Quickly Deploy and Test SafeLine: A Free Open-Source WAF

SafeLine is a Web Application Firewall (WAF) developed by Chaitin Tech, leveraging nearly ten years of experience in cybersecurity. The core of SafeLine’s detection prowess lies in its advanced semantic analysis algorithms, making it a powerful tool for securing web applications.

Getting Started with SafeLine Installation

Before diving into the installation process, ensure your system meets the following minimum requirements:

System Requirements:

• Operating System: Linux
• Architecture: x86_64
• Dependencies:
  • Docker version 20.10.14 or later
  • Docker Compose version 2.0.0 or later

Minimum Hardware Specs:

• CPU: 1 Core
• RAM: 1 GB
• Disk Space: 5 GB

You can use the following commands to verify your server's configuration:

uname -m                                    # Check instruction set architecture
docker version                              # Check Docker version
docker compose version                      # Check Docker Compose version
docker-compose version                      # Check Docker Compose version (old version)
cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep "processor"        # Check CPU information
free -h                                     # Check memory information
df -h                                       # Check disk space information
lscpu | grep ssse3                          # Verify SSSE3 instruction set support

Installing Docker Engine on Ubuntu

Follow the official Docker documentation for Ubuntu installation here.

1.Remove Conflicting Packages:

   for pkg in docker.io docker-doc docker-compose docker-compose-v2 podman-docker containerd runc; do sudo apt-get remove $pkg; done

2.Configure the Docker APT Repository:

   sudo apt-get update
   sudo apt-get install ca-certificates curl
   sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
   sudo curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
   sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc

   echo \
     "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \
     $(. /etc/os-release && echo "$VERSION_CODENAME") stable" | \
     sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

   sudo apt-get update

3.Install Docker and Compose Plugins:

   sudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

Installing SafeLine

To install SafeLine, run the following command:

bash -c "$(curl -fsSLk https://waf.chaitin.com/release/latest/setup.sh)"

Upon completion, the terminal will display your username, password, and SafeLine backend URL.

Accessing SafeLine

If you forget your password, reset it with the following command:

docker exec safeline-mgt resetadmin

Access the SafeLine backend via your browser.

Configuring Sites and Testing with WebGoat

1.Use WebGoat as a Test Platform

WebGoat, a security education tool, is ideal for demonstrating web application vulnerabilities. To set it up:

docker run --name webgoat -d -p 8080:8080 -p 9090:9090 webgoat/webgoat

Visit http://WebGoat:8080/WebGoat/login in your browser to register an account.

2.Add a Protected Site

Set the WebGoat URL as a protected target in SafeLine.

Note: Ensure proper local domain name resolution on both SafeLine and your local machine.

• Linux: /etc/hosts
• Windows: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts

3.Conduct a Test

Access the SafeLine-protected site: http://www.test-waf.org/WebGoat/login.

In WebGoat, select the SQL Injection module, run a modified SQL query, and observe how SafeLine intercepts and logs the attack, showcasing its robust protection.