Threat Modeling Using STRIDE

Threat Modeling Using STRIDE
By:
Girindro Pringgo Digdo, M.T., CSX-F, OSCP
http://www.girindropringgodigdo.net/
girindigdo@gmail.com
Girindro Pringgo Digdo2017 1

About
• Dealing with Information Security Fields:
▪ VAPT
▪ Threat Modeling
▪ Information Security Management System
▪ Information Security Risk Management
▪ Education
• Book Author
2017 Girindro Pringgo Digdo 2

Big Picture
RiskManagementBusiness
Financial
Information
Security
Disaster
IT
?
2017 Girindro Pringgo Digdo
Information Security
Awareness Risk ISMS Governance Compliance
Risk
Threat Modeling
Diagram
Identify Threats
Mitigate
Validate
Identify Threats
STRIDE Trike VAST PASTA
Risk Assessment
ISO
31000:2009
NIST SP
800
COBIT 5 COSO
3

Information Security Risk Management
Source: ISO 31000:2009
High Level of Risk Management Process
4

Information Security Risk Management
Source: ISO 31000:2009
High Level of Risk Management Process
Threat Modeling
5

Introduction to Threat Modeling (TM)
• Threat Modeling as a structured activity for identifying and managing
the objects (such as application) threats.
• Threat Modeling – also called Architectural Risk Analysis is an
essential step in the development of your application.
• Without it, your protection is a shot in the dark

Multiple security issues, a timely approach
Girindro Pringgo Digdo2017
Source: Toreon – Threat Modeling Done Right
7

• Threat Modeling is a process by which potential threats can be identified, enumerated, and
prioritized.
• The purpose of threat modeling is to provide defenders with a systematic analysis of the probable
attacker’s profile, the most likely attack vectors, and the assets most desired by an attacker.
• Threat modeling answers the questions such as:
✓ Diagram
• What are we building?
• Where are the high-value assets?
✓ Identify Threats
• What can go wrong?
• Where am I most vulnerable to attack?
• What are the most relevant threats?
✓ Mitigate
• What are we doing to defend against threats?
✓ Validate
• Validation of the previous steps and act upon them
• Is there an attack vector that might go unnoticed?

Threat Modeling Basics
• Who?
▪ The bad guys will do a good job of it
• What?
▪ A repeatable process to find and address all threats to your product
• When?
▪ The earlier you start, the more time to plan and fix
• Why?
▪ Find problems when there’s time to fix them
▪ Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) requirement
▪ Deliver more secure products
• How?

Threat Modeling Basics – Who?
• Building a threat model
▪ Program manager (PM) owns overall process
▪ Testers
o Identify threats in analyze phase
o Use threat models to drive test plans
▪ Developers create diagrams
• Customer for threat models
▪ Your team
▪ Other features, product teams
▪ Customers, via use education
▪ ‘External’ quality assurance resources, such as pentesters
• You’ll need to decide what fits to your organization

Threat Modeling Basics – What?
• Consider, document, and discuss security in a structured way
• Threat model and document
▪ The product as a whole
▪ The security-relevant features
▪ The attack surfaces
• Assurance that threat modelling has been done well

Threat Modeling Basics – Why?
• Produce software that’s secure by design – not by incident
▪ Improve designs the same way we’ve improved code
• Because attackers think differently
▪ Creator blindness / new perspective
• Allow you to predictably and effectively find security problems early
in the process

The Process
Diagram
Identify
Threats
Mitigate
Validate

Threat Modeling Diagram

How to create diagrams
• Go to the whiteboard
• Start with an overview which has:
▪ A few external interactors
▪ One or two processes
▪ One or two data stores (if applicable)
▪ Data flows to connect them
• Check your work
▪ Can you tell a story without edits?
▪ Does it match reality?

Diagramming
• Use DFDs (Data Flow Diagrams)
• Update diagrams as product changes
• Enumerate assumptions, dependencies

Diagram Elements: Examples
External Entity
• People
• Other systems
• ?
Process
• Services
• Web Services
• Components
• ?
Data Flow
• Function
• Network traffic
• RPC
• ?
Data Store
• Database
• File
• Registry
• ?
• Process boundary
• File system
Data Trust Boundaries
17

Diagramming: Trust Boundaries
• Add trust boundaries that intersect data flows
• Points where an attacker can interject
▪ Machine boundaries, privileges boundaries, integrity boundaries are example
of trust boundaries
• Process talking across a network always have a trust boundary
▪ They make may create a secure channel, but they’re still distinct entities

Diagramming: Iteration
• Iterate over processes, data stores, and see where they need to be
broken down
• How to know it ‘needs to be broken down?’
▪ More detail is needed to explain security impact of the design
▪ Words like ‘sometimes’ and ‘also’ indicate you have a combination of things
that can be broken out
o ‘sometimes this data store is used for X’ – probably add a second datastore to the
diagram

Context Diagram: Example

Level 1 Diagram: Example

Diagram Layers
• Context Diagram
▪ Very high-level; entire component / product / system
• Level 1 Diagram
▪ High level; single feature / scenario
• Level 2 Diagram
▪ Low level; detailed sub-components of features
• Level 3 Diagram
▪ More detailed
▪ Rare to need more layers, except in huge projects or when you’re drawing
more trust boundaries

The Process: Identify Threats

Identify Threats
• Experts can brainstorm
• Use STRIDE to step through the diagram elements
• Consider related standards such as ISO 27001 series, NIST SP 800,
Cobit 5 Series, OWASP, etc

Identify Threats: STRIDE
Spoofing
Tampering
Repudiation
Information Disclosure
Denial of Service
Elevation of Privilege
Threats Property we want
Authentication
Integrity
Nonrepudiation
Confidentiality
Availability
Authorization
25

STRIDE
Other
Related
Standards
Cobit 5
Series
NIST
SP 800
OWASP
Identify Threats: Considered Inputs

Threat: Spoofing
Threat
Property
Definition
Example
Spoofing
Authentication
Impersonating something
or someone else
Pretending to be any
cleaner staff
27

Threat: Tampering
Threat
Property
Definition
Example
Tampering
Integrity
Modifying data or code
Modifying PHP on disk or a
packet as it traverse the
LAN
28

Threat: Repudiation
Threat
Property
Definition
Example
Repudiation
Non-repudiation
Claiming to have not
performed in action
“I didn’t send that email,”
“I didn’t modify that file”
29

Threat: Information Disclosure
Threat
Property
Definition
Example
Confidentiality
Exposing information to
someone not authorized to
see it
Allowing someone to read
the database, publishing a
list of customers to a
website
30

Threat: Denial of Service
Threat
Property
Definition
Example
Denial of Service
Availability
Deny or degrade or
interruption service to users
Crashing OS or website,
sending a packet and
absorbing seconds of CPU
time
31

Threat: Elevation of Privelege
Threat
Property
Definition
Example
Authorization
Gain capabilities without
proper authorization
User with a privilege set of
"read only" permissions
somehow elevates the set
to include "read and write”.
32

Application Overview: Flow System Identification

Application Overview: Flow System Identification
Browser
(Input)
Browser
(Output)
Process
Request Response

Identify Threats per Interaction
# Elements Interactions S T R I D E
1 Local DNS Received data from browser x
2 Data out to obtain data to database (Root DNS) x
3 Received data from database (Root DNS) x x x x
4 Data flow to browser x x x
5 Data Flow (request /
response)
Crosses machine boundary x x x
6 Database (Root DNS) Data flow to database x x x x
7 Data out from database x x x
8 Browser Data flow to Local DNS x x x
9 Received data from Local DNS x

Element: Local DNS
Interaction: Received data from browser
Tampering • Local DNS changed
• Data flow source changed
Element: Local DNS
Interaction: Data out to obtain data to database (Root DNS)
Spoofing Database (Root DNS) spoofed and local DNS request to wrong resource.

Element: Local DNS
Interaction: Received data from database (Root DNS)
Spoofing Database (Root DNS) spoofed and local DNS read from wrong resource
Tampering Data corrupted when data read from database
Denial of Service (DoS) Process corrupted by data that received from database
Elevation of Privilege Process corrupted due wrong data read and caused code execution

Element: Local DNS
Interaction: Data flow to browser
Spoofing Process is confuse toward browser identity
Repudiation Browser deny toward the given output
Information Disclosure Browser obtain information disclosure

Element: Data Flow
Interaction: Crosses machine boundary
Tampering Data Flow modified by MITM attack
Information Disclosure Data flow sniffed
Denial of Service Data flow interrupted by external entity (i.e.: mixed by TCP sequence numbers)

Element: Database (Root DNS)
Interaction: Data flow to database(Root DNS)
Tampering Database corrupted
Repudiation Local DNS claim not doing the request to Database (Root DNS)
Information Disclosure Database information disclosure
Denial of Service Database can’t accessed

Element: Database (Root DNS)
Interaction: Data out from database
Repudiation Local DNS claim can’t read data from Database (Root DNS)
Information Disclosure Database information disclosure
Denial of Service Database can’t read

Element: Browser
Interaction: Data flow to Local DNS
Element: Browser
Interaction: Received data from Local DNS

Identify Threats per Element
Element Sub Element Sub Element Code Threats S T R I D E
1
DNS Hosting
Environment
1.1
Host platform
(OS, file
system)
1.1.1
Threat 1:
The OS, any system software,or any other applicationsoftware on the DNS host could be vulnerable to attacks such as integrity attack,resulting lost of
trust.
X X X
1.1.2
Threat 2:
A malicious insider who has access to local area network (LAN) segments where DNS hosts reside could launch an Address ResolutionProtocol (ARP)
spoofing attack that disrupts DNS message flows
X X X
1.1.3
Threat 3:
The platform-level configurationfile that enables communication (e.g., resolv.confand host.confin Unix platforms) can be corrupted by viruses and
worms or subject to unauthorizedmodificationsdue to inadequate file-level protections,resulting in breakdown of communication among DNS hosts
(e.g.,between a stub resolver and a resolving name server, between a resolving name server and an authoritative name server).
X X
1.1.4
Threat 4:
The DNS-specificconfiguration files (named.conf,root.hints,etc.),data files (zone file), and files containing cryptographic keys could be corrupted by
viruses and worms or subjected to unauthorizedmodificationsdue to inadequatefile-level protections,resulting in improper functioningof name
resolution service
X X
1.1.5
Threat 5:
A malicious host on the same LAN as a DNS client may be able to intercept and/or alter DNS responses.This would allow an attacker to redirect a client
to a differentsite. This could be the first action in an attack on a client host.
X X X X
1.2
DNS Software
(name server,
resolver)
1.2.1
Threat 6:
DNS software (name server or resolver) could have vulnerabilitiessuch as buffer overflows that result in denial of service.
X
1.2.2
Threat 7:
DNS software does not provide adequate access control capabilities for its configurationfiles (e.g., named.conf),its data files (e.g., zone file) and files
containing signing keys (e.g., TSIG, DNSKEY)to prevent unauthorized read/updateof these files
X X X
1.3
DNS Data (zone
file,
configuration
file)
1.3.1
Threat 8:
Lame Delegation:This error occurs when FQDN and/or IP addresses of name servers have been changed in the child zone but the parent zone has not
updated the delegation information (NS RRs and glue records). In this situation,the child zone becomes unreachable (denial of service).
X
1.3.2
Threat 9:
RRs such as HINFO and TXT provide information about software name and versions (e.g., for resources such as Web servers and mail servers) that will
enable the well-equippedattacker to exploit the known vulnerabilities in those softwareversions and launch attacks against those resources.
X

Identify Threats per Element
Element Sub Element Sub Element Code Threats S T R I D E
2
DNS
Transactions
2.1
DNS
query/respon
se
2.1.1
Threat 10:
Forged or bogus response
X
2.1.2
Threat 11:
Removal of some RRs from the response
X X
2.2
Zone transfers
2.2.1
Threat 12:
Denial of Service: Because zone transfers involve the transfer of entire zones, they place
substantial demands on network resources relative to normal DNS queries. Errant or
malicious frequent zone transfer requests on the name servers of the enterprise can overload
the master zone server and result in denial of service to legitimate users.
X
2.2.2
Threat 13:
The zone transfer response message could be tampered
X
2.3
Dynamic
updates
2.3.1
Threat 14:
Unauthorized Updates: Unauthorized updates could have several harmful consequences for
the content of zone data. Some harmful data operations include: (a) adding illegitimate
resources (new FQDN and new RRs to a valid zone file), (b) deleting legitimate resources
(entire FQDN or specific RRs), and (c) altering delegation information (NS RRs pointing to child
zones)
X X X X X
2.3.2
Threat 15:
The data in a dynamic update request could be tampered. X X
2.3.3
Threat 16:
Replay Attacks: Update request messages could be captured and resubmitted later, thus
causing inappropriate updates.
X X

STRIDE Mapping

Assessment Area Details
AREA
DETAIL AREA
ELEMENT SUB ELEMENT
SPOOFING
TAMPERING
REPUDIATION
INFORMATION DISCLOSURE
DENIAL OF SERVICE
ELEVATION OF PRIVILEGE
Element
Sub Element
Assessment Area Details
mapped from STRIDE

Mapped Threats in Assessment Area Details
ASSESSMENT
AREA
ASSESSMENT SUB ELEMENT CODE
SPOOFING
1.1.1 1.1.2 1.1.5
2.1.1
3.1.1

ASSESSMENT
AREA
TAMPERING
1.1.1 1.1.3 1.1.4 1.1.5
2.1.2
2.2.2
2.3.1 2.3.2 2.3.3
3.1.6

ASSESSMENT AREA ASSESSMENT SUB ELEMENT CODE
REPUDIATION 2.3.1

ASSESSMENT
AREA
INFORMATION
DISCLOSURE
1.1.1 1.1.2 1.1.5
1.2.2
1.3.2
2.3.1
3.1.1 3.1.2 3.1.3 3.1.4 3.1.5 3.1.6 3.1.7

ASSESSMENT
AREA
DENIAL OF
SERVICE
1.1.1 1.1.2 1.1.3 1.1.4 1.1.5
1.2.1 1.2.2
1.3.1
2.1.2
2.2.1
2.3.1 2.3.2 2.3.3

ASSESSMENT AREA ASSESSMENT SUB ELEMENT CODE
ELEVATION OF
PRIVILEGE
1.2.2
2.3.1
3.1.6

The Process: Mitigation

Mitigation is the point of Threat Modeling
• Mitigation
▪ To address or alleviate a problem
• Protect customers
• Design secure software
• Why bother if you:
▪ Create a great model
▪ Identify lots of threats
• So, find problems and fix them

Mitigate
• Address each threat
• Ways to address threats:
▪ Redesign to eliminate
▪ Apply standard mitigations
▪ Invent new mitigations (riskier)
▪ Accept vulnerability in design
▪ SDL rules about what you can accept

Standard Mitigations
Spoofing
Tampering
Repudiation
Denial of Service
Authentication
Integrity
Nonrepudiation
Confidentiality
Availability
Authorization
To authenticate principals:
• Cookie Authentication
• PKI systems such as SSL/TLS and certificates
To authenticate code or data:
• Digital Signatures
• Integrity Controls
• ACLs
• Secure logging and auditing
• Encryption
• ACLs
• ACLs
• Filtering
• Quotas
• ACLs
• Group or role membership
• Privilege ownership
• Input Validation
56

The Process: Validation

Validating Threats Models
• Validate the whole threat model
▪ Does diagram match final code?
▪ Are threats enumerated?
▪ Has Test / QA reviewed the model?
▪ Is each threat mitigated?
▪ Are mitigations done right?
• Did you check these before Final Security Review?

Validate Quality of Threats and Mitigations
• Threats: Do They:
▪ Describe the attack
▪ Describe the context
▪ Describe the impact
• Mitigations
▪ Associate with threat
▪ Describe mitigations

Overview: Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment
• “An approach to identifying and managing systemic risk for an
organization and system”
• Enterprise Security Risk Assessments are performed to allow
organizations to:
▪ assess, identify and modify their overall security posture
▪ and to enable security, operations, organizational management and other
personnel to collaborate and view the entire organization from an attacker’s
perspective.

Risk Assessment
Source:
Cobit 5 for Risk
62

Risk Assessment: Risk Rating
• Low / Very Low, the possibility of attacks and the impact if a
successful attack is relatively low. Ratings for this category:
▪ Very Low: < 1.5, Low: >= 1.5 &< 2.5
• Medium, the possibility of attacks and the impact if successful attacks
are relatively moderate / medium. Ratings for this category:
▪ Medium >=2.5 &< 3.5.
• High / Very High, the possibility of attacks and the impact if a
successful attack is relatively high. Ratings for this category:
▪ High: >= 3.5 &< 4.5, Very High : >= 4.5

Risk Assessment: Risk Level
• Possibility (P), the possibility of an attack is determined from a combination of
factors such as:
▪ the attacker motivation, opportunity and resources;
▪ information security policies and procedures and the consistency of existing
implementations;
▪ network or system architecture and configuration details.
▪ The highest value of the possibility (P) = 5 and the lowest value = 1
• Impact (I), impact is determined based on the risk to the organization, either
directly or indirectly.
▪ The highest value of the impact (D) = 5 and the lowest score = 1
Risk Levels = (Impact + Possibility) / 2
64

Risk Assessment: Sample Risk Summary

Sample of Threat Modeling Tools

References
• Adam Shostack “Threat Modeling Designing for Security”
• Cobit 5 for Risk
• ISACA Journal 2010 Volume 1
• ISO 31000:2009
• NIST SP 800-81 rev.2
• Microsoft “Introduction to Microsoft Security Development Lifecycle
(SDL) Threat Modeling”
• Toreon “Threat Modeling Done Right”

Thank You

Threat Modeling Using STRIDE

In this document

More Related Content

What's hot

Similar to Threat Modeling Using STRIDE

Recently uploaded

Threat Modeling Using STRIDE