Title

The application server must generate a unique session identifier for each session. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

Unique session IDs are the opposite of sequentially generated session IDs, which can be easily guessed by an attacker. Unique session identifiers help to reduce predictability of session identifiers. Unique session IDs address man-in-the-middle attacks, including session hijacking or insertion of false information into a session. If the attacker is unable to identify or guess the session information related to pending application traffic, they will have more difficulty in hijacking the session or otherwise manipulating valid sessions. Application servers must generate a unique session identifier for each application session so as to prevent session hijacking.

Check Content

Review the application server session management configuration settings in either the application server management console, application server initialization or application server configuration files to determine if the application server is configured to generate a unique session identifier for each session. If the application server is not configured to generate a unique session identifier for each session, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure the application server to generate a unique session identifier for each session.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-204764r879638_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-204764

Group Title: SRG-APP-000223

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

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