mitigations.md

Mitigation Strategies Analysis for oracle/node-oracledb

Mitigation Strategy: Enforce Explicit Connection Management and Proper Pool Configuration

• Description:

  1. Initialization: When the application starts, initialize the connection pool using oracledb.createPool(). Configure the pool with appropriate settings:
     • poolMin: Set to a value (e.g., 2) to ensure a minimum number of connections are always available.
     • poolMax: Set based on expected load and database server capacity (e.g., 20). Start with a conservative value and monitor.
     • poolIncrement: Set to a small value (e.g., 1 or 2) to avoid sudden spikes in connection creation.
     • poolTimeout: Set to a reasonable value (e.g., 60 seconds) to close idle connections.
     • queueTimeout: Set to a short value (e.g., 5000 milliseconds) to prevent long waits for connections.
     • queueRequests: Consider setting to false in high-load scenarios to fail fast.
  2. Acquisition: Before each database operation, acquire a connection from the pool using pool.getConnection().
  3. Execution: Execute the database operation (query, procedure call, etc.) using the acquired connection.
  4. Release (Crucial): Wrap the database operation in a try...catch...finally block. In the finally block, always call connection.close(). This ensures the connection is returned to the pool even if an error occurs. Do not rely on garbage collection.
  5. Monitoring: Periodically (e.g., every few minutes) call pool.getConnectionsInUse() and pool.getConnectionsOpen() to monitor pool usage. Log these values. Set up alerts (e.g., using a monitoring system) if usage approaches poolMax.
  6. Testing: Implement a health check endpoint or background task that periodically attempts to get a connection from the pool with a short queueTimeout. If this consistently fails, it indicates a problem.

• Threats Mitigated:

  • Connection Pool Exhaustion (DoS): Severity: High. Impact: Prevents the application from serving requests, leading to downtime. This is directly related to how node-oracledb manages connections.
  • Stale Connections: Severity: Medium. Impact: Can lead to intermittent errors and unpredictable behavior. node-oracledb's pool settings directly address this.
  • Resource Leaks: Severity: Medium. Impact: Can eventually lead to application instability and crashes. Proper use of connection.close() is specific to node-oracledb.

• Impact:

  • Connection Pool Exhaustion: Risk significantly reduced (from High to Low) with proper pool configuration and connection release.
  • Stale Connections: Risk reduced (from Medium to Low) with poolTimeout and connection testing.
  • Resource Leaks: Risk significantly reduced (from Medium to Low) with diligent connection.close() usage.

• Currently Implemented:

  • Connection pool is initialized in database/connection.js.
  • connection.close() is used in most data access functions in data/userRepository.js and data/productRepository.js.
  • Basic pool configuration is present, but queueRequests is set to true.
  • Monitoring of pool statistics is not implemented.
  • Connection testing is not implemented.

• Missing Implementation:

  • Consistent use of try...catch...finally and connection.close() is missing in data/reportRepository.js.
  • Comprehensive pool monitoring and alerting are not implemented.
  • Connection health check endpoint or background task is not implemented.
  • queueRequests should be reviewed and potentially set to false in database/connection.js.

Mitigation Strategy: Implement Robust node-oracledb Error Handling

• Description:

  1. Centralized Error Handler: Create a central error handling function (e.g., handleDatabaseError) specifically for errors originating from node-oracledb calls.
  2. Interception: In all code that interacts with node-oracledb, wrap the calls in a try...catch block. In the catch block, specifically check if the error is a node-oracledb error. If so, call the handleDatabaseError function, passing the error object. This is important to differentiate from other types of errors.
  3. Error Logging: Inside handleDatabaseError:
     • Log the full node-oracledb error details (including the error message, stack trace, and any relevant context from the node-oracledb error object) to a secure logging system.
     • Use a logging library that supports structured logging.
     • Consider redacting or masking sensitive information before logging. node-oracledb errors might contain connection details or SQL queries.
  4. User-Friendly Response: After logging, handleDatabaseError should return a generic error message to the user or client. This message should not contain any details from the node-oracledb error.
  5. Error Codes (Optional): Consider using error codes specific to node-oracledb errors to differentiate without exposing details.
  6. Environment-Specific Configuration: Use environment variables to control error detail. In production, never expose node-oracledb error details.

• Threats Mitigated:

  • Sensitive Data Exposure in node-oracledb Error Messages: Severity: High. Impact: Attackers could gain information about the database schema, connection details, or even data specifically from the content of node-oracledb error messages.
  • Information Disclosure (via node-oracledb errors): Severity: Medium. Impact: Even non-sensitive node-oracledb error details can provide attackers with clues.

• Impact:

  • Sensitive Data Exposure: Risk significantly reduced (from High to Low) by preventing detailed node-oracledb error messages from reaching the user.
  • Information Disclosure: Risk reduced (from Medium to Low) by providing generic error messages.

• Currently Implemented:

  • A basic error handler exists in utils/errorHandler.js, but it doesn't specifically handle node-oracledb errors differently.
  • Error handling is inconsistent.

• Missing Implementation:

  • utils/errorHandler.js needs to be updated to specifically handle node-oracledb errors, log securely, and return generic messages.
  • All node-oracledb interaction code needs to use the centralized handler.
  • Environment-specific error handling is not implemented.

Mitigation Strategy: Explicit Transaction Management with autoCommit = false (using node-oracledb API)

• Description:

  1. Disable autoCommit: Set autoCommit: false either globally (when creating the pool using oracledb.createPool()) or on individual connections obtained via pool.getConnection(). This forces explicit transaction management using the node-oracledb API.
  2. try...catch...finally Blocks: Wrap all node-oracledb operations that should be part of a single transaction within a try...catch...finally block.
  3. connection.commit(): Inside the try block, after all node-oracledb operations have completed successfully, call connection.commit() (a node-oracledb method) to commit the transaction.
  4. connection.rollback(): Inside the catch block, call connection.rollback() (a node-oracledb method) to roll back the transaction if any node-oracledb operation fails.
  5. connection.close() (Always): Inside the finally block, always call connection.close() (a node-oracledb method) to release the connection.

• Threats Mitigated:

  • Unintentional Data Modification (due to node-oracledb's autoCommit): Severity: High. Impact: Data could be accidentally modified or deleted due to errors or unexpected behavior if autoCommit is not handled correctly within node-oracledb.
  • Data Inconsistency (related to node-oracledb transactions): Severity: Medium. Impact: Partial updates could leave the database in an inconsistent state if node-oracledb transactions are not managed properly.

• Impact:

  • Unintentional Data Modification: Risk significantly reduced (from High to Low) by enforcing explicit transaction control using node-oracledb's API.
  • Data Inconsistency: Risk reduced (from Medium to Low) by ensuring transactions are either fully committed or fully rolled back using node-oracledb's methods.

• Currently Implemented:

  • autoCommit is currently set to true (the default).
  • Some functions use try...catch, but connection.commit() and connection.rollback() are not consistently used.

• Missing Implementation:

  • autoCommit should be set to false in database/connection.js.
  • All node-oracledb interaction code needs to use explicit transaction management with connection.commit() and connection.rollback() within try...catch...finally blocks.

Mitigation Strategy: Proper Handling of LOBs (Large Objects) using node-oracledb API

• Description:

  1. Identify LOB Columns: Identify all database columns that store LOB data (CLOBs, BLOBs).
  2. Streaming for Reading: When reading LOB data, use lob.getStream() (a node-oracledb method) to obtain a readable stream. Process the stream in chunks.
  3. Chunked Writing (If Applicable): If writing LOB data, use appropriate node-oracledb methods to write in chunks.
  4. fetchInfo for Fetch Size Control: When fetching LOB data, use the fetchInfo option in connection.execute() (a node-oracledb feature) to control the amount of data fetched at a time.
  5. Always Close LOBs: Always close LOB objects (and streams) obtained from node-oracledb after you are finished, using lob.close() (a node-oracledb method), even if an error occurs. Use a finally block.

• Threats Mitigated:

  • Memory Exhaustion (DoS) (due to improper LOB handling in node-oracledb): Severity: High. Impact: Loading large LOBs into memory can cause the application to crash. This is directly related to how node-oracledb handles LOBs.
  • Data Corruption (related to node-oracledb LOB operations): Severity: Medium. Impact: Incorrect handling of LOBs using node-oracledb could lead to data corruption.

• Impact:

  • Memory Exhaustion: Risk significantly reduced (from High to Low) by using node-oracledb's streaming and fetchInfo.
  • Data Corruption: Risk reduced (from Medium to Low) by using correct node-oracledb LOB handling methods and closing LOBs.

• Currently Implemented:

  • LOBs are not currently used in the application.

• Missing Implementation:

  • If LOBs are used in the future, the above steps (using node-oracledb's API) must be followed.

Mitigation Strategy: Keep node-oracledb Updated

• Description:

  1. Dependency Management: Use npm or yarn to manage node-oracledb.
  2. Regular Updates: Periodically run npm update oracledb or yarn upgrade oracledb to update specifically the node-oracledb package.
  3. Vulnerability Scanning: Use npm audit or Snyk, focusing on vulnerabilities reported for node-oracledb.
  4. Security Advisories: Subscribe to security advisories and mailing lists specifically for node-oracledb.
  5. Testing After Updates: After updating node-oracledb, thoroughly test the application.

• Threats Mitigated:

  • Known Vulnerabilities in node-oracledb: Severity: Varies (Low to Critical). Impact: Attackers could exploit known vulnerabilities within the node-oracledb library itself.

• Impact:

  • Known Vulnerabilities: Risk reduced (from the original severity to Low) by applying security patches to node-oracledb.

• Currently Implemented:

  • npm is used.
  • npm audit is run in the CI/CD pipeline.

• Missing Implementation:

  • A regular schedule for updating specifically node-oracledb is not defined.
  • Subscription to node-oracledb security advisories is not formalized.

Mitigation Strategy: Use Bind Variables with RETURNING INTO clause (node-oracledb feature)

• Description:

  1. When inserting or updating data and you need to retrieve generated values (like auto-incrementing IDs), use the RETURNING INTO clause with bind variables to safely capture the results. This is a specific feature of how node-oracledb interacts with Oracle Database.
  2. Define the bind variable with type and dir properties to specify the data type and direction (BIND_OUT).

     const result = await connection.execute(
         `INSERT INTO mytable (name) VALUES (:name) RETURNING id INTO :id`,
         {
           name: "My New Value",
           id: { type: oracledb.NUMBER, dir: oracledb.BIND_OUT }
         }
       );
     const newId = result.outBinds.id[0];

• Threats Mitigated:

  • SQL Injection (when retrieving generated values): Severity: High. Impact: Although less common, improper handling of retrieving generated values could lead to SQL injection vulnerabilities. Using RETURNING INTO with bind variables, as provided by node-oracledb, mitigates this.
  • Data Type Mismatches: Severity: Low. Impact: Using the correct type in the bind variable definition ensures data type consistency.

• Impact:

  • SQL Injection: Risk reduced (from High to Very Low) by using bind variables for output parameters.
  • Data Type Mismatches: Risk reduced (from Low to Very Low).

• Currently Implemented:

  • Not currently used, as there are no operations retrieving generated values.

• Missing Implementation:

  • If any operations require retrieving generated values in the future, this node-oracledb feature must be used.