Okay, let's create a design document for the MariaDB server project, focusing on aspects relevant for threat modeling.

BUSINESS POSTURE

MariaDB is a community-developed, commercially supported fork of MySQL, intended to remain free and open-source software under the GNU General Public License. It's a widely used relational database management system (RDBMS).

Business Priorities:

Provide a robust, reliable, and performant database solution.
Maintain compatibility with MySQL (to a reasonable extent, allowing for divergence where improvements can be made).
Ensure data integrity and availability.
Foster a strong community and ecosystem.
Offer commercial support and services for enterprise users.
Continuously improve performance, security, and features.

Business Goals:

Be a leading open-source RDBMS choice for developers and organizations.
Attract and retain a vibrant community of contributors.
Grow the adoption of MariaDB in various applications and industries.
Generate revenue through commercial offerings to sustain development.

Most Important Business Risks:

Data breaches or data loss incidents affecting users.
Severe performance degradation or service unavailability.
Loss of community trust or developer engagement.
Inability to keep pace with evolving technology and user needs.
Legal challenges or licensing issues.
Competition from other database systems (both open-source and proprietary).
Vulnerabilities that could lead to remote code execution or privilege escalation.

SECURITY POSTURE

Existing Security Controls:

security control: Authentication mechanisms (native MariaDB authentication, PAM, LDAP, etc.). Implemented in the server's authentication plugins and core authentication logic.
security control: Access control lists (ACLs) and granular permissions (GRANT/REVOKE system). Implemented in the privilege system and SQL parser.
security control: Encryption at rest (data file encryption, table encryption). Implemented using various encryption plugins and storage engine-specific features.
security control: Encryption in transit (TLS/SSL for client-server communication). Implemented using OpenSSL or yaSSL/wolfSSL libraries.
security control: Auditing capabilities (audit plugin). Implemented through a plugin interface that logs various database events.
security control: Secure coding practices (to varying degrees). Evident throughout the codebase, but continuous improvement is always needed.
security control: Regular security reviews and audits (internal and external). Mentioned in community documentation and release notes.
security control: Vulnerability disclosure program. Described on the MariaDB website.
security control: Use of security-focused compiler flags and build options. Evident in the build system configuration.
security control: Support for secure connections using TLS/SSL. Implemented in client libraries and server-side network handling.
security control: Input validation to prevent SQL injection. Implemented in the SQL parser and query execution engine.

Accepted Risks:

accepted risk: Complexity of the codebase, making it challenging to guarantee the absence of all vulnerabilities.
accepted risk: Reliance on third-party libraries (e.g., OpenSSL), which may introduce their own vulnerabilities.
accepted risk: Potential for misconfiguration by users, leading to security weaknesses.
accepted risk: The inherent risk of zero-day vulnerabilities.
accepted risk: Trade-offs between performance and security (e.g., certain security features may have a performance cost).

Recommended Security Controls (High Priority):

Implement a comprehensive fuzzing framework to continuously test for vulnerabilities.
Integrate static analysis tools (SAST) into the build process to identify potential security issues early.
Enhance dynamic analysis capabilities (DAST) for runtime security testing.
Strengthen supply chain security by verifying the integrity of third-party dependencies.
Consider adopting a memory-safe language (e.g., Rust) for security-critical components.
Improve documentation and guidance on secure configuration and deployment.

Security Requirements:

Authentication:
- Support strong password hashing algorithms.
- Provide options for multi-factor authentication (MFA).
- Enforce password complexity policies.
- Protect against brute-force attacks.
- Integrate with external authentication systems (e.g., Kerberos, OAuth).
Authorization:
- Implement fine-grained access control at the database, table, column, and row levels.
- Support role-based access control (RBAC).
- Enforce the principle of least privilege.
- Provide mechanisms for auditing access control decisions.
Input Validation:
- Thoroughly validate all user inputs to prevent SQL injection and other injection attacks.
- Use parameterized queries or prepared statements consistently.
- Implement output encoding to prevent cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities (in web-based management tools).
Cryptography:
- Use strong, well-vetted cryptographic algorithms and libraries.
- Protect cryptographic keys securely.
- Support encryption at rest and in transit.
- Implement key rotation mechanisms.
- Provide options for hardware security module (HSM) integration.

DESIGN

C4 CONTEXT

graph LR
    subgraph Users
        User[("User")]
    end
    subgraph MariaDB System
        MariaDB[("MariaDB Server")]
    end
    subgraph External Systems
        ExternalDB[("External Database")]
        AuthSystem[("Authentication System (e.g., LDAP, PAM)")]
        MonitoringSystem[("Monitoring System")]
        BackupSystem[("Backup System")]
    end

    User -- "Uses" --> MariaDB
    MariaDB -- "Reads/Writes" --> ExternalDB
    MariaDB -- "Authenticates against" --> AuthSystem
    MariaDB -- "Sends metrics to" --> MonitoringSystem
    MariaDB -- "Backs up data to" --> BackupSystem

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C4 Context Element List:

1. Name: User
- Type: Person
- Description: A user of the MariaDB database, which could be a developer, DBA, or an application.
- Responsibilities: Connects to the database, executes queries, manages data.
- Security controls: Authentication, authorization, network security (TLS/SSL).
1. Name: MariaDB Server
- Type: Software System
- Description: The core MariaDB database server.
- Responsibilities: Stores data, processes queries, enforces security policies, manages connections.
- Security controls: Authentication, authorization, access control, encryption, auditing, input validation.
1. Name: External Database
- Type: Software System
- Description: Another database system that MariaDB might interact with (e.g., for replication or data federation).
- Responsibilities: Varies depending on the specific database.
- Security controls: Dependent on the external database's security mechanisms.
1. Name: Authentication System (e.g., LDAP, PAM)
- Type: Software System
- Description: An external system used for user authentication.
- Responsibilities: Authenticates users, provides user information.
- Security controls: Dependent on the specific authentication system.
1. Name: Monitoring System
- Type: Software System
- Description: A system used to monitor the performance and health of the MariaDB server.
- Responsibilities: Collects metrics, generates alerts.
- Security controls: Secure communication with the MariaDB server, access control to monitoring data.
1. Name: Backup System
- Type: Software System
- Description: A system used to back up and restore MariaDB data.
- Responsibilities: Creates backups, manages backup storage, performs restores.
- Security controls: Secure communication with the MariaDB server, encryption of backup data, access control to backups.

C4 CONTAINER

graph LR
    subgraph MariaDB Server
        ClientAPI[("Client API")]
        SQLParser[("SQL Parser")]
        QueryExecutor[("Query Executor")]
        StorageEngine[("Storage Engine (e.g., InnoDB, MyRocks)")]
        Replication[("Replication Manager")]
        Auth[("Authentication Manager")]
        AccessControl[("Access Control Manager")]
        Audit[("Audit Manager")]
        DataFiles[("Data Files")]

        ClientAPI -- "Receives SQL queries" --> SQLParser
        SQLParser -- "Parses SQL" --> QueryExecutor
        QueryExecutor -- "Executes queries" --> StorageEngine
        StorageEngine -- "Reads/Writes" --> DataFiles
        ClientAPI -- "Manages connections" --> Replication
        Replication -- "Replicates data" --> StorageEngine
        ClientAPI -- "Authenticates users" --> Auth
        Auth -- "Manages authentication" --> AccessControl
        QueryExecutor -- "Enforces access control" --> AccessControl
        QueryExecutor -- "Logs events" --> Audit
    end

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C4 Container Element List:

1. Name: Client API
- Type: Container
- Description: The interface through which clients connect to the database server.
- Responsibilities: Handles network connections, manages client sessions, receives SQL queries.
- Security controls: TLS/SSL encryption, connection limits, authentication handoff.
1. Name: SQL Parser
- Type: Container
- Description: Parses SQL queries into an internal representation.
- Responsibilities: Lexical analysis, syntax analysis, semantic analysis.
- Security controls: Input validation (to prevent SQL injection).
1. Name: Query Executor
- Type: Container
- Description: Executes the parsed SQL queries.
- Responsibilities: Query optimization, query planning, transaction management.
- Security controls: Access control enforcement, privilege checking.
1. Name: Storage Engine (e.g., InnoDB, MyRocks)
- Type: Container
- Description: Manages the storage and retrieval of data.
- Responsibilities: Data storage, data retrieval, indexing, transaction support.
- Security controls: Data encryption (at rest), data integrity checks.
1. Name: Replication Manager
- Type: Container
- Description: Handles database replication.
- Responsibilities: Manages replication connections, transmits data changes, ensures consistency.
- Security controls: Secure communication (TLS/SSL), authentication of replication partners.
1. Name: Authentication Manager
- Type: Container
- Description: Manages user authentication.
- Responsibilities: Verifies user credentials, interacts with authentication plugins.
- Security controls: Password hashing, support for various authentication methods (PAM, LDAP, etc.).
1. Name: Access Control Manager
- Type: Container
- Description: Enforces access control policies.
- Responsibilities: Checks user permissions, grants or denies access to database objects.
- Security controls: Granular permissions, role-based access control.
1. Name: Audit Manager
- Type: Container
- Description: Logs database events for auditing purposes.
- Responsibilities: Records user actions, database changes, security-related events.
- Security controls: Secure logging, protection of audit logs.
1. Name: Data Files
- Type: Container
- Description: Physical files on disk where the data is stored.
- Responsibilities: Data persistence.
- Security controls: File system permissions, encryption at rest.

DEPLOYMENT

Possible Deployment Solutions:

Single Server Deployment: Simplest setup, suitable for development or small-scale applications.
Replicated Deployment: Master-slave or multi-source replication for high availability and read scaling.
Clustered Deployment: Using Galera Cluster or similar technology for high availability and write scaling.
Cloud-Based Deployment: Deploying MariaDB on cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, or GCP, using managed database services or virtual machines.
Containerized Deployment: Using Docker or Kubernetes to deploy MariaDB in containers.

Chosen Solution (for detailed description): Containerized Deployment using Kubernetes

graph LR
    subgraph Kubernetes Cluster
        subgraph Node 1
            Pod1[("MariaDB Pod")]
            Container1[("MariaDB Container")]
        end
        subgraph Node 2
            Pod2[("MariaDB Pod (Replica)")]
            Container2[("MariaDB Container (Replica)")]
        end
        subgraph Node 3
            Pod3[("MariaDB Pod (Replica)")]
            Container3[("MariaDB Container (Replica)")]
        end
        PVC1[("Persistent Volume Claim (Data)")]
        PVC2[("Persistent Volume Claim (Data)")]
        PVC3[("Persistent Volume Claim (Data)")]
        Service[("Kubernetes Service")]
        Ingress[("Ingress Controller")]
    end
    Internet[("Internet")]

    Internet -- "Requests" --> Ingress
    Ingress -- "Routes traffic" --> Service
    Service -- "Load balances" --> Pod1
    Service -- "Load balances" --> Pod2
    Service -- "Load balances" --> Pod3
    Pod1 -- "Uses" --> PVC1
    Pod2 -- "Uses" --> PVC2
    Pod3 -- "Uses" --> PVC3
    Container1 -- "Runs" --> MariaDB
    Container2 -- "Runs" --> MariaDB
    Container3 -- "Runs" --> MariaDB

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Deployment Element List:

1. Name: Kubernetes Cluster
- Type: Infrastructure
- Description: A cluster of nodes managed by Kubernetes.
- Responsibilities: Orchestrates containers, manages resources, provides networking.
- Security controls: Kubernetes RBAC, network policies, pod security policies, secrets management.
1. Name: Node 1, Node 2, Node 3
- Type: Infrastructure
- Description: Physical or virtual machines that are part of the Kubernetes cluster.
- Responsibilities: Runs pods and containers.
- Security controls: Operating system hardening, network security, access control.
1. Name: MariaDB Pod (Pod1, Pod2, Pod3)
- Type: Kubernetes Resource
- Description: A Kubernetes pod running a MariaDB container.
- Responsibilities: Runs the MariaDB database server.
- Security controls: Container security context, resource limits.
1. Name: MariaDB Container (Container1, Container2, Container3)
- Type: Container
- Description: A Docker container running the MariaDB database server.
- Responsibilities: Executes the MariaDB process.
- Security controls: Minimal base image, non-root user, read-only file system (where possible).
1. Name: Persistent Volume Claim (PVC1, PVC2, PVC3)
- Type: Kubernetes Resource
- Description: A request for persistent storage for the MariaDB data.
- Responsibilities: Provides persistent storage for the database.
- Security controls: Encryption at rest (if supported by the storage provider), access control to the storage.
1. Name: Kubernetes Service
- Type: Kubernetes Resource
- Description: A Kubernetes service that provides a stable endpoint for accessing the MariaDB pods.
- Responsibilities: Load balances traffic across the MariaDB pods.
- Security controls: Network policies.
1. Name: Ingress Controller
- Type: Kubernetes Resource
- Description: An Ingress controller that manages external access to the Kubernetes service.
- Responsibilities: Routes external traffic to the appropriate service.
- Security controls: TLS termination, access control, web application firewall (WAF).
1. Name: Internet
- Type: External Entity
- Description: The external network from which users access the database.
- Responsibilities: N/A
- Security controls: Firewall, intrusion detection/prevention systems.

BUILD

The MariaDB build process is complex and involves multiple steps, tools, and configurations. It primarily uses CMake as its build system.

graph LR
    Developer[("Developer")]
    SourceCode[("Source Code (GitHub)")]
    CMake[("CMake")]
    Compiler[("Compiler (GCC, Clang, etc.)")]
    Linker[("Linker")]
    Linters[("Linters (cpplint, etc.)")]
    SAST[("SAST Tools")]
    Tests[("Unit Tests, Integration Tests")]
    Artifacts[("Build Artifacts (binaries, libraries)")]
    Package[("Package (deb, rpm, tar.gz)")]

    Developer -- "Commits code" --> SourceCode
    SourceCode -- "Build system" --> CMake
    CMake -- "Generates build files" --> Compiler
    Compiler -- "Compiles code" --> Linker
    SourceCode -- "Checks style" --> Linters
    SourceCode -- "Static analysis" --> SAST
    Linker -- "Links object files" --> Artifacts
    Artifacts -- "Runs tests" --> Tests
    Artifacts -- "Creates packages" --> Package

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Build Process Security Controls:

security control: Use of CMake for build configuration, allowing for consistent and reproducible builds.
security control: Compilation with security-focused compiler flags (e.g., stack protection, FORTIFY_SOURCE).
security control: Integration of linters (e.g., cpplint) to enforce coding style and identify potential issues.
security control: Use of static analysis tools (SAST) to detect vulnerabilities in the source code. (This is a recommended control, and its current level of integration should be verified).
security control: Extensive unit and integration tests to verify the correctness and security of the code.
security control: Build automation using CI/CD systems (e.g., Jenkins, GitHub Actions). This ensures that builds are performed consistently and that security checks are run automatically.
security control: Supply chain security: While not explicitly described in readily available documentation, efforts should be made to verify the integrity of third-party dependencies. This is an area for improvement.
security control: Code signing: Release packages are typically signed with a GPG key to ensure authenticity and integrity.

RISK ASSESSMENT

Critical Business Processes to Protect:

Data storage and retrieval: Ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of user data.
Database replication: Maintaining data consistency and availability across multiple servers.
User authentication and authorization: Preventing unauthorized access to the database.
Backup and recovery: Ensuring the ability to restore data in case of failure or disaster.

Data to Protect and Sensitivity:

User data stored in the database: This can range from highly sensitive personal information (PII) to less sensitive application data. Sensitivity depends on the specific use case.
Database credentials: Usernames, passwords, and other authentication information. Highly sensitive.
Database configuration files: May contain sensitive information such as passwords, encryption keys, and network addresses. Highly sensitive.
Audit logs: Contain information about database activity, which may be sensitive depending on the context.
Replication logs: Contain data changes, which may be sensitive.

QUESTIONS & ASSUMPTIONS

Questions:

What is the current level of integration of SAST and DAST tools in the MariaDB build process?
What specific mechanisms are in place to verify the integrity of third-party dependencies?
What are the specific procedures for handling security vulnerabilities reported by external researchers?
What are the performance benchmarks and targets for security-related features (e.g., encryption)?
What is the process for reviewing and updating security policies and procedures?
Are there any specific compliance requirements (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA) that need to be considered?
What is the current threat model for MariaDB, and how often is it updated?
What kind of penetration testing is regularly performed?
How are database schemas managed and versioned, and what security controls are in place around schema changes?

Assumptions:

BUSINESS POSTURE: MariaDB prioritizes security, but balances it with performance and usability.
BUSINESS POSTURE: The MariaDB Foundation and community are committed to addressing security vulnerabilities promptly.
SECURITY POSTURE: Secure coding practices are followed, but there's always room for improvement.
SECURITY POSTURE: Users are responsible for configuring and deploying MariaDB securely.
DESIGN: The provided diagrams are high-level representations and may not capture all the nuances of the MariaDB architecture.
DESIGN: The build process is automated and includes security checks, but the specific tools and configurations may vary.
DESIGN: Deployment practices vary widely depending on the user's environment and requirements.
DESIGN: MariaDB relies on underlying operating system and network security mechanisms.

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sec-design.md

BUSINESS POSTURE

SECURITY POSTURE

DESIGN

C4 CONTEXT

C4 CONTAINER

DEPLOYMENT

BUILD

RISK ASSESSMENT

QUESTIONS & ASSUMPTIONS

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BUSINESS POSTURE

SECURITY POSTURE

DESIGN

C4 CONTEXT

C4 CONTAINER

DEPLOYMENT

BUILD

RISK ASSESSMENT

QUESTIONS & ASSUMPTIONS