Debugging and trace information used to diagnose the Apache web server must be disabled.

From Apache Server 2.4 Windows Site Security Technical Implementation Guide

Associated with: CCI-001312

AS24-W2-000630_rule Debugging and trace information used to diagnose the Apache web server must be disabled.

Vulnerability discussion

Information needed by an attacker to begin looking for possible vulnerabilities in a web server includes any information about the web server and plug-ins or modules being used. When debugging or trace information is enabled in a production web server, information about the web server, such as web server type, version, patches installed, plug-ins and modules installed, type of code being used by the hosted application, and any backends being used for data storage may be displayed. Since this information may be placed in logs and general messages during normal operation of the Apache web server, an attacker does not need to cause an error condition to gain this information.

Check content

Review the <'INSTALLED PATH'>\conf\httpd.conf file. For any enabled "TraceEnable" directives, verify they are part of the server-level configuration (i.e., not nested in a "Directory" or "Location" directive). Also, verify the "TraceEnable" directive is set to “Off”. If the "TraceEnable" directive is not part of the server-level configuration and/or is not set to “Off”, this is a finding. If the directive does not exist in the "conf" file, this is a finding because the default value is "On".

Fix text

Edit the <'INSTALLED PATH'>\conf\httpd.conf file and add or set the value of "EnableTrace" to "Off".

Pro Tips

Lavender hyperlinks in small type off to the right (of CSS class id, if you view the page source) point to globally unique URIs for each document and item. Copy the link location and paste anywhere you need to talk unambiguously about these things.

You can obtain data about documents and items in other formats. Simply provide an HTTP header Accept: text/turtle or Accept: application/rdf+xml.