The sites/default/files directory contains a .htaccess file that contains security measures. However, this file can be overridden in subdirectories, introducing security vulnerabilities without notification by Drupal of the potential issue. Core already scans for .htaccess files at one layer but not at the next layer(s) down. Why have the status page throw a flag when the htaccess files at the various file roots are wrong but ignore if they are reversed the next layer down?

Make the system stronger at preventing attacks by adding a warning about .htaccess files in subdirectories or having non-standard content in the public://.htaccess.

First step is to determine whether an improved scan and alert is something that should be included in core or in the Security Review module.

Applies to D8 and D7.

Reported by acrosman.

Comments

micnap created an issue. See original summary.

greggles’s picture

greggles
he/him
Primary language English
Location Denver, Colorado, USA
commented
Issue tags: +Security improvements
acrosman’s picture

acrosman
Primary language English
Location South Carolina, US
commented

I'd like to see this added to core for two main reasons:

  1. The event that lead me to discover this was being exploited on a site I maintain also lead me to find lots Drupal 7 sites that had attack scripts running within public file system. It is a common enough attack vector to be a threat to Drupal's reputation if nothing else.
  2. Having a scan on the status page that implies your file system is secure (by complaining about known conditions), when it may not be, creates a false sense of security.

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quietone’s picture

quietone commented
Category: Bug report » Task
Issue tags: +Bug Smash Initiative

This was a bugsmash triage target yesterday. catch, mstrelan and myself think this is a task. Changing to a task. catch also stated

The htaccess check in core is for the ones core writes in case they're not written successfully, it's not a generic security scanner. So might even be won't fix or move to a security audit module.

However, there has been no discussion in support of this in the 6 years the issue has been opened. Maybe it is won't fix. I'll leave it open to allow for more opinions.

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