VCPF-70-000033 - Performance Charts must set the secure flag for cookies.

Information

The secure flag is an option that can be set by the application server when sending a new cookie to the user within an HTTP response. The purpose of the secure flag is to prevent cookies from being observed by unauthorized parties due to the transmission of a cookie in clear text.

By setting the secure flag, the browser will prevent the transmission of a cookie over an unencrypted channel. The Performance Charts is configured to only be accessible over a Transport Layer Security (TLS) tunnel, but this cookie flag is still a recommended best practice.

Solution

Navigate to and open:

/usr/lib/vmware-perfcharts/tc-instance/webapps/statsreport/WEB-INF/web.xml

Navigate to the <session-config> node and configure it as follows:

<session-config>
<cookie-config>
<http-only>true</http-only>
<secure>true</secure>
</cookie-config>
<session-timeout>6</session-timeout>
</session-config>

Restart the service with the following command:

# vmon-cli --restart perfcharts

See Also

https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_VMW_vSphere_7-0_Y23M07_STIG.zip

Item Details

Category: SYSTEM AND COMMUNICATIONS PROTECTION

References: 800-53|SC-8, CAT|II, CCI|CCI-002418, Rule-ID|SV-256643r888420_rule, STIG-ID|VCPF-70-000033, Vuln-ID|V-256643

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: 0235fbf670da34043e3fb0306ac897dd1c271ad4ff7c2d83b7008a6848e597e9