fix: improve security by deprecating creating users with public access by default

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -114,6 +114,7 @@ ___
 - Added Deprecation Policy to govern the introduction of breaking changes in a phased pattern that is more predictable for developers (Manuel Trezza) [#7199](https://github.com/parse-community/parse-server/pull/7199)
 - Add REST API endpoint `/loginAs` to create session of any user with master key; allows to impersonate another user. (GormanFletcher) [#7406](https://github.com/parse-community/parse-server/pull/7406)
 - Add official support for MongoDB 5.0 (Manuel Trezza) [#7469](https://github.com/parse-community/parse-server/pull/7469)
+- Added Parse Server Configuration `enforcePrivateUsers`, which will remove public access by default on new Parse.Users (dblythy) [#7319](https://github.com/parse-community/parse-server/pull/7319)
 
 ### Other Changes
 - Support native mongodb syntax in aggregation pipelines (Raschid JF Rafeally) [#7339](https://github.com/parse-community/parse-server/pull/7339)

DEPRECATIONS.md

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ The following is a list of deprecations, according to the [Deprecation Policy](h
 |--------|-------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|-----------------------|-------|
 | DEPPS1 | Native MongoDB syntax in aggregation pipeline   | [#7338](https://github.com/parse-community/parse-server/issues/7338) | 5.0.0 (2022)                    | 6.0.0 (2023)                    | deprecated            | -     |
 | DEPPS2 | Config option `directAccess` defaults to `true` | [#6636](https://github.com/parse-community/parse-server/pull/6636)   | 5.0.0 (2022)                    | 6.0.0 (2023)                    | deprecated            | -     |
+| DEPPS3 | Config option `enforcePrivateUsers` defaults to `true` | [#7319](https://github.com/parse-community/parse-server/pull/7319)   | 5.0.0 (2022)                    | 6.0.0 (2023)                    | deprecated            | -     |
 
 [i_deprecation]: ## "The version and date of the deprecation."
 [i_removal]: ## "The version and date of the planned removal."

spec/ParseUser.spec.js

@@ -13,20 +13,6 @@ const passwordCrypto = require('../lib/password');
 const Config = require('../lib/Config');
 const cryptoUtils = require('../lib/cryptoUtils');
 
-function verifyACL(user) {
-  const ACL = user.getACL();
-  expect(ACL.getReadAccess(user)).toBe(true);
-  expect(ACL.getWriteAccess(user)).toBe(true);
-  expect(ACL.getPublicReadAccess()).toBe(true);
-  expect(ACL.getPublicWriteAccess()).toBe(false);
-  const perms = ACL.permissionsById;
-  expect(Object.keys(perms).length).toBe(2);
-  expect(perms[user.id].read).toBe(true);
-  expect(perms[user.id].write).toBe(true);
-  expect(perms['*'].read).toBe(true);
-  expect(perms['*'].write).not.toBe(true);
-}
-
 describe('Parse.User testing', () => {
   it('user sign up class method', async done => {
     const user = await Parse.User.signUp('asdf', 'zxcv');
@@ -146,7 +132,17 @@ describe('Parse.User testing', () => {
     await Parse.User.signUp('asdf', 'zxcv');
     const user = await Parse.User.logIn('asdf', 'zxcv');
     equal(user.get('username'), 'asdf');
-    verifyACL(user);
+    const ACL = user.getACL();
+    expect(ACL.getReadAccess(user)).toBe(true);
+    expect(ACL.getWriteAccess(user)).toBe(true);
+    expect(ACL.getPublicReadAccess()).toBe(true);
+    expect(ACL.getPublicWriteAccess()).toBe(false);
+    const perms = ACL.permissionsById;
+    expect(Object.keys(perms).length).toBe(2);
+    expect(perms[user.id].read).toBe(true);
+    expect(perms[user.id].write).toBe(true);
+    expect(perms['*'].read).toBe(true);
+    expect(perms['*'].write).not.toBe(true);
     done();
   });
 
@@ -3934,6 +3930,31 @@ describe('Parse.User testing', () => {
     }
   });
 
+  it('should throw when enforcePrivateUsers is invalid', async () => {
+    const options = [[], 'a', 0, {}];
+    for (const option of options) {
+      await expectAsync(reconfigureServer({ enforcePrivateUsers: option })).toBeRejected();
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('user login with enforcePrivateUsers', async done => {
+    await reconfigureServer({ enforcePrivateUsers: true });
+    await Parse.User.signUp('asdf', 'zxcv');
+    const user = await Parse.User.logIn('asdf', 'zxcv');
+    equal(user.get('username'), 'asdf');
+    const ACL = user.getACL();
+    expect(ACL.getReadAccess(user)).toBe(true);
+    expect(ACL.getWriteAccess(user)).toBe(true);
+    expect(ACL.getPublicReadAccess()).toBe(false);
+    expect(ACL.getPublicWriteAccess()).toBe(false);
+    const perms = ACL.permissionsById;
+    expect(Object.keys(perms).length).toBe(1);
+    expect(perms[user.id].read).toBe(true);
+    expect(perms[user.id].write).toBe(true);
+    expect(perms['*']).toBeUndefined();
+    done();
+  });
+
   describe('issue #4897', () => {
     it_only_db('mongo')('should be able to login with a legacy user (no ACL)', async () => {
       // This issue is a side effect of the locked users and legacy users which don't have ACL's

src/Config.js

@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ export class Config {
     fileUpload,
     pages,
     security,
+    enforcePrivateUsers,
   }) {
     if (masterKey === readOnlyMasterKey) {
       throw new Error('masterKey and readOnlyMasterKey should be different');
@@ -111,6 +112,13 @@ export class Config {
     this.validateIdempotencyOptions(idempotencyOptions);
     this.validatePagesOptions(pages);
     this.validateSecurityOptions(security);
+    this.validateEnforcePrivateUsers(enforcePrivateUsers);
+  }
+
+  static validateEnforcePrivateUsers(enforcePrivateUsers) {
+    if (typeof enforcePrivateUsers !== 'boolean') {
+      throw 'Parse Server option enforcePrivateUsers must be a boolean.';
+    }
   }
 
   static validateSecurityOptions(security) {

src/Deprecator/Deprecations.js

@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@
  * The deprecations.
  *
  * Add deprecations to the array using the following keys:
- * - `optionKey`: The option key incl. its path, e.g. `security.enableCheck`.
- * - `envKey`: The environment key, e.g. `PARSE_SERVER_SECURITY`.
- * - `changeNewKey`: Set the new key name if the current key will be replaced,
+ * - `optionKey` {String}: The option key incl. its path, e.g. `security.enableCheck`.
+ * - `envKey` {String}: The environment key, e.g. `PARSE_SERVER_SECURITY`.
+ * - `changeNewKey` {String}: Set the new key name if the current key will be replaced,
  * or set to an empty string if the current key will be removed without replacement.
- * - `changeNewDefault`: Set the new default value if the key's default value
+ * - `changeNewDefault` {String}: Set the new default value if the key's default value
  * will change in a future version.
  * - `solution`: The instruction to resolve this deprecation warning. Optional. This
  * instruction must not include the deprecation warning which is auto-generated.
@@ -22,4 +22,5 @@ module.exports = [
     solution:
       "Additionally, the environment variable 'PARSE_SERVER_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_DIRECT_ACCESS' will be deprecated and renamed to 'PARSE_SERVER_DIRECT_ACCESS' in a future version; it is currently possible to use either one.",
   },
+  { optionKey: 'enforcePrivateUsers', changeNewDefault: 'true' },
 ];

src/Options/Definitions.js

@@ -154,6 +154,12 @@ module.exports.ParseServerOptions = {
     env: 'PARSE_SERVER_ENCRYPTION_KEY',
     help: 'Key for encrypting your files',
   },
+  enforcePrivateUsers: {
+    env: 'PARSE_SERVER_ENFORCE_PRIVATE_USERS',
+    help: 'Set to true if new users should be created without public read and write access.',
+    action: parsers.booleanParser,
+    default: false,
+  },
   expireInactiveSessions: {
     env: 'PARSE_SERVER_EXPIRE_INACTIVE_SESSIONS',
     help:

src/Options/docs.js

@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
  * @property {Boolean} enableAnonymousUsers Enable (or disable) anonymous users, defaults to true
  * @property {Boolean} enableExpressErrorHandler Enables the default express error handler for all errors
  * @property {String} encryptionKey Key for encrypting your files
+ * @property {Boolean} enforcePrivateUsers Set to true if new users should be created without public read and write access.
  * @property {Boolean} expireInactiveSessions Sets whether we should expire the inactive sessions, defaults to true. If false, all new sessions are created with no expiration date.
  * @property {String} fileKey Key for your files
  * @property {Adapter<FilesAdapter>} filesAdapter Adapter module for the files sub-system

src/Options/index.js

@@ -246,6 +246,9 @@ export interface ParseServerOptions {
   /* The security options to identify and report weak security settings.
   :DEFAULT: {} */
   security: ?SecurityOptions;
+  /* Set to true if new users should be created without public read and write access.
+  :DEFAULT: false */
+  enforcePrivateUsers: ?boolean;
 }
 
 export interface SecurityOptions {

src/RestWrite.js

@@ -1408,7 +1408,9 @@ RestWrite.prototype.runDatabaseOperation = function () {
       // default public r/w ACL
       if (!ACL) {
         ACL = {};
-        ACL['*'] = { read: true, write: false };
+        if (!this.config.enforcePrivateUsers) {
+          ACL['*'] = { read: true, write: false };
+        }
       }
       // make sure the user is not locked down
       ACL[this.data.objectId] = { read: true, write: true };

src/Security/CheckGroups/CheckGroupServerConfig.js

@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@ import Config from '../../Config';
 import Parse from 'parse/node';
 
 /**
-* The security checks group for Parse Server configuration.
-* Checks common Parse Server parameters such as access keys.
-*/
+ * The security checks group for Parse Server configuration.
+ * Checks common Parse Server parameters such as access keys.
+ */
 class CheckGroupServerConfig extends CheckGroup {
   setName() {
     return 'Parse Server Configuration';
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@ class CheckGroupServerConfig extends CheckGroup {
       new Check({
         title: 'Secure master key',
         warning: 'The Parse Server master key is insecure and vulnerable to brute force attacks.',
-        solution: 'Choose a longer and/or more complex master key with a combination of upper- and lowercase characters, numbers and special characters.',
+        solution:
+          'Choose a longer and/or more complex master key with a combination of upper- and lowercase characters, numbers and special characters.',
         check: () => {
           const masterKey = config.masterKey;
           const hasUpperCase = /[A-Z]/.test(masterKey);
@@ -40,8 +41,9 @@ class CheckGroupServerConfig extends CheckGroup {
       }),
       new Check({
         title: 'Security log disabled',
-        warning: 'Security checks in logs may expose vulnerabilities to anyone access to logs.',
-        solution: 'Change Parse Server configuration to \'security.enableCheckLog: false\'.',
+        warning:
+          'Security checks in logs may expose vulnerabilities to anyone with access to logs.',
+        solution: "Change Parse Server configuration to 'security.enableCheckLog: false'.",
         check: () => {
           if (config.security && config.security.enableCheckLog) {
             throw 1;
@@ -50,14 +52,26 @@ class CheckGroupServerConfig extends CheckGroup {
       }),
       new Check({
         title: 'Client class creation disabled',
-        warning: 'Attackers are allowed to create new classes without restriction and flood the database.',
-        solution: 'Change Parse Server configuration to \'allowClientClassCreation: false\'.',
+        warning:
+          'Attackers are allowed to create new classes without restriction and flood the database.',
+        solution: "Change Parse Server configuration to 'allowClientClassCreation: false'.",
         check: () => {
           if (config.allowClientClassCreation || config.allowClientClassCreation == null) {
             throw 1;
           }
         },
       }),
+      new Check({
+        title: 'Users are created without public access',
+        warning:
+          'Users with public read access are exposed to anyone who knows their object IDs, or to anyone who can query the Parse.User class.',
+        solution: "Change Parse Server configuration to 'enforcePrivateUsers: true'.",
+        check: () => {
+          if (!config.enforcePrivateUsers) {
+            throw 1;
+          }
+        },
+      }),
     ];
   }
 }