2.6 Ensure the Proxy Modules Are Disabled

Information

The Apache proxy modules allow the server to act as a proxy (either forward or reverse proxy) for HTTP and other protocols with additional proxy modules loaded. If the Apache installation is not intended to proxy requests to or from another network, the proxy module should not be loaded.

Rationale:

Proxy servers can act as an important security control when properly configured. However, a secure proxy server is not within the scope of this benchmark. A web server should be primarily a web server or a proxy server but not both, for the same reasons that other multi-use servers are not recommended. Scanning for web servers that will also proxy requests is a very common attack because proxy servers are useful for anonymizing attacks on other servers, or possibly proxying requests into an otherwise protected network.

Solution

Perform either one of the following to disable the proxy modules:

1. For source builds with static modules, run the Apache './configure' script without including the 'mod_proxy' and all other proxy modules in the '--enable-modules=configure' script options.

$ cd $DOWNLOAD/httpd-2.2.22
$ ./configure

2. For dynamically loaded modules, comment out or remove the 'LoadModule' directive for the 'mod_proxy' module and all other proxy modules from the 'httpd.conf' file.

##LoadModule proxy_module modules/mod_proxy.so
##LoadModule proxy_balancer_module modules/mod_proxy_balancer.so
##LoadModule proxy_ftp_module modules/mod_proxy_ftp.so
##LoadModule proxy_http_module modules/mod_proxy_http.so
##LoadModule proxy_connect_module modules/mod_proxy_connect.so
##LoadModule proxy_ajp_module modules/mod_proxy_ajp.so

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/files/2378

Item Details

Category: SYSTEM AND INFORMATION INTEGRITY

References: 800-53|SI-4, CSCv6|9.1, CSCv7|9.2

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: 801f5b736bd9141442c586dd8fb30ee52ce86c01be9aedfcd61938e6f5d44663