (may accidentally cause issues).

Identify Possible Threats

• Spoofing: Unauthorized user impersonating a legitimate user to gain access.

• Tampering: Unauthorized changes to the Ghost application or its data.

• Repudiation: Users deny performing an action, or system lacks proper logging to trace actions.

• Information Disclosure: Unauthorized access to Ghost application content or its database.

• Denial of Service: Overloading the Ghost application, making it unavailable.

• Elevation of Privilege: An unauthorized user gaining higher-level permissions.

Threats Specific to Components

• GKE Cluster:

  • Misconfigured security policies.

  • Insecure container images.

  • Unrestricted network access.

  • Vulnerable third-party components.

• Ghost Application:

  • Application-level vulnerabilities (e.g., XSS, CSRF,SQL Injection).

  • Insecure APIs.

  • Insecure dependencies.

• Database:

  • Unauthorized access.

  • Insecure data in transit and at rest.

  • SQL injection attacks.

• GitLab CI/CD:

  • Unauthorized Access:

  • Exposed Secrets and Credentials

  • Dependency Vulnerabilities

  • Insecure Coding Practices

  • Malicious Code Injection

Mitigations

• GKE Cluster:

  • Use Kubernetes security best practices.

  • Regularly scan container images for vulnerabilities.

  • Implement network policies and restrict external access.

  • Monitor and update third-party components.

• Ghost Application:

  • Regularly update Ghost and its dependencies.

  • Conduct application penetration testing.

  • Use input validation and output encoding.

• Database:

  • Encrypt data in transit and at rest.

  • Regularly backup and monitor database.

  • Use prepared statements to prevent SQL injection.

• GitLab CI/CD:

  • Ensure strong authentication methods (e.g., 2FA) for GitLab. Limit repository access to only necessary individuals using role-based permissions.

  • Use secret management tools or services to handle secrets. Regularly scan repositories for accidentally committed secrets and rotate any exposed credentials.

  • Use tools like Snyk or Dependabot to automatically scan and update dependencies with known vulnerabilities. Implement a regular review process for adding or updating dependencies.

  • Implement a strong code review process. Ensure multiple eyes on each pull request, and consider automated tooling to detect suspicious changes. Also, employ Git commit signing to validate the authenticity of commits.

  • Regularly train the development team on secure coding practices. Use Static Application Security Testing (SAST) tools integrated into the CI/CD pipeline to detect and remediate common coding vulnerabilities.

Validation and Monitoring

• Regularly review and update the threat model.

• Monitor the system continuously for abnormal activities.

• Implement logging and alerting.

It's essential to review and update our threat model periodically, especially after major changes to the system or when new vulnerabilities are discovered. We need to keep security practices up to date with the latest threat landscape.

After identifying what threat we can face then we need to go to Code phase