Security hardening nginx

README.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Ansible-WordPress-Nginx-Docker
 
-This Ansible project automates the setup and configuration of an Ubuntu machine to host a WordPress website using Nginx, PHP, Docker, MySQL, and Redis.
+This Ansible project automates the setup and configuration of an Ubuntu machine to host a WordPress website using Nginx, PHP, Docker, MySQL, and Redis. The Nginx vhost configuration is hardened for improved security.
 
 ## Features
 
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ The Ansible playbook in this project will:
 
 1. Update Ubuntu packages
 2. Install Nginx
-3. Configure Nginx
+3. Configure Nginx with hardened vhost settings
 4. Install PHP
 5. Configure PHP
 6. Install WordPress
@@ -43,9 +43,7 @@ Run the playbook:
 ansible-playbook -i inventory/target.ini setup_server.yml
 ```
 
-After the playbook has run successfully, you should have a fully functional WordPress website running on your Ubuntu machine with Nginx, PHP, MySQL, and Redis.
-
-Please make sure to install Redis plugin which already has a pre-set configuration
+After the playbook has run successfully, you should have a fully functional WordPress website running on your Ubuntu machine with Nginx, PHP, MySQL, and Redis, with a hardened Nginx vhost configuration.
 
 ## Variables
 

roles/configure-nginx/files/vhost.conf.j2

@@ -8,26 +8,26 @@ map $sent_http_content_type $expires {
 
 server {
     root /var/www/{{ vhost_name }};
-    index  index.php index.html index.htm;
+    index  index.php;
     server_name {{ domain }};
     listen 80;
 
+    #Cache settings
     expires $expires;
+
+    #Upload max size
     client_max_body_size 50M;
 
     ErrorLog /var/log/nginx/{{ vhost_name }}-error.log
     CustomLog /var/log/nginx/{{ vhost_name }}-access.log combined
 
+    #Disable directory listing
     autoindex off;
 
     location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ @handler;
     }
 
-     location  /admin {
-        try_files $uri $uri/ /admin/index.php?$args;
-        }
-
     location @handler {
         if (!-e $request_filename) { rewrite / /index.php last; }
         rewrite ^(.*.php)/ $1 last;
@@ -39,4 +39,120 @@ server {
          fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
          include fastcgi_params;
      }
+
+    #Disable access to wp-config.php
+    location ~* /(wp-config.php) {
+        deny all;
+        }
+
+    #Limit XMLRPC access
+    location ~* /xmlrpc.php$ {
+        allow 172.0.1.1;
+        deny all;
+    }
+
+    #Limit request types
+    if ($request_method !~ ^(GET|POST)$ ) {
+        return 444;
+    }
+
+    #Limit direct PHP access
+    location ~* /(?:uploads|files|wp-content|wp-includes|akismet)/.*.php$ {
+        deny all;
+        access_log off;
+        log_not_found off;
+    }
+
+    #Hide nginx version
+    server_tokens off;
+
+    #Hide PHP version
+    fastcgi_hide_header X-Powered-By;
+    proxy_hide_header X-Powered-By;
+
+    #Security headers
+    add_header X-Frame-Options SAMEORIGIN; #Comment it to allow iframe
+    add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000";
+    add_header X-Content-Type-Options nosniff;
+    add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block";
+
+    # Disable logs for favicon and robots
+    location = /favicon.ico {
+        try_files /favicon.ico @empty;
+        access_log off;
+        log_not_found off;
+        expires max;
+        }
+
+    location @empty {
+        empty_gif;
+        }
+
+    location = /robots.txt {
+        allow all;
+        log_not_found off;
+        access_log off;
+        try_files $uri /index.php?$args;
+        }
+
+    # Deny access to uploads that are not media files
+    location ~* ^/wp-content/uploads/.*.(html|htm|shtml|php|js|swf)$ {
+        deny all;
+        }
+
+    # Nginx common security
+    location ~* "(eval\()" {
+        deny all;
+        }
+    location ~* "(127\.0\.0\.1)" {
+        deny all;
+        }
+    location ~* "([a-z0-9]{2000})" {
+        deny all;
+        }
+    location ~* "(javascript\:)(.*)(\;)" {
+        deny all;
+        }
+    location ~* "(base64_encode)(.*)(\()" {
+        deny all;
+        }
+    location ~* "(GLOBALS|REQUEST)(=|\[|%)" {
+        deny all;
+        }
+    location ~* "(<|%3C).*script.*(>|%3)" {
+        deny all;
+        }
+    location ~ "(\\|\.\.\.|\.\./|~|`|<|>|\|)" {
+        deny all;
+        }
+    location ~* "(boot\.ini|etc/passwd|self/environ)" {
+        deny all;
+        }
+    location ~* "(thumbs?(_editor|open)?|tim(thumb)?)\.php" {
+        deny all;
+        }
+    location ~* "(\'|\")(.*)(drop|insert|md5|select|union)" {
+        deny all;
+        }
+    location ~* "(https?|ftp|php):/" {
+        deny all;
+        }
+    location ~* "(=\\\'|=\\%27|/\\\'/?)\." {
+        deny all;
+        }
+    location ~ "(\{0\}|\(/\(|\.\.\.|\+\+\+|\\\"\\\")" {
+        deny all;
+        }
+    location ~ "(~|`|<|>|:|;|%|\\|\s|\{|\}|\[|\]|\|)" {
+        deny all;
+        }
+    location ~* "/(=|\$&|_mm|(wp-)?config\.|cgi-|etc/passwd|muieblack)" {
+        deny all;
+        }
+    location ~* "(&pws=0|_vti_|\(null\)|\{\$itemURL\}|echo(.*)kae|etc/passwd|eval\(|self/environ)" {
+        deny all;
+        }
+    location ~* "/(^$|mobiquo|phpinfo|shell|sqlpatch|thumb|thumb_editor|thumbopen|timthumb|webshell|config|settings|configuration)\.php" {
+        deny all;
+        }
 }