Archived NIST Technical Series Publication The attached publication has been archived (withdrawn), and is provided solely for historical purposes. It may have been superseded by another publication (indicated below). Archived Publication Series/Number: NIST Special Publication 800-44 Title: Guidelines on Securing Public Web Servers Publication Date(s): October 2002 Withdrawal Date: September 2007 Withdrawal Note: SP 800-44 is superseded in its entirety by the publication of SP 800-44 Version 2 (September 2007). Superseding Publication(s) The attached publication has been superseded by the following publication(s): Series/Number: NIST Special Publication 800-44 Version 2 Title: Guidelines on Securing Public Web Servers Author(s): Miles Tracy, Wayne Jansen, Karen Scarfone, Theodore Winograd Publication Date(s): September 2007 URL/DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.800-44ver2 Additional Information (if applicable) Contact: Computer Security Division (Information Technology Lab) Latest revision of the SP 800-44 Version 2 (as of June 19, 2015) attached publication: Related information: http://csrc.nist.gov/ Withdrawal N/A announcement (link): Date updated: June Ϯϯ, 2015 Special Publication 800-44 Guidelines on Securing Public Web Servers Recommendations of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Miles Tracy, Wayne Jansen, and Mark McLarnon NIST Special Publication 800-44 Guidelines on Securing Public Web Servers Recommendations of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Miles Tracy, Wayne Jansen, and Mark McLarnon C O M P U T E R S E C U R I T Y Computer Security Division Information Technology Laboratory National Institute of Standards and Technology Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8930 September 2002 U.S. Department of Commerce Donald L. Evans, Secretary Technology Administration Phillip J. Bond, Under Secretary for Technology National Institute of Standards and Technology Arden L. Bement, Jr., Director ii Reports on Computer Systems Technology The Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) promotes the U.S. economy and public welfare by providing technical leadership for the Nation’s measurement and standards infrastructure. ITL develops tests, test methods, reference data, proof of concept implementations, and technical analysis to advance the development and productive use of information technology. ITL’s responsibilities include the development of technical, physical, administrative, and management standards and guidelines for the cost-effective security and privacy of sensitive unclassified information in Federal computer systems. This Special Publication 800-series reports on ITL’s research, guidance, and outreach efforts in computer security and its collaborative activities with industry, government, and academic organizations. National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-44 Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol. Spec. Publ. 800-44, xx pages (Mon. 2002) CODEN: XXXXX Certain commercial entities, equipment, or materials may be identified in this document in order to describe an experimental procedure or concept adequately. Such identification is not intended to imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor is it intended to imply that the entities, materials, or equipment are necessarily the best available for the purpose. U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 2002 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov – Phone: (202) 512-1800 – Fax: (202) 512-2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-0001 iii Acknowledgements The authors, Wayne Jansen from NIST and Miles Tracy and Mark McLarnon from Booz Allen wish to express their thanks to colleagues at both organizations who reviewed drafts of this document. In particular, their appreciation goes to John Wack, Murugiah Souppaya, and Tim Grance from NIST, and Steve Allison, Scott Bisker, Alexis Feringa, Kevin Kuhlkin, and Jonathan Holleran of Booz Allen, for their research, technical support, and written contributions to this document. The authors would also like to express their thanks to all those who contributed input during the public comment period and who assisted with our internal review process. iv Guidelines on Securing Public Web Servers Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY................................................................................................ES-1 1. INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................1 1.1 AUTHORITY ..................................................................................................................1 1.2 PURPOSE AND SCOPE ....................................................................................................1 1.3 AUDIENCE AND ASSUMPTIONS .....................................................................................2 1.4 DOCUMENT STRUCTURE...............................................................................................2 2. WEB SERVER SECURITY PROBLEMS AND OVERVIEW........................................4 2.1 GENERAL INFORMATION SYSTEM SECURITY PRINCIPLES .............................................7 3. PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT OF WEB SERVERS.............................................9 3.1 PLANNING FOR A WEB SERVER DEPLOYMENT..............................................................9 3.2 SECURITY MANAGEMENT STAFF ................................................................................11 3.3 MANAGEMENT PRACTICES .........................................................................................13 3.4 SYSTEM SECURITY PLAN ............................................................................................14 3.5 HUMAN RESOURCES FOR SECURING A WEB SERVER ..................................................16 3.6 ALTERNATIVE WEB SERVER PLATFORMS...................................................................17 4. SECURING THE OPERATING SYSTEM.....................................................................20 4.1 SECURELY INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING AN OPERATING SYSTEM..........................20 4.2 SECURITY TESTING THE OPERATING SYSTEM .............................................................24 4.3 RESOURCES FOR OPERATING SYSTEM SPECIFIC SECURITY PROCEDURES ...................25 4.4 SECURING THE WEB SERVER OPERATING SYSTEM CHECKLIST ..................................25 5. SECURELY INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING THE WEB SERVER...................27 5.1 SECURELY INSTALLING THE WEB SERVER..................................................................27 5.2 CONFIGURING ACCESS CONTROLS..............................................................................28 5.3 USING FILE INTEGRITY CHECKERS .............................................................................34 5.4 SECURELY INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING THE WEB SERVER CHECKLIST ................35 6. SECURING WEB CONTENT ........................................................................................37 6.1 PUBLISHING INFORMATION ON PUBLIC WEB SITES.....................................................37 6.2 REGULATIONS REGARDING THE COLLECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION...............39 6.3 SECURING ACTIVE CONTENT AND CONTENT GENERATION TECHNOLOGIES ...............40 6.4 SECURING WEB CONTENT CHECKLIST........................................................................49 7. AUTHENTICATION AND ENCRYPTION TECHNOLOGIES...................................52 7.1 DETERMINING AUTHENTICATION AND ENCRYPTION REQUIREMENTS.........................52 7.2 ADDRESS-BASED AUTHENTICATION...........................................................................52 7.3 BASIC AUTHENTICATION ............................................................................................52 7.4 DIGEST AUTHENTICATION ..........................................................................................53 7.5 SSL/TLS....................................................................................................................53 v Guidelines on Securing Public Web Servers 7.6 WEB AUTHENTICATION AND ENCRYPTION TECHNOLOGIES CHECKLIST .....................62 8. IMPLEMENTING A SECURE NETWORK FOR A WEB SERVER...........................64 8.1 NETWORK LOCATION .................................................................................................64 8.2 NETWORK ELEMENT CONFIGURATION .......................................................................69 8.3 NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE CHECKLIST ...................................................................76 9. ADMINISTERING A WEB SERVER............................................................................78 9.1 LOGGING ....................................................................................................................78 9.2 WEB SERVER BACKUP PROCEDURES..........................................................................82 9.3 RECOVERING FROM A SECURITY COMPROMISE ..........................................................85 9.4 SECURITY TESTING WEB SERVERS .............................................................................87 9.5 REMOTELY ADMINISTERING A WEB SERVER..............................................................90 9.6 SECURELY ADMINISTERING A WEB SERVER CHECKLIST ............................................91 APPENDIX A. SECURING APACHE WEB SERVER......................................................A-1 A.1 INSTALLATION..........................................................................................................A-1