Technical Security Audit Report

Executive Summary

A comprehensive technical audit of the example.com web infrastructure was conducted using standard scanning tools. Critical configuration vulnerabilities were identified that require immediate remediation in accordance with Microsoft Security Development Lifecycle (SDL).

Critical Findings:

• Port 8443 configuration error (HTTP 523)
• Open non-standard port 8080
• Exposed WordPress version 6.9
• Missing critical security headers

Technical Testing Information

Tools and Versions

Reproduction Commands

# Basic port scanning
nmap -Pn -sV example.com

# Detailed scanning with NSE scripts
nmap -sV -sC -p 80,443,8080,8443 example.com

# SSL/TLS analysis
sslscan example.com:443
sslscan example.com:8443

# HTTP headers and redirects
curl -I http://example.com/
curl -I http://example.com:8080/
curl -I https://example.com/wp-admin/
curl -v https://example.com:8443/

Detailed Scan Results

1. Port Scanning (Nmap)

Execution Command:

nmap -sV -sC -p 80,443,8080,8443 example.com

Results:

Starting Nmap 7.94SVN at 2025-12-17 13:09 CET
Nmap scan report for example.com (192.0.2.1)
Host is up (0.0023s latency).
Other addresses for example.com: 192.0.2.1, 2a06:98c1:3120::c

PORT STATE SERVICE VERSION
80/tcp open http Cloudflare http proxy
443/tcp open ssl/http Cloudflare http proxy
8080/tcp open http Cloudflare http proxy
8443/tcp open ssl/http Cloudflare http proxy

Technical Analysis:

• All ports are proxied through Cloudflare Edge Network
• IPv4: 192.0.2.1 (Cloudflare ASN 13335)
• IPv6: 2a06:98c1:3120::c, 2a06:98c1:3121::c
• Latency: 2.3ms (optimal performance)

2. SSL/TLS Configuration (SSLScan)

Supported Protocols

Cipher Suites (TLS 1.3)

• Preferred: TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 (Curve 25519 DHE 253)
• Accepted: TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 (Curve 25519 DHE 253)
• Accepted: TLS_CHACHA20_POLY1305_SHA256 (Curve 25519 DHE 253)

Cipher Suites (TLS 1.2) - Problematic

• ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA ❌ CBC + SHA-1
• ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA ❌ CBC + SHA-1
• ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA256 ⚠️ CBC mode
• ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384 ⚠️ CBC mode

Certificate

• Subject: example.com
• Alt names: DNS:example.com, DNS:*.example.com
• Issuer: WE1 (Google Trust Services)
• Valid: 2025-11-02 10:29:18 GMT - 2026-01-31 11:27:59 GMT
• Algorithm: ecdsa-with-SHA256
• Curve: prime256v1 (256/128 bits)

3. HTTP Headers and Configuration

Port 80 (HTTP → HTTPS Redirect)

HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2025 12:13:25 GMT
Location: https://example.com/
X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff
Server: cloudflare

Port 8080 (Problematic Configuration)

HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
Location: https://example.com:8080/ ⚠️ Redirect to non-standard port
X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff
Server: cloudflare

Port 8443 (Critical Error)

HTTP/2 523
content-type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
content-length: 15
server: cloudflare

error code: 523

WordPress Analysis

Identified Vulnerabilities

🔴 Critical Level (CVSS 7.0-10.0)

🟠 High Level (CVSS 4.0-6.9)

🟡 Medium Level (CVSS 2.0-3.9)

Technical Remediation Recommendations

Immediate Actions (0-24 hours)

server {
  listen 8443 ssl http2;
  server_name example.com;
  ssl_certificate /path/to/cert.pem;
  ssl_certificate_key /path/to/key.pem;
  return 301 https://example.com$request_uri;
}

server {
  listen 8080;
  server_name example.com;

  # Internal network only
  allow 192.168.0.0/16;
  allow 10.0.0.0/8;
  allow 172.16.0.0/12;
  deny all;

  # Or complete blocking: return 444;
}

// functions.php
function remove_wp_version() {
   return '';
}
add_filter('the_generator', 'remove_wp_version');

# /wp-admin/.htaccess
AuthType Basic
AuthName "Admin Area"
AuthUserFile /var/www/.htpasswd
Require valid-user

# IP whitelist alternative
<RequireAll>
  Require ip 192.168.1.0/24
  Require ip 10.0.0.0/8
</RequireAll>

Short-term Improvements (1-7 days)

server {
  listen 443 ssl http2;
  server_name example.com;

  # HSTS
  add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload" always;
  
  # Framing & Content
  add_header X-Frame-Options "DENY" always;
  add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff" always;
  add_header Referrer-Policy "strict-origin-when-cross-origin" always;
  
  # CSP
  add_header Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'; script-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline' https:; style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline'" always;
  
  # Additional
  add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block" always;
  add_header Expect-CT "max-age=86400, enforce" always;
}

ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
ssl_ciphers 'ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256:TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384:TLS_CHACHA20_POLY1305_SHA256';
ssl_prefer_server_ciphers off;

# Session config
ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:10m;
ssl_session_timeout 10m;
ssl_stapling on;
ssl_stapling_verify on;

Expression: (http.request.uri.path contains "/wp-admin/") and (ip.src ne 192.168.1.1)
Action: Block

Expression: (http.request.uri.path contains "/wp-login.php")
Action: Rate limit (5 requests per 5 minutes)

Expression: (http.request.uri.path eq "/xmlrpc.php")
Action: Block

Long-term Measures (7-30 days)

Risk Matrix

Remediation Plan

Phase 1: Critical Fixes (1-2 days)

• ☐ Close port 8443 in Cloudflare
• ☐ Restrict access to port 8080
• ☐ Protect WordPress admin panel
• ☐ Add basic security headers

Phase 2: Security Improvements (1 week)

• ☐ Optimize SSL/TLS configuration
• ☐ Configure Cloudflare WAF rules
• ☐ Install WordPress security plugins
• ☐ Set up monitoring and alerting

Phase 3: Long-term Measures (1 month)

• ☐ Automate updates
• ☐ Regular security audits
• ☐ Staff training
• ☐ Document procedures

Standards Compliance

Conclusion

The technical audit identified serious configuration issues requiring immediate intervention. The primary risks are related to improper port configuration and insufficient WordPress protection.

Remediation Priorities:

1. P0 (0-24h): Close port 8443, restrict 8080, protect wp-admin
2. P1 (1-7d): Add security headers, optimize SSL/TLS
3. P2 (7-30d): Implement monitoring, automation, compliance

✓ Expected Result: With proper implementation of recommendations, security posture can be improved from 6/10 to 9/10 within 30 days.