How to use Nginx to prevent HTTP/2 vulnerabilities

With the development of web applications, Nginx has become the server of choice for many web developers and administrators. It handles transport protocols efficiently and provides secure services. However, a security vulnerability called HTTP/2 vulnerability was recently discovered, which poses a threat to web applications. How to use Nginx to prevent this kind of vulnerability? Let us find out together below.

Introduction to HTTP/2 vulnerabilities

First of all, let us understand what HTTP/2 vulnerabilities are? In fact, this vulnerability is due to certain HTTP/2 implementations not properly handling DATA frames with implicit length fields, resulting in a denial of service attack. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability to send malicious packets to the victim server, causing the server to crash. This vulnerability already exists in some current HTTP/2 servers, such as Apache and Nginx.

How does Nginx prevent HTTP/2 vulnerabilities?

Nginx has solved the HTTP/2 vulnerability issue in its latest version. If you use Nginx 1.13.10 or higher, you're already safe. But if you are still using an Nginx version lower than this, then we recommend that you upgrade immediately to avoid being vulnerable to attacks.

Upgrade Nginx version

To upgrade the Nginx version, you need to back up the Nginx configuration file and related files first, and make sure you can restore them. Then, you need to download the latest version of Nginx binaries. You can download the binaries from the official website or Nginx repository.

For example, you can download the latest Nginx binaries on your local host:

$ wget https://nginx.org/packages/mainline/ubuntu/pool/nginx/n/nginx /nginx_1.19.1-1~xenial_amd64.deb

Resolving dependency issues

Before installing the new Nginx binaries, you may need to resolve some dependency issues. To install Nginx binaries, you need to install dependencies such as OpenSSL and PCRE. You can resolve these dependency issues using the following commands.

$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install libpcre3-dev zlib1g-dev libssl-dev

Install the new version of Nginx

After installing the dependencies, You can now install the latest version of Nginx.

$ sudo dpkg -i nginx_1.19.1-1~xenial_amd64.deb

Enable HTTP/2

Once the new version of Nginx is successfully installed, you need to enable HTTP2 To avoid HTTP/2 vulnerabilities. You can enable HTTP/2 by modifying the Nginx configuration file. Open your Nginx configuration file and find the following lines.

listen 443 ssl;

Add the following line after this one

http2;

Your final line should look like this:

listen 443 ssl http2;

Save and close the configuration file, and restart the Nginx server.

Firewall

In addition to upgrading the Nginx version and enabling HTTP/2, you should also consider using a firewall to improve the security of your server. A firewall can filter unnecessary inbound traffic and allow only safe traffic to reach the web server. You can use a firewall to restrict access from external networks and allow only trusted IP addresses to access your web server.

Conclusion

The above are some methods on how to use Nginx to prevent HTTP/2 vulnerabilities. Remember, it is important to upgrade your Nginx version, enable HTTP/2, and use a firewall to protect your web server. By following these security best practices, you will be able to keep your web applications running securely and against the threat of web attacks.

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