Details

A cookie can be read by client-side scripts easily if cookie properties are not set properly. By allowing cookies to be read by the client-side scripts, information such as session identifiers could be compromised and used by an attacker who intercepts the cookie. Setting cookie properties (i.e., HttpOnly property) to disallow client-side scripts from reading cookies better protects the information inside the cookie.

Solution

Determine the location of the ‘HTTPD_ROOT’ directory and the ‘httpd.conf’ file:

# httpd -V | egrep -i ‘httpd_root|server_config_file’
-D HTTPD_ROOT=’/etc/httpd’
-D SERVER_CONFIG_FILE=’conf/httpd.conf’

Set ‘Session’ to ‘on’.

Ensure the ‘SessionCookieName’ directive includes ‘httpOnly’ and ‘secure’.

Supportive Information

The following resource is also helpful.

• https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_Apache_Server_2-4_UNIX_Y22M01_STIG.zip

This security hardening control applies to the following category of controls within NIST 800-53: System and Communications Protection.This control applies to the following type of system Unix.

References

• 800-53|SC-8
• CAT|II
• CCI|CCI-002418
• Rule-ID|SV-214302r612241_rule
• STIG-ID|AS24-U2-000880
• STIG-Legacy|SV-102921
• STIG-Legacy|V-92833
• Vuln-ID|V-214302

Source

• Tenable.com/audits