= Trac Security Overview =

This is just a quick'n'dirty document to help users make informed decisions about the Trac.


== Recommendations ==

  * Don't use a password which you use elsewhere.  (See: [http://testgrid.allmydata.org:3567/file/URI:CHK:nm72blax6oqt3fui3dnrhahszq:wcpjaneyqzf4bw752izfey44abql6ywync2vweejsmnohyiwkkia:3:10:275196/@@named=/the-anatomy-of-the-twitter-attack.html Twitter incident]) (the short story is that there were no technical security flaws, but users used the same creds on an "unimportant" service as well as a different critical service, so the attacker could escalate the attack across services.)
  * Don't expect the ticket database to be non-corrupt or reliable or persistent.
    * Backup the ticket database and wiki pages regularly!  Use snapshots so corruption does not overwrite correct data. 


== Vulnerabilities ==

  * HTTP without SSL means a passive attacker can see all your traffic (except password on login, see below).
  * HTTP without SSL means an active attacker can do anything at all with your account privileges.
  * Password reset over HTTP means the attacker knows your password with minimal effort.
  * HTTP Auth uses Digest mechanism, which means (if implemented correctly):
    * Attacker cannot learn your password during a login request.
    * The database must store your plaintext password (in order to compute the correct digest).  [FIXME: verify.]
      * Anyone with file system read access to the machine also has all passwords.


== To Do ==

  * Search for existing Trac security references.
  * Verify that plaintext passwords are stored.