The Apache web server must generate a session ID long enough that it cannot be guessed through brute force.
An XCCDF Rule
Description
<VulnDiscussion>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.</VulnDiscussion><FalsePositives></FalsePositives><FalseNegatives></FalseNegatives><Documentable>false</Documentable><Mitigations></Mitigations><SeverityOverrideGuidance></SeverityOverrideGuidance><PotentialImpacts></PotentialImpacts><ThirdPartyTools></ThirdPartyTools><MitigationControl></MitigationControl><Responsibility></Responsibility><IAControls></IAControls>
- ID
- SV-214252r881435_rule
- Severity
- Medium
- References
- Updated
Remediation - Manual Procedure
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: