Using CFW to Defend Against Access Control Attacks

Application Scenarios

Access control is a key method to protect system resources from unauthorized access. It restricts users' or processes' access to system resources to enhance system security. Attackers may try to bypass or invalidate control measures to implement unauthorized access.

The IPS rule library of CFW provides rules to defend against access control attacks. It can effectively identify and block such behaviors that bypass or damage the system access control mechanism, reducing the risk of such attacks.

What Is an Access Control Attack?

In access control attacks, attackers exploit access control vulnerabilities in systems or applications to illegally obtain or elevate their access permissions in the systems or applications, perform unauthorized operations, or access sensitive resources.

Common access control attacks include:

• Unauthorized access attack
  • Vertical privilege escalation: Common users can access or operate resources or functions that require administrator permissions.
  • Horizontal privilege escalation: A user can access or operate resources or functions that only another user has permissions for.
  • Multi-phase privilege escalation: In an operation that requires multiple steps (such as fund transfer), an attacker may skip steps and directly perform the last step.
• Password attack
  • Brute-force attack: Attackers crack usernames and passwords by attempting all possible combinations, including pure brute-force attacks (blanket search) and dictionary-based brute-force attacks (using a password dictionary).
  • Rainbow table attack: A batch processing dictionary attack implemented by searching the pre-generated password and hash string mapping table to crack the password.
• Session hijacking

  An attacker obtains the session ID of a user, uses the session ID to log in to the target account, and performs unauthorized operations. This usually takes place when the user session identifier is leaked or predicted.

• Access aggregation attack

  A method that is often used in in-depth testing. It collects multiple pieces of non-sensitive information, combines the information to obtain sensitive information, and compares the information to complete an attack.

Harms of Access Control Attacks

Access control attacks severely threaten system security. The major impacts are as follows:

• Data leakage: Attackers can bypass the access control mechanism to obtain sensitive data, such as personal information and financial data, without authorization.
• Data tampering: Attackers can bypass the access control mechanism to tamper with system data, generating false and unreliable data.
• System breakdown: Attackers can bypass the access control mechanism to obtain administrator rights in the system, causing the system to be damaged or crashed.
• Information security risks: Access control attacks damage the security mechanism in the system and increase information security risks, such as malware, virus, and Trojan attacks.

How to Defend Against Access Control Attacks

In addition to access control policy design, identity authentication, security audit and monitoring, security configuration and patch management, access control, vulnerability defense, security training and awareness improvement, and security technologies and tools, you can use the CFW intrusion prevention function to block access control attacks.

1. Log in to the management console.
2. Click in the upper left corner of the management console and select a region or project.
3. In the navigation pane on the left, click and choose Security & Compliance > Cloud Firewall. The Dashboard page will be displayed.
4. (Optional) If the current account has only one firewall instance, the firewall details page is displayed. If there are multiple firewall instances, click View in the Operation column of a firewall to go to its details page.
5. In the navigation pane, choose Attack Defense > Intrusion Prevention. Click View Effective Rules under Basic Protection. The Basic Protection tab is displayed.
6. Filter the rules for access control prevention. In the filter above the list, select Access-Control from the Attack Types drop-down list.
7. Enable protection in batches. Select multiple rules at a time and click Intercept.
   

   Intercept: The firewall records the traffic that matches the current rule in attack event logs and blocks the traffic.