Scanning an Application in AWS Elastic Beanstalk (Tomcat + WAR file)

The following article shows you how you can run a Java application in AWS Elastic Beanstalk and then use AcuSensor to run an interactive application security testing (IAST) scan for that application.

Prerequisites

Install JAVA
Install Eclipse IDE for Enterprise JAVA and Web Developers
Install Eclipse Extensions from "Web, XML, Java EE and OSGI Enterprise Development":

Eclipse Java EE Developer Tools
Eclipse Java Web Developer Tools
Eclipse Web Developer Tools
JST Server Adapters Extensions (Apache Tomcat)

Step 1: Prepare an Example Application Using Eclipse IDE

Go to the menu item File → New → Project

In the New Project wizard, search for and select the Dynamic Web Project option and click on the Next button

Set the Project name field to axexample-java
Set the Target runtime field to Apache Tomcat v8.5
Set the Dynamic web module version field to 3.1
Set the Configuration field to Default Configuration for Apache Tomcat v8.5
Click on the Next button

In the Java window, leave default settings and click on the Next button

In the Web Module window, enable the Generate web.xml option and click the Finish button

In the Open Associated Perspective? dialog, click on the No button

Expand the axexample-java project
Right-click on the src folder
Select the New → Other option

Highlight the Servlet option
Click on the Next > button

Set the Java package field to com.mytest.axexample
Set the Class name field to axExampleJavaServlet
Click on the Finish button

Edit the contents of the axExampleJavaServlet.java file to read as follows:

package com.mytest.axexamplejava;

import java.io.IOException;

import java.io.PrintWriter;

import javax.servlet.ServletException;

import javax.servlet.annotation.WebServlet;

import javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet;

import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;

import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;

/**

* Servlet implementation class HelloWorldServlet

@WebServlet("/axExampleJavaServlet")

public class axExampleJavaServlet extends HttpServlet {

private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;

/**

* @see HttpServlet#HttpServlet()

public axExampleJavaServlet() {

super();

// TODO Auto-generated constructor stub

}

/**

* @see HttpServlet#doGet(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)

protected void doGet(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws ServletException, IOException {

PrintWriter out = response.getWriter();

out.print("<html><body><h1>Test JAVA Site Example for AWS Elastic Beanstalk</h1><br>Welcome to the main page.<br></body></html>");

}

/**

* @see HttpServlet#doPost(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)

protected void doPost(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws ServletException, IOException {

// TODO Auto-generated method stub

doGet(request, response);

}

Expand the axexample-java project, right click on the axexample-java/src/main/webapp folder, and select the New → File option

Set the filename to index.html and click on the Finish button
Edit the contents of the index.html file to read as follows:

<head>

<title>Test JAVA Site Example for AWS Elastic Beanstalk</title>

</head>

<body>

<h1>Test JAVA Site Example for AWS Elastic Beanstalk</h1><br/><br/>

<a href="axExampleJavaServlet">Click here to invoke servlet</a>

</body>

</html>

Make sure that the changes to both new files are saved
Right-click on the axexample-java project, click on the Export… option, search for the WAR file option, and select it

Click on the Next > button and select a Destination for your exported WAR file

Ensure that the filename for your export file is ROOT.war
Click on the Finish button

Step 2: Prepare AcuSensor for Java

We will deploy the test application to the following URL: http://eb.acunetixexample.com - you will need to change this to the hostname you will use for your test deployment

Create a new target for the above URL, replacing http://eb.acunetixexample.com with the URL for your chosen hostname
Download AcuSensor for Java from the Acunetix UI and retain the AcuSensor.jar file for the next step

Step 3: Prepare a folder for your source code bundle

Create a folder C:\axexample-java
Create a folder C:\axexample-java\.ebextensions
Copy your exported ROOT.war file into C:\axexample-java
Copy your AcuSensor.jar file into C:\axexample-java\.ebextensions
Using a text editor, create a file C:\axexample-java\.ebextensions\acusensor.config
Edit the contents of the C:\axexample-java\.ebextensions\acusensor.config file to read as follows:

commands:

01_create_acusensor_directory:

command: "mkdir -p /home/acusensor"

02_get_aspectjweaver:

command: "wget https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/org/aspectj/aspectjweaver/1.9.7/aspectjweaver-1.9.7.jar -O /home/acusensor/aspectjweaver.jar"

option_settings:

aws:elasticbeanstalk:container:tomcat:jvmoptions:

JVM Options: '-javaagent:/usr/share/tomcat/lib/aspectjweaver.jar -Dacusensor.debug.log=ON'

container_commands:

01_copy_acusensor:

command: "cp .ebextensions/AcuSensor.jar /home/acusensor/AcuSensor.jar"

02_change_acusensor_dir_permissions:

command: "sudo chown -R root:root /home/acusensor"

03_link_aspectjweaver_library:

command: "ln -s /home/acusensor/aspectjweaver.jar /usr/share/tomcat/lib/aspectjweaver.jar"

04_link_acusensor_library:

command: "ln -s /home/acusensor/AcuSensor.jar /usr/share/tomcat/lib/AcuSensor.jar"

Note: The parameter "-Dacusensor.debug.log=ON" is optional, and should ONLY be used for troubleshooting purposes. If this parameter is retained, this will output AcuSensor logging as additional lines in the Tomcat logs starting with "[Acunetix-debug]".

Use Windows Explorer to navigate to C:\axexample-java; click CTRL+A to select both .ebextensions and ROOT.war
Right-click on the selected items and click the Send to -> Compressed (zipped) folder menu option:

Rename your zip file to axexample-java.zip and retain your zip file for deployment steps below

Deploy your web application to AWS Elastic Beanstalk

From your AWS Dashboard, navigate to Elastic Beanstalk -> Environments
Click the Create a new environment button

Set your environment tier to Web server environment

Click the Select button
In the Elastic Beanstalk -> Create environment page:

Set the Application name field to the name for your web application; in this example you will use the name axexample-java

Set the Platform dropdown to Tomcat

Enable the Upload your code option and click the Choose file button

Select your axexample.zip source code bundle for upload and click the Create environment button

AWS Elastic Beanstalk will now create your environment; this can take a few minutes
When the process is complete you will be sent to your environment's dashboard

Take note of your environment's new URL which was created automatically by AWS Elastic Beanstalk:

you will need this to create a CNAME to point to this URL
in this example, we would create a CNAME for eb.acunetixexample.com to point to axexamplejava-env.eba-y3m5stqv.us-east-1.elasticbeanstalk.com; here is an example using the Namecheap cPanel interface:

Once the CNAME record has been added (giving time for DNS records to propagate), you can see the web application you have created by browsing to your URL (in this example http://eb.acunetixexample.com):

Test and scan your web application

Point your browser to your web application - in this example http://eb.acunetixexample.com - to confirm it is running as intended; you will get the following:

Finally, run a scan on your target; the Activity panel will confirm that AcuSensor was detected and used for the scan.

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