this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2023
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Hi, I'm setting up a public wiki using mediawiki and I'd like some help ensuring the server and mediawiki is safely setup before I start sharing it publicly. I installed it on Vultr using the mediawiki app from the Vultr Marketplace. Are there any things I should ensure before publicly sharing the link?

Some things I've done so far:

  • I disabled password login to the server so its only possible to login via ssh

  • I made it so I have to approve of any edits to the wiki

  • I still haven't enabled uploads of files because I want to ensure I only allow jpeg\png uploads.

I'm relatively new to running servers so any tips are highly appreciated.

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[–] mudeth@lemmy.ca 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Install fail2ban. Prevents brute force access to your server. The defaults should be fine.

[–] xnx@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

Done. Thanks!

[–] Decronym@lemmy.decronym.xyz 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:

Fewer Letters More Letters
HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol, the Web
HTTPS HTTP over SSL
IP Internet Protocol
SSH Secure Shell for remote terminal access
SSL Secure Sockets Layer, for transparent encryption
VPN Virtual Private Network

4 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 8 acronyms.

[Thread #74 for this sub, first seen 23rd Aug 2023, 08:05] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]

[–] saint@group.lt 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Get some WAF for the public facing app, maybe at least https://github.com/nbs-system/naxsi .

[–] xnx@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

ELI5? 😅

The install section of naxsi is a whole lotta stuff I've never touched before

[–] saint@group.lt 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

sorry, this is kinda like a firewall, but protecting websites, so many vulnerabilities are filtered out. it does not protect you 100% percent (nothing does). it might be hard to setup, in that case there is an option to use waf as a service, i.e. - cloudflare has such offering, maybe there are others as well. i have looked into vultr - they seem to offer only a "usual" type of firewall, not http/application based.

[–] xnx@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ah ok thanks for the info! Do you know if vultrs firewall would make installing fail2ban redundant?

[–] saint@group.lt 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

if you configure ssh access only from your home ip - then fail2ban is not needed.

[–] Haui@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

But if your home ip ever changes, you‘re fucked. I would never do that. Pubkey is the way.

[–] saint@group.lt 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

usually i add more than 1 ip and also vultr firewall can be managed to change ip. tailscale can be used as well. there are options!

[–] Haui@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 year ago

That’s good! Had me worried there.

[–] SheeEttin@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Method of authentication doesn't matter if there's a pre-authentication vulnerability: https://thehackernews.com/2023/02/openssh-releases-patch-for-new-pre-auth.html

Instead of exposing multiple services, I would recommend just one VPN for remote access. Less attack surface.

[–] Haui@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 year ago

Thats how I do it. But I also have physical access so if the vpn fails I don’t get locked out.

[–] xnx@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

Oh perfect thanks