Suhosin (Korean ìˆ˜í˜¸ì‹ , meaning guardian-angel) is used to securing PHP web applications such as WordPress and others. Suhosin comes as the extension and the patch. Both parts can be installed separately and have no dependencies to each other.
How To Installing Suhosin on Debian and Ubuntu [Binary Method]
Type the following command on a Ubuntu Linux 14.04 LTS server:
sudo -s echo 'deb http://repo.suhosin.org/ ubuntu-trusty main' >> /etc/apt/sources.list apt-get update |
Debian Linux 8.x user type the following command:
sudo -s echo 'deb http://repo.suhosin.org/ debian-jessie main' >> /etc/apt/sources.list apt-get update |
Sample outputs:
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security InRelease Get:1 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security Release.gpg [933 B] Get:2 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security Release [63.5 kB] Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty InRelease Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates InRelease Get:3 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/main amd64 Packages [319 kB] Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty Release.gpg Ign http://repo.suhosin.org ubuntu-trusty InRelease Get:4 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/restricted amd64 Packages [8,875 B] Get:5 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/universe amd64 Packages [111 kB] Get:6 http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates Release.gpg [933 B] Get:7 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/multiverse amd64 Packages [3,683 B] Get:8 http://repo.suhosin.org ubuntu-trusty Release.gpg [816 B] Get:9 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/main Translation-en [172 kB] Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty Release Get:10 http://repo.suhosin.org ubuntu-trusty Release [1,074 B] Get:11 http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates Release [63.5 kB] Get:12 http://repo.suhosin.org ubuntu-trusty/main amd64 Packages [722 B] Hit http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/multiverse Translation-en Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/main amd64 Packages Hit http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/restricted Translation-en Hit http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/universe Translation-en Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/restricted amd64 Packages Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/universe amd64 Packages Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/multiverse amd64 Packages Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/main Translation-en Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/multiverse Translation-en Ign http://repo.suhosin.org ubuntu-trusty/main Translation-en_US Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/restricted Translation-en Ign http://repo.suhosin.org ubuntu-trusty/main Translation-en Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/universe Translation-en Get:13 http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/main amd64 Packages [584 kB] Get:14 http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/restricted amd64 Packages [11.8 kB] Get:15 http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/universe amd64 Packages [297 kB] Get:16 http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/multiverse amd64 Packages [12.0 kB] Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/main Translation-en Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/multiverse Translation-en Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/restricted Translation-en Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/universe Translation-en Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/main Translation-en_US Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/multiverse Translation-en_US Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/restricted Translation-en_US Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/universe Translation-en_US Fetched 1,651 kB in 6s (250 kB/s) Reading package lists... Done
The repository suhosin.org is signed with key, so install it with wget command:
## Run as root user ## wget https://sektioneins.de/files/repository.asc sudo apt-key add repository.asc |
Sample outputs:
Next, type the following apt-get command to install the php5-suhosin-extension package, run:
sudo apt-get install php5-suhosin-extension |
Sample outputs:
Enable the php5-suhosin-extension
sudo php5enmod php5-suhosin |
Restart php5-fpm on a Ubuntu LTS 14.04
sudo /sbin/restart php5-fpm |
Restart php5-fpm on a Debian Linux 8.0
sudo systemctl restart php5-fpm |
Test it
Create a file called test.php:
sudo vi /var/www/test.php |
Append the following code:
<?php phpinfo(); ?> |
Save and close the file. You can open the Browser and type the following url:
http://server-ip-here/test.php
OR
http://1.2.3.4/test.php
Sample outputs:
Configuration
You need to edit the file /etc/php5/mods-available/suhosin.ini, enter:
# vi /etc/php5/mods-available/suhosin.ini
You can see comma separated whitelist of functions are not allowed to be called:
suhosin.executor.func.blacklist = assert,unserialize,exec,popen,proc_open,passthru,shell_exec,system,hail,parse_str,mt_srand suhosin.executor.eval.whitelist = assert,unserialize,exec,popen,proc_open,passthru,shell_exec,system,hail,parse_str,mt_srand |
Save and close the file. You need to restart php5-fpm. I suggest you see the configuration page for a complete list of possible configuration options.
5 comment
Hi,
I’m a beginner and I was wondering, why do we need to install Suhosin ?
Which hacks or kind of hacks are prevent by this extension ?
Steven, for example, there are tons of WordPress exploits that a user could gain access to your OS. They can then us it to send SPAM, or as a part of a larger botnet to hack other sites or DDoS attacks. I’m sysadmin for a hosting company and this is a constant struggle.
Another great article, thanks!
A few questions about “best-practice”:
* Why not create a new repo file in /etc/apt/sources.d/ instead of appending to sources.list? I’ve started doing this based on previous reading and found it’s far easier to manage dist-upgrades.
* At the beginning you have “sudo -s”.
— Again, I’ve read “sudo -i” is the better flag to use?
— Also, once in “sudo -s”, there are still references all through to using sudo, but no point to exit from the original sudo shell.
Had to do “sudo php5enmod suhosin” instead “sudo php5enmod php5-suhosin“, because there is /etc/php5/mods-available/suhosin.ini file not /etc/php5/mods-available/php5-suhosin.ini .
This works. Thanks Hubert!