A Security timestamp indicates the freshness of a message's security data. If an attacker intercepts a message retransmits it at a later time, the receiver can reject the replay attack because the timestamp will indicate that the message is stale. Optionally, timestamps can include an expiration attribute which places a hard limit on how long security semantics are valid.

To prevent attackers from tampering with timestamps, timestamps should be signed. Without a signed timestamp, an attacker could intercept a SOAP message, modify the timestamp, and send the message on without the receiver's knowledge. Under these circumstances, an attacker may trick a recipient into accepting a malicious message.

The following Apache Axis 2 Rampart configuration omits the Timestamp directive from the <items> tag, so the service does not send messages with timestamps.

<service>
...
   <parameter name="OutflowSecurity">
      <action>
        <items>Signature Encrypt</items>
...
</service>

WS-Security is an extension of SOAP that provides end-to-end message integrity and confidentiality regardless of the transport protocol. When WS-Security is not used, messages rely on transport security for integrity and confidentiality. If a service relays messages to other services, messages are exposed to the weakest transport mechanism used between relay points. WS-Security removes the transport security dependency and secures the message itself.

. The absence of an OutflowSecurity parameter in the Apache Axis 2 configuration file indicates that outbound message security is not enabled.

A Security timestamp indicates a message's freshness. If an attacker intercepts a message retransmits it at a later time, the receiver can reject the replay attack because the timestamp will indicate that the message is stale. Optionally, timestamps can include an expiration attribute which places a hard limit on how long security semantics are valid.

To prevent attackers from tampering with timestamps, timestamps should be signed. Without a signed timestamp, an attacker may intercept a SOAP message, modify the timestamp, and send the message on without the receiver's knowledge. Under these circumstances, an attacker may potentially trick a recipient into accepting a malicious message.

The following service provider configuration tells Axis 2 to accept messages with unsigned timestamps:

<service>
...
	<parameter name="InflowSecurity">
		<action>
			<items>Timestamp Encrypt</items>
			...
		</action>
	</parameter>
</service>

Security timestamps indicate the "freshness" of message security semantics. So if a message is intercepted an retransmitted at a later time, the receiver can reject stale messages. Optionally, timestamps can include an expiration attribute which places a hard limit on how long security semantics are valid.

To prevent attackers from tampering with timestamps, timestamps should be signed. Without a signed timestamp, it might be possible to intercept a SOAP message and modify the timestamp without the receiver's knowledge. Under these circumstances, an attacker may potentially trick a recipient into accepting a malicious message.

The following service provider configuration tells Axis 2 to send unsigned timestamps:

<service>
        ...
	<parameter name="OutflowSecurity">
		<action>
			<items>Timestamp Encrypt</items>
			...
		</action>
	</parameter>
</service>

Service Providers that use the UsernameToken might accept passwords sent in plain text. Sending plain text passwords over an unencrypted channel can expose the credential to any attacker who can sniff the SOAP message.

Example 1: The following Axis 2 service provider configuration uses a UsernameToken:

<service>
...
    <parameter name="InflowSecurity">
      <action>
        <items>UsernameToken</items>
...
</service>

The Rampart WS-Security module is not enabled. WS-Security is an extension of SOAP that provides end-to-end message integrity and confidentiality regardless of the transport protocol. When WS-Security is not used, messages rely on transport security for integrity and confidentiality. If a service relays messages to other services, messages are exposed to the weakest transport mechanism used between relay points. WS-Security eliminates the transport security dependency and builds security into the message itself.

WS-Security is an extension of SOAP that provides end-to-end message integrity and confidentiality regardless of the transport protocol. When WS-Security is not used, messages rely on transport security for integrity and confidentiality. If a service relays messages to other services, messages are exposed to the weakest transport mechanism used between relay points. WS-Security eliminates the transport security dependency and builds security into the message itself.

The absence of an InflowSecurity parameter in the Apache Axis 2 configuration file indicates that inbound message security is not enabled.