full-disclosure - HTTP AUTH BASIC monowall.

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Date: Fri Mar 17 17:39:44 2006
From: eaton.lists at gmail.com (Brian Eaton)
Subject: HTTP AUTH BASIC monowall.

On 3/16/06, Felix Lindner <fx@...re-labs.com> wrote:
> you may be looking for Digest Authentication:
> http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2617.txt:
>
>    "Like Basic, Digest access authentication verifies that both parties
>    to a communication know a shared secret (a password); unlike Basic,
>    this verification can be done without sending the password in the
>    clear, which is Basic's biggest weakness. As with most other
>    authentication protocols, the greatest sources of risks are usually
>    found not in the core protocol itself but in policies and procedures
>    surrounding its use."

Digest probably isn't a good answer to a MITM attack, because as far
as I can tell there is nothing stopping the MITM from downgrading to
BA.

I haven't actually tested this.  Maybe the browsers have config
options to disable BA authentication, or at least give some kind of
visual indicator that the authentication is digest rather than basic.

- Brian