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docs: add section about how to disable path based apps to security best practices #18419

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1dcc3f4
add disable path-based app section
EdwardAngert Jun 17, 2025
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edit path-based apps section
EdwardAngert Jun 17, 2025
a5486ca
link to disable path-based
EdwardAngert Jun 17, 2025
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link to heading
EdwardAngert Jun 17, 2025
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suggestions from review
EdwardAngert Jun 18, 2025
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2 changes: 2 additions & 0 deletions docs/admin/setup/index.md
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Expand Up @@ -60,6 +60,8 @@ If you are providing TLS certificates directly to the Coder server, either
options (these both take a comma separated list of files; list certificates
and their respective keys in the same order).

After you enable the wildcard access URL, you should [disable path-based apps](../../tutorials/best-practices/security-best-practices.md#disable-path-based-apps) for security.

## TLS & Reverse Proxy

The Coder server can directly use TLS certificates with `CODER_TLS_ENABLE` and
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25 changes: 25 additions & 0 deletions docs/tutorials/best-practices/security-best-practices.md
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Expand Up @@ -66,6 +66,31 @@ logs (which have `msg: audit_log`) and retain them for a minimum of two years
If a security incident with Coder does occur, audit logs are invaluable in
determining the nature and scope of the impact.

### Disable path-based apps

For production deployments, we recommend that you disable path-based apps after you've configured a wildcard access URL.

Path-based apps share the same origin as the Coder API, which can be convenient for trialing Coder,
but can expose the deployment to cross-site-scripting (XSS) attacks in production.
A malicious workspace could reuse Coder cookies to call the API or interact with other workspaces owned by the same user.

1. [Enable sub-domain apps with a wildcard DNS record](../../admin/setup/index.md#wildcard-access-url) (like `*.coder.example.com`)

1. Disable path-based apps:

```shell
coderd server --disable-path-apps
# or
export CODER_DISABLE_PATH_APPS=true
```

By default, Coder mitigates the impact of having path-based apps enabled, but we still recommend disabling it to prevent malicious workspaces accessing other workspaces owned by the same user or performing requests against the Coder API.

If you do keep path-based apps enabled:

- Path-based apps cannot be shared with other users unless you start the Coder server with `--dangerous-allow-path-app-sharing`.
- Users with the site `owner` role cannot use their admin privileges to access path-based apps for workspace unless the server is started with `--dangerous-allow-path-app-site-owner-access`.

## PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL is the persistent datastore underlying the entire Coder deployment.
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