QPR ProcessAnalyzer Security Hardening

The following list provides recommendations for improving (hardening) the security of QPR ProcessAnalyzer installation.

Database User Least Privileges

While it's easiest to run QPR ProcessAnalyzer with a database user assigned the db_owner permissions, it's more safe to restrict the database permissions only to needed. The minimum permissions for QPR ProcessAnalyzer are the following:

• db_datareader fixed database role
• db_datawriter fixed database role
• user defined role with the following permissions:
  • VIEW DATABASE STATE
  • EXECUTE on TYPE::PA_TABLETYPE_BigInt
  • EXECUTE on TYPE::PA_TABLETYPE_NVarCharMax
  • ALTER
  • REFERENCES

Configure QPR ProcessAnalyzer to run with minimum permissions as follows:

1. In the QPR ProcessAnalyzer database, click Security > Roles > Database Roles > Create Database Role....
2. Give a name to the role (e.g. AdditionalPermissions) and click OK.
3. To give permissions to the role, run the following commands:

GRANT VIEW DATABASE STATE to AdditionalPermissions
GRANT EXECUTE on TYPE::PA_TABLETYPE_BigInt to AdditionalPermissions
GRANT EXECUTE on TYPE::PA_TABLETYPE_NVarCharMax to AdditionalPermissions
GRANT ALTER to AdditionalPermissions
GRANT REFERENCES to AdditionalPermissions

4. Assign needed roles to the database user by clicking Security > Users and double click the database user. Go to Membership tab and check that following roles are assigned:

• db_datareader
• db_datawrite
• user defined role created earlier

Disable SSL, TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1, and Enable TLS 1.2

Transport Layer Security (TLS) is used to encrypt connections with clients, such as web browsers. SSL 2.0, SSL 3.0, TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1 are no longer adequately secure, so we recommend to only allow clients to connect with TLS 1.2. However, some client devices might not support TLS 1.2, so you might need to keep TLS 1.0 and/or TLS 1.1 enabled.

Here is a Powershell script to disable TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1 and enable TLS 1.2:

#Disable TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1
New-Item -Path "HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.0\Client\" -Force
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.0\Client\" -Name Enabled -Type Dword -Value 0
New-Item -Path "HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.0\Server\" -Force
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.0\Server\" -Name Enabled -Type Dword -Value 0
New-Item -Path "HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.1\Client\" -Force
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.1\Client\" -Name DisabledByDefault -Type Dword -Value 1
New-Item -Path "HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.1\Server\" -Force
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.1\Server\" -Name DisabledByDefault -Type Dword -Value 1

#Enable TLS 1.2
New-Item -Path "HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.2\Client\" -Force
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.2\Client\" -Name DisabledByDefault -Type Dword -Value 0
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.2\Client\" -Name Enabled -Type Dword -Value 1
New-Item -Path "HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.2\Server\" -Force
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.2\Server\" -Name DisabledByDefault -Type Dword -Value 0
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.2\Server\" -Name Enabled -Type Dword -Value 1

More information: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/187498/how-to-disable-pct-1-0-ssl-2-0-ssl-3-0-or-tls-1-0-in-internet-informat

Disable Weak Ciphers

The Triple-DES cipher is no longer adequate to encrypt sessions on the internet. Specifically, running Triple-DES ciphers leaves the server vulnerable to information disclosure and denial of service attacks. You can learn more at the National Vulnerability Database webpage for CVE-2016-2183.

Here is a Powershell script to disable Triple-DES cipher:

New-Item -path "HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Ciphers\Triple DES 168" -Force
Set-ItemProperty  -path "HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Ciphers\Triple DES 168" -Name Enabled -Type Dword -Value 0

More information: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/245030/how-to-restrict-the-use-of-certain-cryptographic-algorithms-and-protoc

Add Security Related HTTP Headers in IIS

1. In Internet Information Services (IIS) Console, click the top level in the left side hierarchy, double-click HTTP Response Headers, click Add... on the right side pane, and define the following headers:
2. Content-Security-Policy
   • Name: Content-Security-Policy
   • Value: default-src 'none';script-src 'self' 'unsafe-eval';style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline';img-src 'self' data:;connect-src 'self';font-src 'self' data:;manifest-src 'self';child-src 'self' https://devnet.onqpr.com/;
3. Strict-Transport-Security (Note: HTTPS is required)
   • Name: Strict-Transport-Security
   • Value: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains
4. X-Frame-Options:
   • Name: X-Frame-Options
   • Value: deny
5. X-Content-Type-Options:
   • Name: X-Content-Type-Options
   • Value: nosniff

Alternatively you can use the following Powershell script:

Add-WebConfigurationProperty -pspath "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST/Default Web Site/" -filter "system.webServer/httpProtocol/customHeaders" -name "." -value @{name="Content-Security-Policy";value="default-src 'none';script-src 'self' 'unsafe-eval';style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline';img-src 'self' data:;connect-src 'self';font-src 'self' data:;manifest-src 'self';child-src 'self' https://devnet.onqpr.com/;"}
Add-WebConfigurationProperty -pspath "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST/Default Web Site/" -filter "system.webServer/httpProtocol/customHeaders" -name "." -value @{name="Strict-Transport-Security";value="max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains"}
Add-WebConfigurationProperty -pspath "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST/Default Web Site/" -filter "system.webServer/httpProtocol/customHeaders" -name "." -value @{name="X-Frame-Options";value="deny"}
Add-WebConfigurationProperty -pspath "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST/Default Web Site/" -filter "system.webServer/httpProtocol/customHeaders" -name "." -value @{name="X-Content-Type-Options";value="nosniff"}

More information:

• https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/CSP / https://content-security-policy.com/
• https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/Strict-Transport-Security
• https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/X-Frame-Options
• https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/X-Content-Type-Options

Remove X-Powered-By HTTP Header in IIS

Removing the X-Powered-By HTTP response header improved security, because the underlying technology is not revealed publicly. This step applies only when IIS is used as a reverse proxy for QPR UI.

1. In Internet Information Services (IIS) Console, click the top level in the left side hierarchy:
2. Double-click HTTP Response Headers
3. Click on the X-Powered-By header
4. Click Remove on the right side pane to remove it from the response.

Here is a Powershell script to remove X-Powered-By HTTP Response Header:

Remove-WebConfigurationProperty -pspath "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST/Default Web Site/" -filter "system.webServer/httpProtocol/customHeaders" -name "." -AtElement @{name="X-Powered-By"}

More information: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/varunm/2013/04/23/remove-unwanted-http-response-headers/

Remove Server HTTP Header in IIS

IIS 10.0 returns Server header in http response. It can be removed with the following PowerShell command:

Set-WebConfigurationProperty -pspath "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST" -filter "system.webServer/security/requestFiltering" -name "removeServerHeader" -value "True"

Note that this setting is not applicable to earlier versions than IIS 10.0.

More information: https://www.saotn.org/remove-iis-server-version-http-response-header/#removeserverheader-requestfiltering-in-iis-10-0

Remove X-Aspnet-Version HTTP Header in IIS

Note: Starting from QPR ProcessAnalyzer 2020.8, this setting is already in place.

By default there is the X-Aspnet-Version HTTP response header in failed requests revealing the Asp.net version in use. It can be removed by adding attribute enableVersionHeader="false" into the httpRuntime element. Example:

<httpRuntime maxRequestLength="2147483647" executionTimeout="3600" requestValidationMode="2.0" requestPathInvalidCharacters="" enableVersionHeader="false" />

Disable 8.3 File Name Creation

In order to disable short names creation, add a registry key named NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem and set its value to 1. Note that in the computer, there may be other applications that require 8.3 file names and thus may stop working.

Example Powershell script to disable 8.3 file name creation:

Set-ItemProperty -Path HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem -Name NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation -Value 1

More information: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/121007/how-to-disable-8-3-file-name-creation-on-ntfs-partitions