Security Misconfiguration

---
name: Security Misconfiguration
description: This skill should be used when the user asks about "security misconfiguration", "default credentials", "debug mode", "security headers", "exposed endpoints", "TLS configuration", or needs to find configuration-related vulnerabilities during whitebox security review.
version: 1.0.0
---

# Security Misconfiguration (OWASP A05)

## Purpose

Provide detection patterns for security misconfiguration vulnerabilities including default credentials, debug mode exposure, missing security headers, and insecure TLS settings.

## OWASP Top 10 Mapping

**Category**: A05 - Security Misconfiguration

**CWEs**:
- CWE-16: Configuration
- CWE-209: Information Exposure Through Error Messages
- CWE-215: Information Exposure Through Debug Information
- CWE-548: Information Exposure Through Directory Listing
- CWE-756: Missing Custom Error Page

## When to Use

Activate this skill when:
- Reviewing application configuration files
- Checking for exposed debug/admin endpoints
- Auditing security header implementation
- Verifying TLS/SSL configuration
- Looking for default or weak credentials

---

## Debug Mode Enabled

### Detection Patterns

#### Python (Django/Flask)

```bash
# Django debug mode
grep -rniE "DEBUG\s*=\s*True" --include="*.py" --include="settings.py"

# Flask debug mode
grep -rniE "app\.debug\s*=\s*True|FLASK_DEBUG|debug=True" --include="*.py"

# Environment files
grep -rniE "DEBUG=1|DEBUG=true|DEBUG=True" --include="*.env" --include=".env*"
```

#### Java (Spring)

```bash
# Spring DevTools / Debug
grep -rniE "spring\.devtools|management\.endpoints\.web\.exposure|actuator" --include="*.properties" --include="*.yaml" --include="*.yml"

# Exposed actuator endpoints
grep -rniE "exposure\.include.*\*|exposure\.include.*health,info,env" --include="*.properties" --include="*.yaml"
```

#### PHP

```bash
# Display errors
grep -rniE "display_errors.*On|display_errors.*1|error_reporting.*E_ALL" --include="*.php" --include="php.ini"

# Laravel debug
grep -rniE "APP_DEBUG=true|'debug'.*=>.*true" --include="*.env" --include="*.php"
```

#### Go

```bash
# Gin debug mode
grep -rniE "gin\.SetMode.*gin\.DebugMode|GIN_MODE=debug" --include="*.go" --include="*.env"

# pprof enabled
grep -rniE "net/http/pprof|/debug/pprof" --include="*.go"
```

#### TypeScript/Node.js

```bash
# Debug environment
grep -rniE "NODE_ENV.*development|DEBUG=\*|debug.*true" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" --include="*.env"
```

---

## Default Credentials

### Detection Patterns

```bash
# Common default passwords
grep -rniE "password.*['\"]admin['\"]|password.*['\"]123456['\"]|password.*['\"]password['\"]|password.*['\"]root['\"]|password.*['\"]test['\"]" --include="*.go" --include="*.py" --include="*.java" --include="*.ts" --include="*.php"

# Default usernames with passwords
grep -rniE "admin.*admin|root.*root|user.*password|test.*test" --include="*.go" --include="*.py" --include="*.java" --include="*.ts" --include="*.php" --include="*.env" --include="*.yaml"

# Database defaults
grep -rniE "postgres.*postgres|mysql.*root|mongodb.*admin" --include="*.env" --include="*.yaml" --include="*.properties"
```

### Common Default Credentials to Check

| Service | Username | Password |
|---------|----------|----------|
| PostgreSQL | postgres | postgres |
| MySQL | root | (empty) |
| MongoDB | admin | admin |
| Redis | (none) | (none) |
| RabbitMQ | guest | guest |
| Elasticsearch | elastic | changeme |
| Jenkins | admin | admin |
| Grafana | admin | admin |

---

## Exposed Admin/Debug Endpoints

### Detection Patterns

```bash
# Admin routes
grep -rniE "[\"\'/]admin|[\"\'/]_admin|[\"\'/]administrator" --include="*.go" --include="*.py" --include="*.java" --include="*.ts" --include="*.php"

# Debug/Dev endpoints
grep -rniE "[\"\'/]debug|[\"\'/]_debug|[\"\'/]dev|[\"\'/]test" --include="*.go" --include="*.py" --include="*.java" --include="*.ts" --include="*.php"

# Internal endpoints
grep -rniE "[\"\'/]internal|[\"\'/]private|[\"\'/]system" --include="*.go" --include="*.py" --include="*.java" --include="*.ts" --include="*.php"

# Monitoring endpoints
grep -rniE "[\"\'/]metrics|[\"\'/]health|[\"\'/]status|[\"\'/]actuator|[\"\'/]swagger|[\"\'/]graphql" --include="*.go" --include="*.py" --include="*.java" --include="*.ts" --include="*.php"
```

### Framework-Specific Endpoints

| Framework | Endpoint | Risk |
|-----------|----------|------|
| Spring Boot | /actuator/* | Env vars, heap dump |
| Django | /admin/ | Admin panel |
| Rails | /rails/info | Version disclosure |
| Laravel | /telescope | Debug info |
| Express | /graphql | Introspection |
| Go pprof | /debug/pprof | Memory/CPU profiling |

---

## Missing Security Headers

### Detection Patterns

```bash
# Look for header setting code
grep -rniE "Content-Security-Policy|X-Frame-Options|X-Content-Type-Options|Strict-Transport-Security|X-XSS-Protection" --include="*.go" --include="*.py" --include="*.java" --include="*.ts" --include="*.php"

# Middleware/interceptor configuration
grep -rniE "helmet|securityHeaders|addHeader|setHeader.*security" --include="*.go" --include="*.py" --include="*.java" --include="*.ts" --include="*.php"
```

### Required Security Headers

| Header | Value | Purpose |
|--------|-------|---------|
| Content-Security-Policy | `default-src 'self'` | Prevent XSS |
| X-Frame-Options | `DENY` | Prevent clickjacking |
| X-Content-Type-Options | `nosniff` | Prevent MIME sniffing |
| Strict-Transport-Security | `max-age=31536000` | Force HTTPS |
| X-XSS-Protection | `1; mode=block` | XSS filter (legacy) |
| Referrer-Policy | `strict-origin-when-cross-origin` | Control referrer |
| Permissions-Policy | `geolocation=()` | Limit browser features |

---

## TLS/SSL Misconfiguration

### Detection Patterns

```bash
# Insecure TLS versions
grep -rniE "SSLv2|SSLv3|TLSv1\.0|TLSv1\.1|ssl\.PROTOCOL_SSLv|TLS_RSA_" --include="*.go" --include="*.py" --include="*.java" --include="*.ts" --include="*.php"

# Disabled certificate verification
grep -rniE "verify.*false|InsecureSkipVerify.*true|VERIFY_NONE|verify_ssl.*False|rejectUnauthorized.*false" --include="*.go" --include="*.py" --include="*.java" --include="*.ts" --include="*.php"

# Weak ciphers
grep -rniE "DES|RC4|MD5|NULL|EXPORT|anon" --include="*.go" --include="*.py" --include="*.java" --include="*.conf"
```

### Secure TLS Configuration

**Minimum**: TLS 1.2
**Recommended**: TLS 1.3

**Safe cipher suites**:
- TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
- TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
- TLS_CHACHA20_POLY1305_SHA256

---

## Directory Listing

### Detection Patterns

```bash
# Nginx
grep -rniE "autoindex\s+on" --include="*.conf" --include="nginx.conf"

# Apache
grep -rniE "Options.*Indexes|DirectoryIndex" --include="*.conf" --include=".htaccess"

# Application-level
grep -rniE "directory.*listing|listFiles|readdir" --include="*.go" --include="*.py" --include="*.java" --include="*.ts" --include="*.php"
```

---

## Proxy Cache Misconfiguration

### Overview

Proxy caches (Nginx, Varnish, CDN) can expose sensitive data if:
- Authenticated responses are cached based on file extension
- Cache key doesn't include session/auth identifiers
- Dynamic paths are cached as static content

**See also**: `cache-poisoning` skill for comprehensive cache attack patterns.

### Detection Patterns

```bash
# Nginx proxy cache configuration
grep -rniE "proxy_cache|proxy_cache_valid|proxy_cache_key" --include="*.conf" --include="nginx.conf"

# CRITICAL: Cache rules for static extensions on dynamic paths
grep -rniE "location.*\.(css|js|png|jpg|jpeg|gif|ico|svg)" -A10 --include="*.conf" | grep -iE "proxy_cache|cache"

# Missing cache bypass for authenticated requests
grep -rniE "proxy_cache_bypass|proxy_no_cache" --include="*.conf"

# Varnish cache rules
grep -rniE "vcl_recv|vcl_hash|set beresp\.ttl" --include="*.vcl"
```

### Security Checklist

- [ ] Authenticated responses excluded from cache (`proxy_cache_bypass $http_authorization`)
- [ ] Cache key includes user identifier for personalized content
- [ ] Cache-Control: private set for authenticated endpoints
- [ ] Vary: Authorization header used appropriately

---

## CORS Misconfiguration

### Detection Patterns

```bash
# Wildcard origin
grep -rniE "Access-Control-Allow-Origin.*\*|AllowAllOrigins|cors.*origin.*\*" --include="*.go" --include="*.py" --include="*.java" --include="*.ts" --include="*.php"

# Dynamic origin reflection (vulnerable)
grep -rniE "Origin.*header|request\.headers\.origin|getHeader.*Origin" --include="*.go" --include="*.py" --include="*.java" --include="*.ts" --include="*.php"

# Credentials with wildcard (invalid but attempted)
grep -rniE "Access-Control-Allow-Credentials.*true" --include="*.go" --include="*.py" --include="*.java" --include="*.ts" --include="*.php"
```

---

## Verbose Error Messages

### Detection Patterns

```bash
# Stack traces in responses
grep -rniE "printStackTrace|traceback|\.stack|debug.*true.*error" --include="*.go" --include="*.py" --include="*.java" --include="*.ts" --include="*.php"

# Detailed error responses
grep -rniE "error.*message.*\+|err\.Error\(\)|e\.getMessage\(\)" --include="*.go" --include="*.py" --include="*.java" --include="*.ts" --include="*.php"
```

---

## Unnecessary Features Enabled

### Detection Patterns

```bash
# HTTP methods (should disable unused)
grep -rniE "TRACE|OPTIONS|PUT|DELETE" --include="*.conf" --include="*.xml"

# Unused ports
grep -rniE "listen.*22|listen.*21|listen.*3306|listen.*5432" --include="*.conf" --include="*.yaml"

# Development dependencies in production
grep -rniE "devDependencies|dev-dependencies" --include="package.json" --include="Cargo.toml"
```

---

## Framework-Specific Checks

### Django

```bash
grep -rniE "DEBUG|SECRET_KEY|ALLOWED_HOSTS.*\*|CSRF_COOKIE_SECURE.*False|SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE.*False" --include="settings.py"
```

### Spring Boot

```bash
grep -rniE "management\.endpoints|spring\.datasource\.password|server\.error\.include-stacktrace" --include="*.properties" --include="*.yaml"
```

### Express/Node.js

```bash
grep -rniE "trust proxy|x-powered-by|helmet|NODE_ENV" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js"
```

### Laravel

```bash
grep -rniE "APP_DEBUG|APP_KEY|MAIL_PASSWORD|DB_PASSWORD" --include=".env" --include="*.php"
```

---

## Verification Checklist

- [ ] Debug mode disabled in production
- [ ] No default credentials
- [ ] Admin endpoints protected
- [ ] Security headers implemented
- [ ] TLS 1.2+ only
- [ ] Certificate verification enabled
- [ ] Directory listing disabled
- [ ] CORS properly configured
- [ ] Error messages sanitized
- [ ] Unnecessary features disabled

---

## CWE References

| CWE | Name | Example |
|-----|------|---------|
| CWE-16 | Configuration | Insecure default settings |
| CWE-209 | Error Info Exposure | Stack traces to users |
| CWE-215 | Debug Info Exposure | Debug endpoints accessible |
| CWE-524 | Sensitive Info in Cache | Authenticated data cached by proxy |
| CWE-548 | Directory Listing | autoindex on |
| CWE-756 | Missing Error Page | Default error pages |