pshtt 0.4.2rc5

Scan websites for HTTPS deployment best practices

# Pushing HTTPS :lock: #

[](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pshtt/)
[](https://coveralls.io/github/dhs-ncats/pshtt)
[](https://travis-ci.org/dhs-ncats/pshtt)

`pshtt` (_"pushed"_) is a tool to scan domains for HTTPS best
practices. It saves its results to a CSV (or JSON) file.

`pshtt` was developed to _push_ organizations — especially large ones
like the US Federal Government :us: — to adopt HTTPS across the
enterprise. Federal agencies must comply with
[M-15-13](https://https.cio.gov), a 2015 memorandum from the White
House Office of Management and Budget, and [BOD
18-01](https://cyber.dhs.gov), a 2017 directive from the Department of
Homeland Security, which require federal agencies to enforce HTTPS on
their public web services. Much has been done, but there's [more yet
to
do](https://18f.gsa.gov/2017/01/04/tracking-the-us-governments-progress-on-moving-https/).

`pshtt` is a collaboration between the Department of Homeland
Security's [National Cybersecurity Assessments and Technical Services
(NCATS) team](https://github.com/dhs-ncats) and [the General Service
Administration's 18F team](https://18f.gsa.gov), with [contributions
from NASA, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and various
non-governmental
organizations](https://github.com/dhs-ncats/pshtt/graphs/contributors).

## Getting Started ##

`pshtt` requires **Python 3.4+**. Python 2 is not supported.

`pshtt` can be installed as a module, or run directly from the
repository.

### Installed as a module ###

`pshtt` can be installed directly via pip:
```bash
pip install pshtt
```

It can then be run directly:
```bash
pshtt example.com [options]
```

### Running directly ###

To run the tool locally from the repository, without installing, first
install the requirements:
```bash
pip install -r requirements.txt
```

Then run it as a module via `python -m`:
```bash
python -m pshtt.cli example.com [options]
```

### Usage and examples ###

```bash
pshtt [options] DOMAIN...
pshtt [options] INPUT

pshtt dhs.gov
pshtt --output=homeland.csv --debug dhs.gov us-cert.gov usss.gov
pshtt --sorted current-federal.csv
```
Note: if INPUT ends with `.csv`, domains will be read from the first
column of the CSV. CSV output will always be written to disk (unless
--json is specified), defaulting to `results.csv`.

#### Options ####

```bash
-h --help Show this message.
-s --sorted Sort output by domain, A-Z.
-o --output=OUTFILE Name output file. (Defaults to "results".)
-j --json Get results in JSON. (Defaults to CSV.)
-m --markdown Get results in Markdown. (Defaults to CSV.)
-d --debug Print debug output.
-u --user-agent=AGENT Override user agent.
-t --timeout=TIMEOUT Override timeout (in seconds).
-c --cache-third-parties=DIR Cache third party data, and what directory to cache it in.
-f --ca-file=PATH Specify custom CA bundle (PEM format)
```

##### Using your own CA Bundle #####

By default, `pshtt` relies on the root CAs that are trusted in the
[Mozilla root
store](https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/raw-file/tip/security/nss/lib/ckfw/builtins/certdata.txt). If
you work behind a corporate proxy or have your own certificates that
aren't publicly trusted, you can specify your own CA bundle:
```bash
pshtt --ca-file=/etc/ssl/ca.pem server.internal-location.gov
```

##### Using Docker (optional) #####

```bash
./run [opts]
```

`opts` are the same arguments that would get passed to `pshtt`.

## What's Checked? ##

A domain is checked on its four endpoints:
* `http://`
* `http://www`
* `https://`
* `https://www`

The following values are returned in `results.csv`:
### Domain and redirect info ###

* `Domain` - The domain you're scanning!
* `Base Domain` - The base domain of `Domain`. For example, for a
Domain of `sub.example.com`, the Base Domain will be
`example.com`. Usually this is the second-level domain, but `pshtt`
will download and factor in the [Public Suffix
List](https://publicsuffix.org) when calculating the base
domain. (To cache the Public Suffix List, use `--suffix-cache` as
documented above.)
* `Canonical URL` - One of the four endpoints described above; a
judgment call based on the observed redirect logic of the domain.
* `Live` - The domain is "live" if any endpoint is live.
* `Redirect` - The domain is a "redirect domain" if at least one
endpoint is a redirect, and all endpoints are either redirects or
down.
* `Redirect to` - If a domain is a "redirect domain", where does it
redirect to?

### Landing on HTTPS ###

* `Valid HTTPS` - A domain has "valid HTTPS" if it responds on port
443 at the hostname in its Canonical URL with an unexpired valid
certificate for the hostname. This can be true even if the Canonical
URL uses HTTP.
* `Defaults to HTTPS` - A domain "defaults to HTTPS" if its canonical
endpoint uses HTTPS.
* `Downgrades HTTPS` - A domain "downgrades HTTPS" if HTTPS is
supported in some way, but its canonical HTTPS endpoint immediately
redirects internally to HTTP.
* `Strictly Forces HTTPS` - This is different than whether a domain
"defaults" to HTTPS. A domain "Strictly Forces HTTPS" if one of the
HTTPS endpoints is "live", and if both HTTP endpoints are either
down or redirect immediately to any HTTPS URI. An HTTP redirect can
go to HTTPS on another domain, as long as it's immediate. (A domain
with an invalid cert can still be enforcing HTTPS.)

### Common errors ###

* `HTTPS Bad Chain` - A domain has a bad chain if either HTTPS
endpoint contains a bad chain.
* `HTTPS Bad Hostname` - A domain has a bad hostname if either HTTPS
endpoint fails hostname validation
* `HTTPS Expired Cert` - A domain has an expired certificate if the
either HTTPS endpoint has an expired certificate.

### HSTS ###

* `HSTS` - A domain has HTTP Strict Transport Security enabled if its
canonical HTTPS endpoint has HSTS enabled.
* `HSTS Header` - This field provides a domain's HSTS header at its
canonical endpoint.
* `HSTS Max Age` - A domain's HSTS max-age is its canonical endpoint's
max-age.
* `HSTS Entire Domain` - A domain has HSTS enabled for the entire
domain if its **root HTTPS endpoint** (_not the canonical HTTPS
endpoint_) has HSTS enabled and uses the HSTS `includeSubDomains`
flag.
* `HSTS Preload Ready` - A domain is HSTS "preload ready" if its
**root HTTPS endpoint** (_not the canonical HTTPS endpoint_) has
HSTS enabled, has a max-age of at least 18 weeks, and uses the
`includeSubDomains` and `preload` flag.
* `HSTS Preload Pending` - A domain is "preload pending" when it
appears in the [Chrome preload pending
list](https://hstspreload.org/api/v2/pending) with the
`include_subdomains` flag equal to `true`. The intent of `pshtt` is
to make sure that the user is _fully_ protected, so it only counts
domains as HSTS preloaded if they are _fully_ HSTS preloaded
(meaning that all subdomains are included as well).
* `HSTS Preloaded` - A domain is HSTS preloaded if its domain name
appears in the [Chrome preload
list](https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/net/+/master/http/transport_security_state_static.json)
with the `include_subdomains` flag equal to `true`, regardless of
what header is present on any endpoint. The intent of `pshtt` is to
make sure that the user is _fully_ protected, so it only counts
domains as HSTS preloaded if they are _fully_ HSTS preloaded
(meaning that all subdomains are included as well).
* `Base Domain HSTS Preloaded` - A domain's base domain is HSTS
preloaded if its base domain appears in the [Chrome preload
list](https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/net/+/master/http/transport_security_state_static.json)
with the `include_subdomains` flag equal to `true`. This is subtly
different from `HSTS Entire Domain`, which inpects headers on the
base domain to see if HSTS is set correctly to encompass the entire
zone.

### Scoring ###

These three fields use the previous results to come to high-level
conclusions about a domain's behavior.

* `Domain Supports HTTPS` - A domain 'Supports HTTPS' when it doesn't
downgrade and has valid HTTPS, or when it doesn't downgrade and has
a bad chain but not a bad hostname (a bad hostname makes it clear
the domain isn't actively attempting to support HTTPS, whereas an
incomplete chain is just a mistake.). Domains with a bad chain
"support" HTTPS but user-side errors can be expected.
* `Domain Enforces HTTPS` - A domain that 'Enforces HTTPS' must
'Support HTTPS' and default to HTTPS. For websites (where `Redirect`
is `false`) they are allowed to _eventually_ redirect to an
`https://` URI. For "redirect domains" (domains where the `Redirect`
value is `true`) they must _immediately_ redirect clients to an
`https://` URI (even if that URI is on another domain) in order to
be said to enforce HTTPS.
* `Domain Uses Strong HSTS` - A domain 'Uses Strong HSTS' when the
max-age ≥ 31536000.

## Troubleshooting ##

### DNS Blackhole / DNS Assist ###

One issue which can occur when running `pshtt`, particularly for
home/residential networks, with standard ISPs is the use of "DNS
Assist" features, a.k.a. "DNS Blackholes".

In these environments, you may see inconsistent results from `pshtt`
owing to the fact that your ISP is attempting to detect a request for
an unknown site without a DNS record and is redirecting you to a
search page for that site. This means that an endpoint which *should*
resolve as "not-alive", will instead resolve as "live", owing to the
detection of the live search result page.

If you would like to disable this "feature", several ISPs offer the
ability to opt out of this service, and maintain their own
instructions for doing so:

* [AT&T](http://www.att.net/dnserrorassist/about/srchTrm=Redirect%20Bin)
* [FIOS](https://www.verizon.com/support/residential/internet/fiosinternet/troubleshooting/network/questionsone/99147.htm)

## Who uses pshtt? ##

* GSA maintains [Pulse](https://pulse.cio.gov), a dashboard that
tracks how federal government domains are meeting best practices on
the web. [Pulse is open source](https://github.com/18F/pulse).
* The Freedom of the Press Foundation runs
[securethe.news](https://securethe.news), a site that aims to "track
and promote the adoption of HTTPS encryption by major news
organizations' websites". [Secure the News is open
source](https://securethe.news/blog/secure-news-open-source/).
* DHS issues [HTTPS
Reports](https://18f.gsa.gov/2017/01/06/open-source-collaboration-across-agencies-to-improve-https-deployment/)
to federal executive branch agencies.

## Acknowledgements ##

This code was modeled after [Ben
Balter](https://github.com/benbalter)'s
[site-inspector](https://github.com/benbalter/site-inspector), with
significant guidance from [Eric Mill](https://github.com/konklone).

## Public domain ##

This project is in the worldwide [public domain](LICENSE.md).

This project is in the public domain within the United States, and
copyright and related rights in the work worldwide are waived through
the [CC0 1.0 Universal public domain
dedication](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/).

All contributions to this project will be released under the CC0
dedication. By submitting a pull request, you are agreeing to comply
with this waiver of copyright interest.