Secure Firewall Configuration for Web Applications

By
Febna V M
Published on
25 Aug 2020
8 min read
web security

Security threats have always been and continue to be a menace for small and big organisations alike. There’s a possibility of many security threats existing in a typical enterprise distributed application including the likes of DDoS, SQL injection, Cross-Site Scripting, etc.

Hackers are getting increasingly sophisticated and, thankfully, so are cyber defence systems. We have the option to set up the first line of defence against security threats with the help of a web application firewall (WAF).

What is a Web Application Firewall?

A web application firewall or WAF has a promising role in an IT infrastructure. WAF helps protect web applications from attacks such as cross-site forgery, cross-site-scripting (XSS), file inclusion, and SQL injection, etc by filtering and monitoring HTTP traffic between a web application and the internet.

Deploying a WAF in front of a web application establishes an initial level of protection between the web application and the internet.

It is a type of reverse-proxy, protecting the server from exposure by having clients pass through the WAF before reaching the server.

WAFs may come in the form of an appliance, server plugin, or filter, and maybe customized to an application. The effort to perform this customization can be significant and needs to be maintained as the application is modified.

Web application firewalls, positioned between web client and web server, monitor every request and response within the application layers. They search for specific “attack signatures” to identify a specific incoming attack, whilst monitoring for abnormal behaviours that are incompatible with past traffic patterns.

A web application firewall is an essential tool that ensures protection against malicious users and bots.

However, many of the web application firewalls are not configured securely. It is easier for attackers to take advantage of a misconfigured web application firewall.

Server Version Banner

Web Application Firewall Policies

A WAF operates through a set of rules often called policies. In the WAF policy configurations, you have options to enable rules to detect attacks at the request line, query-string, URI, request headers, request body, response code, or response body.

Some of the WAF policies are listed below:

  • Web attack signature policy

The signature database includes signatures that can detect known attacks and exploits found in 22 scan points. In your policy configuration, you can choose classes of scan points to process: HTTP headers, HTTP request body, and HTTP response body.

  • URL protection policy

This policy enables you to create rules that detect patterns in the URL or the file extension.

  • HTTP protocol constraint policy

The HTTP protocol constraint policy enables you to create rules that restrict URI, header, and body length, HTTP method, or HTTP response code.

  • SQL/XSS injection detection policy

This policy includes rules to detect SQL/XSS injection in the HTTP request URI, HTTP referer header, HTTP cookie header, or HTTP request body.

  • Bot detection

This policy includes rules to detect bots. A bot is an application that runs automated tasks over the internet. The WAF supports two methods for detecting bad bots: signature detection and behaviour detection. Whitelisting can also be employed for detecting the good ones.

Security Mechanisms of Web Application Firewalls

The main aim of using a WAF is to secure the existing, often productive web applications. Besides the basic protection via blacklisting and whitelisting, the WAF can also act as a central service point for completing tasks which should otherwise be on the application side.

The table below shows the most common issues faced by a web application and how WAF protects the application from them.

IssuesCountermeasures
Cookie protectionCookies can be signed. Cookies can be encrypted.
Information leakageCloaking filter, outgoing pages can be “cleaned” (error messages, comments, undesirable information).
Session riding (CSRF)URL encryption/token.
File uploadVirus check (generally via external systems) via ICAP linked to the WAF.
Parameter tamperingParameter manipulation can be prevented via URL encryption (GET) and parameter encryption (GET and POST). Site usage enforcement, meaning the possible sequence of URLs can be fixed or can be detected.
Forced browsingCan be prevented via URL encryption. Site usage enforcement.
Path traversal (URL) link validationCan be prevented via URL encryption. Site usage enforcement.
LoggingAll or only specific/permitted parts of the data of a request and the connected tests can be logged.
SSLWAF can force SSL with pre-defined encryption strength. SSL termination on the WAF forwarding of the SSL data to the application. An SSL connection is possible from WAF to application.
HTTP request smugglingIs prevented via strict testing of the conformity to standards of each request.
Data validation and injectionsCan be tested to a very detailed degree (length, constant value/range of values, e.g. for SELECT, character area); validation possible with whitelist and/or blacklist (signature). Rules can in part be generated automatically.

Best Practices for Web Application Firewall Configuration

Even though many companies have implemented a WAF, most of the web application firewall configurations are not secure. It would be more effective if the following points are considered while configuring a web application firewall.

Coordinate Web Application Firewall Configuration and Web Application Update

Configuring the web application firewall in parallel with a web application’s update cycle prevents significant issues. Web application firewalls should be configured when the website is being updated or when patches are implemented.

It is most probable that all or a part of the website will not be protected if the configuration and update do not happen simultaneously. And if the WAF is unable to cover those parts, then the consequences can be severe for the site’s users. Maintain the web application firewall along with a change in the security surface of your application.

Check for vulnerabilities

Always ensure that the code does not contain bugs or vulnerabilities before implementing the web application firewall.

Even though WAF is the first line of defence, if the website itself is not secure, it will drag the whole web infrastructure into danger. So make sure to scan your website regularly to make sure there are no security issues.

Use a web application firewall with built-in acceleration

Prefer a WAF with a built-in acceleration feature, which mitigates web latency and speeds overall traffic so that it will not affect user experience.

Lockdown the backdoor

The protection of databases and back-end applications is also important as front end applications. Securing both ends can be achieved with a database activity monitoring product along with a proper web application firewall configuration and regular vulnerability assessment.

Understanding the web application environment

A greater level of understanding about the application environment, security posture and possible loopholes are necessary to make sure you get the best out of a web application firewall implementation.

Conclusion

Web applications of all kinds have in recent years increasingly become the target of hackers. It’s our responsibility to upgrade our defence systems to overcome the challenges and threats and keep our applications secure.

A web application firewall acts as the first line of defence and it allows you to make sure that an application is safe by putting in a reasonable amount of initial effort. In addition to implementing them, it is also necessary to properly configure them so that it can be an effective defense mechanism in your bid to keep away hackers.

Automated human-like penetration testing for your web apps & APIs
Teams using Beagle Security are set up in minutes, embrace release-based CI/CD security testing and save up to 65% with timely remediation of vulnerabilities. Sign up for a free account to see what it can do for you.

Written by
Febna V M
Febna V M
Cyber Security Engineer
Experience the Beagle Security platform
Unlock one full penetration test and all Advanced plan features free for 10 days
Find surface-level website security issues in under a minute
Free website security assessment
Experience the power of automated penetration testing & contextual reporting.