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The "FileSystemSecurity" page has been changed by ChrisPepper. http://wiki.apache.org/httpd/FileSystemSecurity?action=diff&rev1=5&rev2=6 -------------------------------------------------- Making directories writable by the web server should be done only with care and consideration. The typical attack model is: someone manages to upload (for instance) a PHP script of their own making into the document root, and simply executes that by accessing it through a browser. Now your machine is executing their code under their control. - If a web app needs writable directories, it's often better to have those outside the Document Root ([[http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/mod/core.html#documentroot]]): that way the uploads can't be accessed from the outside through a direct URL. Some applications (Wordpress ([[http://wordpress.org/]]) for instance) support this, others do not. + If a web app needs writable directories, it's often better to have those outside the Document Root ([[http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/mod/core.html#documentroot]]): that way the uploads can't be accessed from the outside through a direct URL. Some applications, such as WordPress [[http://wordpress.org/]] support this; others do not. - In many cases, writable directories are not strictly necessary even though the web app might like them: rather than upload plugins (which contain code that gets executed or interpreted, yech!) through the web browser, upload them through ssh and manually unpack them on the server. The CMS Joomla! likes to write its configuration file to the Document Root on initial install (which promptly becomes a popular attack target) but if it can't write to the Document Root, it will output the config to the browser to the user can manually upload it. + In many cases, writable directories are not strictly necessary even though the web app might like them: rather than upload plugins (which contain code that gets executed or interpreted, yech!) through the web browser, upload them through ssh and manually unpack them on the server. The Joomla! CMS, for instance, attempts to write its configuration file to the Document Root during installation -- this is therefore a popular target -- but if it can't write to the Document Root, it will output the config to the browser to the user can manually upload it. - (Credits to Sander Temme for elaborating on this subject in a much more concise fashion than I could have achieved) + (Credit to Sander Temme for elaborating on this subject in a much more concise fashion than I could have achieved)
