Broken Access Control on Digitalocean
How Broken Access Control Manifests in Digitalocean
Broken Access Control (BAC) in Digitalocean environments often emerges from misconfigured permissions and improper resource isolation. Digitalocean's platform provides several services where BAC vulnerabilities commonly appear.
Digitalocean Droplet Permissions
When managing Droplets programmatically through the Digitalocean API, developers frequently mishandle access controls. A common pattern involves using API tokens with excessive permissions:
// Vulnerable pattern - using broad API token
const axios = require('axios');
const apiToken = process.env.DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN; // All-access token
async function getDropletInfo(dropletId, userId) {
const response = await axios.get(`https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/droplets/${dropletId}`, {
headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${apiToken}` }
});
return response.data;
}
// Problem: Any user can access any droplet
// No validation that userId owns this dropletSpaces Access Control Issues
Digitalocean Spaces (S3-compatible object storage) presents another attack surface. Developers often configure Spaces with overly permissive CORS policies or incorrect bucket policies:
// Insecure CORS configuration - allows any origin
const spaces = new Spaces('my-bucket', 'nyc3', {
cors: {
allowedOrigins: ['*'], // Should be specific origins
allowedMethods: ['GET', 'PUT', 'DELETE', 'HEAD', 'POST']
}Load Balancer IDOR Vulnerabilities
Digitalocean Load Balancers can suffer from Insecure Direct Object References (IDOR) when user IDs are exposed in URLs without proper authorization checks:
// Vulnerable endpoint - no authorization check
app.get('/api/loadbalancers/:loadBalancerId', async (req, res) => {
const { loadBalancerId } = req.params;
const response = await axios.get(`https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/load_balancers/${loadBalancerId}`, {
headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN}` }
});
res.json(response.data);
});
// Attacker can enumerate: /api/loadbalancers/1, /api/loadbalancers/2, etc.Database Access Control
Digitalocean Managed Databases often have misconfigured user permissions, allowing users to access data they shouldn't see:
// Insecure database query - no row-level security
async function getUserData(userId, requestingUserId) {
const client = await pool.connect();
const result = await client.query(
'SELECT * FROM user_data WHERE user_id = $1',
[userId] // No check if requestingUserId owns this data
);
return result.rows;
}Digitalocean-Specific Detection
Detecting Broken Access Control in Digitalocean environments requires both manual testing and automated scanning. middleBrick provides specialized detection for Digitalocean-specific vulnerabilities.
middleBrick Digitalocean Scanning
middleBrick's black-box scanning approach tests your Digitalocean API endpoints without requiring credentials. For Digitalocean services, it specifically checks:
- Authentication bypass attempts on Droplet management endpoints
- Spaces bucket enumeration and unauthorized access
- Load Balancer IDOR vulnerabilities
- Database endpoint authorization flaws
- API token scope validation
Manual Testing Methodology
Complement automated scanning with manual testing using curl and Postman:
# Test for IDOR in Droplet endpoints
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/droplets/1234567
# Enumerate Spaces buckets
aws s3 ls --endpoint-url=https://nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com
# Test Load Balancer access control
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/load_balancers/lb-test-123Digitalocean API Security Best Practices
Implement these security headers and configurations when using Digitalocean services:
// Secure CORS configuration for Spaces
cors: {
allowedOrigins: ['https://yourdomain.com'],
allowedMethods: ['GET', 'HEAD'],
allowedHeaders: ['Authorization']
}
// Restrict API token permissions
const dropletToken = new DigitaloceanApiToken({
scopes: ['droplets:read', 'droplets:write'],
});Digitalocean-Specific Remediation
Fixing Broken Access Control in Digitalocean environments requires implementing proper authorization checks and using Digitalocean's built-in security features.
Resource-Level Access Control
Implement proper authorization checks before accessing Digitalocean resources:
async function getDroplet(dropletId, userId) {
// Verify ownership before access
const userDroplets = await getUserDroplets(userId);
const authorized = userDroplets.some(d => d.id === dropletId);
if (!authorized) {
throw new Error('Access denied: Resource not owned by user');
}
// Now make the API call
const response = await axios.get(`https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/droplets/${dropletId}`, {
headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN}` }
});
return response.data;
}Scoped API Tokens
Use Digitalocean's scoped API tokens instead of broad access tokens:
// Create scoped tokens with least privilege
const createScopedToken = async (userId, scopes) => {
const token = await digitaloceanApi.createToken({
name: `user-${userId}-droplet-access`,
scopes: scopes, // e.g., ['droplets:read', 'domains:read']
expires_at: new Date(Date.now() + 30 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000) // 30 days
});
return token;
};
// Use token per user/project
const userToken = await createScopedToken(userId, ['droplets:read']);Spaces Security Configuration
Configure Spaces with proper access controls:
// Secure Spaces configuration
const spacesConfig = {
cors: {
allowedOrigins: ['https://app.yourdomain.com'],
allowedMethods: ['GET', 'HEAD'],
allowedHeaders: ['Authorization'],
maxAgeSeconds: 3600
},
statements: [
{
effect: 'Allow',
principal: '*',
action: ['s3:GetObject', 's3:GetBucketLocation'],
resource: ['arn:aws:s3:::your-bucket-name/*'],
condition: {
StringEquals: {
'aws:Referer': ['https://app.yourdomain.com']
}
}
}
]
}
};
// Generate presigned URLs with limited scope
function generatePresignedUrl(bucket, key, userId) {
if (!validateUserAccess(userId, key)) {
throw new Error('Access denied');
}
Bucket: bucket,
Key: key,
Expires: 300 // 5 minutes
});
}Database Row-Level Security
Implement row-level security in Digitalocean Managed Databases:
// PostgreSQL RLS policy
CREATE POLICY user_data_policy ON user_data
FOR ALL TO authenticated_users
USING (user_id = current_setting('app.current_user_id')::int);
// Application-side enforcement
async function getUserData(userId, requestingUserId) {
if (userId !== requestingUserId) {
throw new Error('Access denied: Cannot access other users data');
}
const result = await client.query(
'SELECT * FROM user_data WHERE user_id = $1',
[userId]
);
return result.rows;
}