Suhosin vs. mod_security

After a recent php compromise of the www user on my web server via the Zen
Cart "record company" exploit, I installed the Suhosin extension (patch
was already there). Suhosin helped a great deal. It enabled me to block
certain php functions globally and re-enable them on a per-vhost basis, as
needed. Perhaps just as importantly, it logged violations, along with IP
addresses, which not only enabled me to track down attackers, but also
troubleshoot which vhosts needed which functions to work properly.

After having customers' content providers patch their respective Zen Carts
and purging/disabling the several c99shells and other nasty scripts
uploaded by kiddies, we found that the patched Zen carts wouldn't function
properly and wasn't logging what part of Suhosin was blocking
functionality. Neither Zen developers nor the Suhosin author responded to
requests for a workaround for this.

Sadly, there doesn't appear to be any current development or support for
the Suhosin extension, no forum or mailing list. This leaves one
wondering what the best way is to manage php (and other) security on the
web server. Does mod_security allow some of the same funtionality, and is
there current support and development of it? What's the best current
practive WRT Apache and php security?

TIA,

James Smallacombe PlantageNet, Inc. CEO and Janitor
up@3.am http://3.am
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Re: Suhosin vs. mod_security

On 19/02/2010 15:25, James Smallacombe wrote:

> After a recent php compromise of the www user on my web server via the
> Zen Cart "record company" exploit, I installed the Suhosin extension
> (patch was already there). Suhosin helped a great deal. It enabled me to
> block certain php functions globally and re-enable them on a per-vhost
> basis, as needed. Perhaps just as importantly, it logged violations,
> along with IP addresses, which not only enabled me to track down
> attackers, but also troubleshoot which vhosts needed which functions to
> work properly.
>
> After having customers' content providers patch their respective Zen
> Carts and purging/disabling the several c99shells and other nasty
> scripts uploaded by kiddies, we found that the patched Zen carts
> wouldn't function properly and wasn't logging what part of Suhosin was
> blocking functionality. Neither Zen developers nor the Suhosin author
> responded to requests for a workaround for this.
>
> Sadly, there doesn't appear to be any current development or support for
> the Suhosin extension, no forum or mailing list. This leaves one
> wondering what the best way is to manage php (and other) security on the
> web server. Does mod_security allow some of the same funtionality, and
> is there current support and development of it? What's the best current
> practive WRT Apache and php security?

I don't know what Suhosin does so I can't compare its features to
mod-security. However, I've been on the mod-security mailing list for
quite a while now, and it's still under very active development. The
latest version was released only 2 weeks ago and the core rules are
being updated regularly. The level of support on the official mailing
list is excellent as well.

--
Mike Cardwell : UK based IT Consultant, Perl developer, Linux admin
Cardwell IT Ltd. : UK Company - http://cardwellit.com/ #06920226
Technical Blog : Tech Blog - https://secure.grepular.com/
Spamalyser : Spam Tool - http://spamalyser.com/

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Re: Suhosin vs. mod_security

Suhosin is PHP specific and operates at that level (at the app level
and "protecting" PHP)... mod_security works at a higher level.

On Feb 19, 2010, at 10:25 AM, James Smallacombe wrote:

>=20
> After a recent php compromise of the www user on my web server via the =
Zen Cart "record company" exploit, I installed the Suhosin extension =
(patch was already there). Suhosin helped a great deal. It enabled me =
to block certain php functions globally and re-enable them on a =
per-vhost basis, as needed. Perhaps just as importantly, it logged =
violations, along with IP addresses, which not only enabled me to track =
down attackers, but also troubleshoot which vhosts needed which =
functions to work properly.
>=20
> After having customers' content providers patch their respective Zen =
Carts and purging/disabling the several c99shells and other nasty =
scripts uploaded by kiddies, we found that the patched Zen carts =
wouldn't function properly and wasn't logging what part of Suhosin was =
blocking functionality. Neither Zen developers nor the Suhosin author =
responded to requests for a workaround for this.
>=20
> Sadly, there doesn't appear to be any current development or support =
for the Suhosin extension, no forum or mailing list. This leaves one =
wondering what the best way is to manage php (and other) security on the =
web server. Does mod_security allow some of the same funtionality, and =
is there current support and development of it? What's the best current =
practive WRT Apache and php security?
>=20
> TIA,
>=20
> James Smallacombe PlantageNet, Inc. CEO and Janitor
> up@3.am =
http://3.am
> =
==================== =====3D=
==================== =====3D=
==================== ===3D
>=20
> ------------------------------------------------------------ ---------
> The official User-To-User support forum of the Apache HTTP Server =
Project.
> See for more info.
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: users-unsubscribe@httpd.apache.org
> " from the digest: users-digest-unsubscribe@httpd.apache.org
> For additional commands, e-mail: users-help@httpd.apache.org
>=20


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