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threat-modeling.md

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Threat Model Analysis for apache/mesos

Threat: Rogue Framework Registration

  • Description: An attacker registers a malicious framework with the Mesos master. The attacker crafts a framework that appears legitimate but contains malicious code. They then use this framework to request resources and launch tasks that perform unauthorized actions. This directly exploits the Mesos master's framework registration mechanism.
    • Impact:
      • Execution of arbitrary code on Mesos agents.
      • Data exfiltration.
      • Resource exhaustion (DoS).
      • Lateral movement within the cluster.
      • Compromise of other frameworks or applications.
    • Affected Mesos Component: Mesos Master (src/master/master.cpp, specifically the framework registration and resource offer logic). The Registrar component is also relevant.
    • Risk Severity: Critical
    • Mitigation Strategies:
      • Authentication: Enforce strong framework authentication using SASL/CRAM-MD5 or Kerberos.
      • Authorization: Implement strict authorization using Mesos ACLs to control which principals can register frameworks.
      • Whitelisting: Maintain a whitelist of allowed framework principals (if feasible).
      • Auditing: Log all framework registration attempts and regularly audit registered frameworks.

Threat: Rogue Agent Registration

  • Description: An attacker registers a compromised or malicious agent with the Mesos master. The attacker might have gained control of an existing host or deployed a new one. This rogue agent then receives resource offers and executes tasks as directed by the master, but the attacker can manipulate these tasks. This directly exploits the Mesos master's agent registration mechanism.
    • Impact:
      • Execution of arbitrary code on the compromised agent.
      • Data exfiltration from the agent and any tasks running on it.
      • Disruption of legitimate tasks.
      • Use of the agent as a launchpad for attacks on other systems.
    • Affected Mesos Component: Mesos Master (src/master/master.cpp, agent registration and resource offer logic). The Registrar is also involved.
    • Risk Severity: Critical
    • Mitigation Strategies:
      • Authentication: Enforce strong agent authentication using SASL/CRAM-MD5 or Kerberos.
      • Authorization: Use Mesos ACLs to control which principals can register agents.
      • Whitelisting: Maintain a whitelist of allowed agent principals (if feasible).
      • Network Segmentation: Isolate the Mesos cluster network from untrusted networks.
      • Monitoring: Monitor agent registration events for anomalies.

Threat: Inter-Component Communication Interception/Modification

  • Description: An attacker intercepts and potentially modifies messages exchanged between Mesos components (master, agents, frameworks) using a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack. This targets the core communication infrastructure of Mesos.
    • Impact:
      • Disclosure of sensitive information (e.g., resource offers, task status).
      • Manipulation of scheduling decisions.
      • Injection of malicious commands.
      • Denial of service.
    • Affected Mesos Component: All communication pathways between Mesos components. The underlying network stack and the libprocess library are relevant.
    • Risk Severity: Critical
    • Mitigation Strategies:
      • TLS: Enforce TLS for all communication between Mesos components.
      • Mutual TLS (mTLS): Use mTLS.
      • Certificate Management: Implement a robust certificate management system.

Threat: Mesos Master Overload (DoS)

  • Description: An attacker floods the Mesos master with a large number of requests (e.g., framework registration requests, task status updates, API calls), causing the master to become unresponsive or crash. This directly targets the central control point of Mesos.
    • Impact:
      • Denial of service for the entire Mesos cluster.
      • Inability to launch new tasks or manage existing ones.
    • Affected Mesos Component: Mesos Master (src/master/master.cpp), all request handling logic.
    • Risk Severity: Critical
    • Mitigation Strategies:
      • Rate Limiting: Implement rate limiting for all API requests and other incoming connections.
      • Load Balancing: Deploy multiple Mesos master instances in a high-availability configuration and use a load balancer.
      • Resource Scaling: Ensure sufficient resources for the Mesos master.
      • Request Validation: Implement strict validation of all incoming requests.

Threat: Exploiting Mesos Agent Vulnerabilities (Privilege Escalation)

  • Description: An attacker exploits a vulnerability in the Mesos agent software itself (e.g., a buffer overflow, remote code execution vulnerability) to gain elevated privileges on the agent host. This is distinct from exploiting vulnerabilities in applications running on the agent.
    • Impact:
      • Full control over the agent host.
      • Access to all data and resources on the host.
      • Potential for lateral movement.
    • Affected Mesos Component: Mesos Agent (src/slave/slave.cpp). Specific vulnerabilities could be in any part of the agent code.
    • Risk Severity: Critical
    • Mitigation Strategies:
      • Patching: Keep the Mesos agent software up to date.
      • Least Privilege: Run the Mesos agent with the least necessary privileges (avoid running as root).
      • Vulnerability Scanning: Regularly scan the agent host.
      • Intrusion Detection: Implement intrusion detection systems (IDS).
      • Hardening: Harden the operating system of the agent host.

Threat: Agent Overload (DoS)

  • Description: Too many tasks are scheduled on a single agent by the Mesos master, leading to resource exhaustion (CPU, memory, disk, network) and impacting the performance and stability of the agent and the tasks running on it. This is a failure of the Mesos master's scheduling logic.
    • Impact:
      • Denial of service for tasks running on the overloaded agent.
      • Agent instability or crashes.
      • Potential for cascading failures.
    • Affected Mesos Component: Mesos Master (src/master/master.cpp - allocator module) and Mesos Agent (src/slave/slave.cpp).
    • Risk Severity: High
    • Mitigation Strategies:
      • Resource Limits: Enforce resource limits for individual tasks.
      • Monitoring: Monitor agent resource utilization.
      • Cluster Scaling: Scale the Mesos cluster by adding more agent nodes.
      • Resource-Aware Scheduling: Use Mesos's resource-aware scheduling features (constraints, attributes).
      • Task Prioritization: Implement task prioritization.

Threat: Framework Impersonation (Privilege Escalation)

  • Description: A malicious task or process attempts to impersonate a legitimate framework to gain unauthorized access to resources or perform privileged actions. This targets the Mesos master's authentication and authorization mechanisms for frameworks.
    • Impact:
      • Unauthorized access to resources.
      • Ability to launch tasks with the privileges of the impersonated framework.
      • Potential for disruption.
    • Affected Mesos Component: Mesos Master (src/master/master.cpp), specifically the authentication and authorization logic related to framework interactions. The libprocess communication layer is also relevant.
    • Risk Severity: High
    • Mitigation Strategies:
      • Strong Authentication: Enforce strong authentication for all framework interactions.
      • Unique Credentials: Use unique and securely managed credentials for each framework.
      • Authorization (ACLs): Implement robust access control policies using Mesos ACLs.
      • Regular Auditing: Regularly audit framework activity.

Threat: Task Status Update Spoofing

  • Description: An attacker intercepts and modifies task status updates sent from an agent to the Mesos master or directly to a framework. They could forge updates to make a failed task appear successful, or vice-versa, disrupting scheduling and resource allocation. This targets the core communication and state management of Mesos.
    • Impact:
      • Incorrect scheduling decisions.
      • Resource leaks.
      • Denial of service.
      • Potential for data corruption.
    • Affected Mesos Component: Communication pathways between Mesos Agent (src/slave/slave.cpp) and Mesos Master (src/master/master.cpp), and potentially the framework's scheduler. The protobuf message handling is a key area.
    • Risk Severity: High
    • Mitigation Strategies:
      • TLS: Enforce TLS for all communication.
      • Message Authentication: Use message authentication codes (MACs) or digital signatures.
      • Sequence Numbers: Implement sequence numbers or other mechanisms to detect replayed or out-of-order messages.
      • Validation: The master and framework should validate task status updates.

Threat: Mesos Configuration Tampering

  • Description: An attacker gains access to the Mesos master or agent configuration files (e.g., mesos-master.conf, mesos-agent.conf) and modifies them. They could disable security features, change resource allocation policies, or introduce malicious settings. This directly targets the configuration of core Mesos components.
    • Impact:
      • Weakening of security controls.
      • Disruption of cluster operation.
      • Enabling of malicious features.
      • Resource misallocation.
    • Affected Mesos Component: The configuration loading and parsing logic in both the Mesos Master and Agent (src/master/master.cpp, src/slave/slave.cpp).
    • Risk Severity: High
    • Mitigation Strategies:
      • File Permissions: Securely store configuration files with appropriate file system permissions.
      • Configuration Management: Use a configuration management tool.
      • Version Control: Store configuration files in a version control system.
      • Auditing: Regularly audit configuration files.
      • Integrity Checks: Implement file integrity monitoring.

Threat: Resource Exhaustion by Malicious Framework (DoS)

  • Description: A malicious or compromised framework requests an excessive amount of resources (CPU, memory, disk, ports), preventing legitimate frameworks from launching tasks. This directly exploits the Mesos master's resource allocation mechanism.
    • Impact:
      • Denial of service for legitimate applications.
      • Cluster instability.
    • Affected Mesos Component: Mesos Master (src/master/master.cpp), specifically the resource allocation logic (allocator module).
    • Risk Severity: High
    • Mitigation Strategies:
      • Resource Quotas: Implement resource quotas for frameworks using Mesos roles and weights.
      • Dynamic Reservation: Use dynamic reservation to guarantee resources for critical frameworks.
      • Monitoring: Monitor resource usage by frameworks.
      • Rate Limiting: Implement rate limiting for framework resource requests.