diff --git a/docs/tutorial/security.md b/docs/tutorial/security.md index 38f597b406f6..7754a73e142d 100644 --- a/docs/tutorial/security.md +++ b/docs/tutorial/security.md @@ -1,19 +1,19 @@ # Security, Native Capabilities, and Your Responsibility -As web developers, we usually enjoy the strong security net of the browser - the -risks associated with the code we write are relatively small. Our websites are -granted limited powers in a sandbox, and we trust that our users enjoy a browser -built by a large team of engineers that is able to quickly respond to newly -discovered security threats. +As web developers, we usually enjoy the strong security net of the browser - +the risks associated with the code we write are relatively small. Our websites +are granted limited powers in a sandbox, and we trust that our users enjoy a +browser built by a large team of engineers that is able to quickly respond to +newly discovered security threats. When working with Electron, it is important to understand that Electron is not a web browser. It allows you to build feature-rich desktop applications with familiar web technologies, but your code wields much greater power. JavaScript can access the filesystem, user shell, and more. This allows you to build -high quality native applications, but the inherent security risks scale with the -additional powers granted to your code. +high quality native applications, but the inherent security risks scale with +the additional powers granted to your code. -With that in mind, be aware that displaying arbitrary content from untrusted +With that in mind, be aware that displaying arbitrary content from un-trusted sources poses a severe security risk that Electron is not intended to handle. In fact, the most popular Electron apps (Atom, Slack, Visual Studio Code, etc) display primarily local content (or trusted, secure remote content without Node @@ -34,8 +34,8 @@ contributions available today, Electron will often not be on the very latest version of Chromium, lagging behind by either days or weeks. We feel that our current system of updating the Chromium component strikes an -appropriate balance between the resources we have available and the needs of the -majority of applications built on top of the framework. We definitely are +appropriate balance between the resources we have available and the needs of +the majority of applications built on top of the framework. We definitely are interested in hearing more about specific use cases from the people that build things on top of Electron. Pull requests and contributions supporting this effort are always very welcome. @@ -44,15 +44,15 @@ effort are always very welcome. A security issue exists whenever you receive code from a remote destination and execute it locally. As an example, consider a remote website being displayed -inside a browser window. If an attacker somehow manages to change said content +inside a `BrowserWindow`. If an attacker somehow manages to change said content (either by attacking the source directly, or by sitting between your app and the actual destination), they will be able to execute native code on the user's machine. > :warning: Under no circumstances should you load and execute remote code with -Node.js integration enabled. Instead, use only local files (packaged together with -your application) to execute Node.js code. To display remote content, use the -`webview` tag and make sure to disable the `nodeIntegration`. +Node.js integration enabled. Instead, use only local files (packaged together +with your application) to execute Node.js code. To display remote content, use +the `webview` tag and make sure to disable the `nodeIntegration`. #### Checklist: Security Recommendations @@ -60,39 +60,34 @@ This is not bulletproof, but at the least, you should attempt the following: * [Only display secure (https) content](#only-display-secure-content) * [Disable the Node integration in all renderers that display remote content](#disable-node-integration-for-remote-content) - (setting `nodeIntegration` to `false` in `webPreferences`) -* Enable context isolation in all renderers that display remote content - (setting `contextIsolation` to `true` in `webPreferences`) -* Use `ses.setPermissionRequestHandler()` in all sessions that load remote content -* Do not disable `webSecurity`. Disabling it will disable the same-origin policy. -* Define a [`Content-Security-Policy`](http://www.html5rocks.com/en/tutorials/security/content-security-policy/) +* [Enable context isolation in all renderers that display remote content](#enable-context-isolation-for-remote-content) +* [Use `ses.setPermissionRequestHandler()` in all sessions that load remote content](#handle-session-permission-requests-from-remote-content) +* [Do not disable `webSecurity`](#do-not-disable-websecurity) +* [Define a `Content-Security-Policy`](#define-a-content-security-policy) , and use restrictive rules (i.e. `script-src 'self'`) -* [Override and disable `eval`](https://github.com/nylas/N1/blob/0abc5d5defcdb057120d726b271933425b75b415/static/index.js#L6-L8) +* [Override and disable `eval`](#override-and-disable) , which allows strings to be executed as code. -* Do not set `allowRunningInsecureContent` to true. -* Do not enable `experimentalFeatures` or `experimentalCanvasFeatures` unless - you know what you're doing. -* Do not use `blinkFeatures` unless you know what you're doing. -* WebViews: Do not add the `nodeintegration` attribute. -* WebViews: Do not use `disablewebsecurity` -* WebViews: Do not use `allowpopups` -* WebViews: Do not use `insertCSS` or `executeJavaScript` with remote CSS/JS. +* [Do not set `allowRunningInsecureContent` to `true`](#do-not-set-allowRunningInsecureContent-to-true) +* [Do not enable experimental features](#do-not-enable-enable-experimental-features) +* [Do not use `blinkFeatures`](#do-not-use-blinkfeatures) +* [WebViews: Do not use `allowpopups`](#do-not-use-allowpopups) * [WebViews: Verify the options and params of all `` tags](#verify-webview-options-before-creation) + ## Only Display Secure Content -Any resources not included with your application should be loaded using a secure -protocol like `HTTPS`. Furthermore, avoid "mixed content", which occurs when the -initial HTML is loaded over an `HTTPS` connection, but additional resources -(scripts, stylesheets, etc) are loaded over an insecure connection. + +Any resources not included with your application should be loaded using a +secure protocol like `HTTPS`. ### Why? + `HTTPS` has three main benefits: -1) It authenticates the remote server, ensuring that the host is actually who it - claims to be. When loading a resource from an `HTTPS` host, it prevents an - attacker from impersonating that host, thus ensuring that the computer your - app's users are connecting to is actually the host you wanted them to connect - to. +1) It authenticates the remote server, ensuring that the host is actually who + it claims to be. When loading a resource from an `HTTPS` host, it prevents + an attacker from impersonating that host, thus ensuring that the computer + your app's users are connecting to is actually the host you wanted them to + connect to. 2) It ensures data integrity, asserting that the data was not modified while in transit between your application and the host. 3) It encryps the traffic between your user and the destination host, making it @@ -100,6 +95,7 @@ initial HTML is loaded over an `HTTPS` connection, but additional resources the host. ### How? + ```js // Bad browserWindow.loadURL('http://my-website.com') @@ -118,29 +114,33 @@ browserWindow.loadURL('https://my-website.com') ``` -## Disable Node Integration for Remote Content -It is paramount that you disable Node integration in any renderer (`BrowserWindow`, -`BrowserView`, or `WebView`) that loads remote content. The goal of disabling Node -integration is to limit the powers you grant to remote content, thus making it -dramatically more difficult for an attacker to harm your users should they gain -the ability to execute JavaScript on your website. -Disabling Node integration does not mean that you cannot grant additional powers -to the website you are loading. If you are opening a `BrowserWindow` pointed at -`https://my-website.com`, the goal is to give that website exactly the abilities -it needs, but no more. +## Disable Node Integration for Remote Content + +It is paramount that you disable Node integration in any renderer +(`BrowserWindow`, `BrowserView`, or `WebView`) that loads remote content. The +goal of disabling Node integration is to limit the powers you grant to remote +content, thus making it dramatically more difficult for an attacker to harm +your users should they gain the ability to execute JavaScript on your website. + +Disabling Node integration does not mean that you cannot grant additional +powers to the website you are loading. If you are opening a `BrowserWindow` +pointed at `https://my-website.com`, the goal is to give that website exactly +the abilities it needs, but no more. ### Why? + A cross-site-scripting (XSS) attack becomes dramatically more dangerous if an attacker can jump out of the renderer process and execute code on the user's computer. Cross-site-scripting attacks are fairly common - and while an issue, -their power is usually limited to messing with the website that they are executed -on. However, in a renderer process with Node.js integration enabled, an XSS attack -becomes a whole different class of attack: A so-called "Remote Code Execution" -(RCE) attack. Disabling Node.js integration limits the power of successful XSS -attacks. +their power is usually limited to messing with the website that they are +executed on. However, in a renderer process with Node.js integration enabled, +an XSS attack becomes a whole different class of attack: A so-called "Remote +Code Execution" (RCE) attack. Disabling Node.js integration limits the power +of successful XSS attacks. ### How? + ```js // Bad const mainWindow = new BrowserWindow() @@ -157,13 +157,21 @@ const mainWindow = new BrowserWindow({ mainWindow.loadURL('https://my-website.com') ``` -When disabling Node integration, you can still expose APIs to your -website that do consume Node.js modules or features. Preload scripts continue to -have access to `require` and other Node.js features, allowing developers to expose -a custom API to remotely loaded content. +```html + + -In the following example preload script, the later loaded website will have access -to a `window.readConfig()` method, but no Node.js features. + + +``` + +When disabling Node integration, you can still expose APIs to your website that +do consume Node.js modules or features. Preload scripts continue to have access +to `require` and other Node.js features, allowing developers to expose a custom +API to remotely loaded content. + +In the following example preload script, the later loaded website will have +access to a `window.readConfig()` method, but no Node.js features. ```js const { readFileSync } = require('fs') @@ -231,6 +239,7 @@ document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', () => { }) ``` + ## Handle Session Permission Requests From Remote Content You may have seen permission requests while using Chrome: They pop up whenever @@ -476,23 +485,27 @@ the ability to create new popups. ## Verify WebView Options Before Creation + A WebView created in a renderer process that does not have Node.js integration enabled will not be able to enable integration itself. However, a WebView will always create an independent renderer process with its own `webPreferences`. -It is a good idea to control the creation of new `WebViews` from the main process -and to verify that their webPreferences do not disable security features. +It is a good idea to control the creation of new `WebViews` from the main +process and to verify that their webPreferences do not disable security +features. ### Why? + Since WebViews live in the DOM, they can be created by a script running on your website even if Node integration is otherwise disabled. Electron enables developers to disable various security features that control -a renderer process. In most cases, developers do not need to disable any of those -features - and you should therefore not allow different configurations for newly -created `` tags. +a renderer process. In most cases, developers do not need to disable any of +those features - and you should therefore not allow different configurations +for newly created `` tags. ### How? + Before a `` tag is attached, Electron will fire the `will-attach-webview` event on the hosting `webContents`. Use the event to prevent the creation of WebViews with possibly insecure options.