Update server (WSUS): what it is and how it is attacked
Distributes software updates to every machine.
Also known as
- WSUS
- patch server
- software distribution
Typing any of them into the editor finds this object.
Why it matters on a security diagram
It is trusted to install software everywhere, which is exactly why it is worth taking.
How it gets attacked, and what reduces it
How it gets attacked
- Updates delivered over connections that are not verified
- Its trusted reach used to distribute something else
What reduces it
- Verify update packages by signature, not by where they came from
- Treat it as a system that can run code everywhere, because it is
- Alert on distributions nobody scheduled
Where it sits
- Group
- Servers · Machines that run something for other machines.
- Whose side, by default
- Ours · Belongs to the organisation the diagram is about.
- Catalogue identifier
- update-server
Reviewed . CC BY 4.0.
Others in servers
- Serverhost · machineA computer that runs something for other computers.
- Web serverHTTP server · websiteThe computer that sends your website to anybody who visits it.
- Application serverbackend · business logic tierRuns the working parts of an application, behind the website.
- DatabaseDB · SQL server · data storeStores the organised information an application depends on.
- Mail serveremail server · Exchange · SMTPSends, receives and stores the organisation's email.
- Name serverDNS · domain name serverTranslates names like example.com into network addresses.
- File serverSMB server · network shareHolds shared documents everyone can reach over the network.
- Virtual machine hosthypervisor · ESXi · Hyper-VOne physical server pretending to be many.
- Jump hostbastion · jump box · hardened admin hostThe single controlled machine administrators go through to reach sensitive systems.
- Backup serverbackup · Veeam · backup controllerMakes and manages the spare copies of your data that let you recover after something goes wrong.
- Build pipelineCI/CD · Jenkins · GitHub ActionsThe automated production line that turns written code into the software the business actually runs.
- Phone systemVoIP · PBX · telephony serverRuns the organisation's telephone calls over the network.
The servers group lists all 13 of them side by side.
Update server on your own diagram
Open the editor, press N, and type WSUS. The object is placed and connected to whatever was selected, and Tab adds the next one already joined to it. Nothing is uploaded: the page is served with a Content Security Policy that forbids the browser from making any outbound request at all.
Open the diagram maker