Re: Maintaining security in an additional servlet

On 1/7/2013 8:43 AM, Flying-w wrote:

I have a GWT application that among many things shows PDFs that are stored on the server side.  I have a security related question, as described below.

When a user logs in through a dialogue on the client side, I make a note of the userid they entered while processing the login on the server side.  This is all done through the normal GWT RPC Infrastructure:

HttpSession session = getThreadLocalRequest().getSession(); 

session.setAttribute("USER", userId);

I have a separate servlet that is responsible for locating and delivering PDF content back to the browser when requested.  When the user clicks a button in the GWT client, I open a new browser window and address the servlet to produce the desired PDF.  A reference to the name of the PDF required is stored in a client side cookie (and transmitted in the HTTP request).

Window.open(GWT.getModuleBaseURL() + "Showpdf", "PDF Viewer", "");

The servlet needs to check whomever is making the request is authorised to view the PDF requested, and checks the user name stored in the HttpSession earlier:

HttpSession session = request.getSession(); 

String user = (String)session.getAttribute("USER");

// Do whatever is required to check the user can access the required PDF

Is this approach is safe from hacking?

Probably not. Rule #1: The client computer is an environment not under your control. It can be hacked. It might /not/ be hacked, but that doesn't mean it /can't/ be hacked. The same goes for whatever Javascript is running on the client. Don't assume that any Javascript comes from a web browser environment, or that it even comes from a PC.

 Is there a way the user name can be spoofed by a hacker to gain access to a PDF they are not authorised for?  Is there another way of doing this?

This is a variant of a common technique for delivering low-value digital content.

The tradeoff is the value of the PDF vs. the strength of the safe in which the PDF is contained. If the PDF is {low value|cheap} and the safe is expensive, that's not a good tradeoff. If the PDF is
{expensive|valuable} than you might want to think of other delivery methods.

Cheers,
jec