mitigations.md

Mitigation Strategies Analysis for golang-migrate/migrate

Mitigation Strategy: Secure Storage and Access Control for Migration Files

• Description:
  • Step 1: Store migration files (the files that migrate reads to perform database changes) in a secure location on the server or within your CI/CD pipeline environment.
  • Step 2: Restrict access to these migration files to only authorized users and processes that need to run migrate (e.g., DevOps team, CI/CD system). Use file system permissions to enforce this.
  • Step 3: Avoid placing migration files in publicly accessible locations, such as within the application's web root, where they could be downloaded or accessed by unauthorized parties.
  • Step 4: If migration files contain sensitive information (though it's best to avoid this), consider encrypting them at rest.
  • Step 5: Regularly audit access to the directory containing migration files to ensure access controls remain correctly configured and prevent unauthorized access that could lead to malicious migration modifications or information disclosure.
• Threats Mitigated:
  • Migration Script Tampering - Severity: Medium (Restricting access makes it harder for attackers to modify migration scripts that migrate will execute.)
  • Information Disclosure via Migration Files - Severity: Medium (Migration files might reveal database schema details or application logic if accessed by unauthorized individuals.)
  • Unauthorized Migration Execution - Severity: Medium (If access to migration files is a prerequisite for running migrate, controlling file access adds a layer of defense against unauthorized execution.)
• Impact:
  • Migration Script Tampering: Medium (Reduces the risk by limiting attack vectors.)
  • Information Disclosure via Migration Files: Medium (Reduces the risk of exposing sensitive schema information.)
  • Unauthorized Migration Execution: Medium (Provides an additional layer of access control.)
• Currently Implemented:
  • Implemented in Production and Staging environments. Migration files are stored within the CI/CD pipeline's secure artifact storage and are not directly accessible from application servers. migrate in CI/CD has access, application servers do not.
• Missing Implementation:
  • In Development environments, migration files are often directly accessible on developer workstations. Stricter access controls could be implemented even in development to better mirror production security practices and prevent accidental exposure.

Mitigation Strategy: Robust Rollback Procedures and Idempotent Migrations (for migrate usage)

• Description:
  • Step 1: For every forward migration script that you create for migrate, ensure you also develop a corresponding rollback script. This allows migrate to revert changes if needed.
  • Step 2: Test these rollback scripts thoroughly in non-production environments using migrate's rollback functionality to confirm they correctly undo the forward migration without data loss or corruption.
  • Step 3: Design your migrations to be idempotent when possible. This means that running the same migration multiple times via migrate should have the same outcome as running it once. This is crucial for handling retries and rollbacks gracefully with migrate.
  • Step 4: Document the rollback procedures specifically for your migrate setup, including how to use migrate to perform rollbacks and any environment-specific considerations.
  • Step 5: In case of issues after running migrations in production with migrate, have a clear and practiced rollback plan using migrate's rollback commands to quickly revert to a stable state.
• Threats Mitigated:
  • Production Downtime due to Migration Errors - Severity: High (Rollback procedures using migrate allow for quick recovery from problematic migrations.)
  • Data Corruption in Production - Severity: High (Rollback via migrate can revert to a consistent database state before a faulty migration was applied.)
  • Prolonged Service Disruption - Severity: High (Effective rollback with migrate minimizes the duration of service disruption caused by migration issues.)
  • Data Inconsistency after Failed Migrations - Severity: Medium (Idempotent migrations and reliable rollbacks using migrate help maintain data consistency.)
• Impact:
  • Production Downtime due to Migration Errors: High (Significantly reduces the impact of migration failures.)
  • Data Corruption in Production: High (Significantly reduces the impact of data corruption risks.)
  • Prolonged Service Disruption: High (Significantly reduces the duration of potential outages.)
  • Data Inconsistency after Failed Migrations: Medium (Reduces the risk of inconsistent data states.)
• Currently Implemented:
  • Partially implemented. Rollback scripts are generally created for migrations intended for migrate, but rollback testing using migrate's commands is not consistently performed. Idempotency is considered in migration design for migrate, but not always strictly enforced.
• Missing Implementation:
  • Mandate rollback script creation and testing for all migrations intended for use with migrate. Implement automated rollback testing within the CI/CD pipeline, specifically using migrate's rollback features. Provide developer training on designing idempotent migrations and utilizing migrate's rollback capabilities effectively.

Mitigation Strategy: Monitoring and Alerting for migrate Execution

• Description:
  • Step 1: Implement logging specifically for migrate execution. Capture details such as start and end times of migration runs, success or failure status of each migration script executed by migrate, the specific scripts applied, and any errors reported by migrate.
  • Step 2: Integrate these migrate logs into your central logging system for monitoring and analysis. This allows for centralized tracking of migration activities.
  • Step 3: Set up alerts based on migrate execution logs. Configure alerts for migration failures reported by migrate, unusually long-running migrations detected in migrate logs, or specific error patterns in migrate's output.
  • Step 4: Monitor the performance of migrate execution over time. Track metrics like migration duration and frequency of failures to identify potential performance regressions or recurring issues related to migrate.
  • Step 5: Regularly review migrate logs and alerts to proactively identify and address potential problems with the migration process managed by migrate.
• Threats Mitigated:
  • Undetected Migration Failures - Severity: Medium (Monitoring migrate execution ensures timely detection of failures reported by the tool.)
  • Delayed Problem Resolution - Severity: Medium (Alerting on migrate failures enables faster response and remediation of migration issues.)
  • Performance Degradation due to Migrations - Severity: Medium (Monitoring migrate's performance can help identify performance impacts introduced by migrations managed by migrate.)
  • Lack of Visibility into Migration Process - Severity: Medium (Monitoring provides insights into the execution of migrations performed by migrate.)
• Impact:
  • Undetected Migration Failures: Medium (Reduces the risk of prolonged issues by ensuring failures are noticed.)
  • Delayed Problem Resolution: Medium (Reduces the impact of failures by enabling quicker responses.)
  • Performance Degradation due to Migrations: Medium (Reduces the risk of performance issues going unnoticed.)
  • Lack of Visibility into Migration Process: Medium (Improves operational awareness of migration activities.)
• Currently Implemented:
  • Basic logging of migrate execution is implemented, capturing start/end and success/failure. Logs are written to application logs but not yet fully integrated into a centralized monitoring system specifically for migrate events.
• Missing Implementation:
  • Enhance logging to capture more granular details from migrate's output. Integrate migrate logs with a centralized logging and monitoring platform (e.g., ELK stack, Grafana Loki). Set up specific alerts tailored to migrate's error codes and execution patterns. Create dashboards to visualize migrate execution metrics and history.

Mitigation Strategy: Keep migrate and Dependencies Up-to-Date

• Description:
  • Step 1: Regularly check for new releases and updates for the golang-migrate/migrate library and its dependencies. Monitor the official migrate GitHub repository and Go package repositories for announcements.
  • Step 2: Subscribe to security advisories and release notes specifically for golang-migrate/migrate and its dependencies to be informed of any reported vulnerabilities or security patches.
  • Step 3: Utilize Go's dependency management tools (like go mod) to manage and update the migrate library and its dependencies within your project.
  • Step 4: Automate the process of checking for and applying dependency updates, including migrate, within your CI/CD pipeline. Include testing after updates to ensure compatibility.
  • Step 5: Prioritize security updates for migrate and its dependencies. Apply these updates promptly to patch any known vulnerabilities that could affect your migration process.
• Threats Mitigated:
  • Exploitation of Known Vulnerabilities in migrate or Dependencies - Severity: High (Keeping migrate and its dependencies updated patches known security flaws, reducing the attack surface of the migration tool itself.)
  • Dependency Confusion Attacks - Severity: Low (While not a primary mitigation, keeping dependencies up-to-date and using dependency management tools can help in some dependency confusion scenarios.)
• Impact:
  • Exploitation of Known Vulnerabilities in migrate or Dependencies: High (Significantly reduces the risk of exploitation.)
  • Dependency Confusion Attacks: Low (Provides a minor level of mitigation.)
• Currently Implemented:
  • Basic dependency updates are performed periodically, but not consistently automated or prioritized specifically for security updates related to migrate and its direct dependencies.
• Missing Implementation:
  • Implement automated dependency scanning and update processes specifically for migrate and its dependencies in the CI/CD pipeline. Set up alerts for new security vulnerabilities reported for migrate or its dependencies. Establish a clear policy for promptly applying security updates to migrate and its dependency chain.

Mitigation Strategy: Verify migrate Tool Source and Integrity

• Description:
  • Step 1: Download the migrate command-line tool (if you use the CLI version) exclusively from the official golang-migrate/migrate GitHub repository releases page or trusted package managers that are known to distribute official Go binaries.
  • Step 2: After downloading the migrate binary, verify its checksum or digital signature to ensure its integrity and authenticity. Compare the calculated checksum against the official checksums provided by the migrate project (usually available on the release page or in official documentation).
  • Step 3: Strictly avoid using migrate binaries obtained from untrusted or unofficial sources, as these could be compromised or backdoored.
  • Step 4: Store the verified and trusted migrate binary in a secure and controlled location within your CI/CD pipeline or build environment, ensuring only authorized processes use this verified binary for migrations.
• Threats Mitigated:
  • Supply Chain Attacks - Severity: Medium (Reduces the risk of using a compromised migrate tool if the official source is verified.)
  • Malware Injection - Severity: Medium (Reduces the risk of executing a malicious migrate binary by ensuring you are using a verified, official version.)
  • Backdoored migrate Tool - Severity: Medium (Mitigates the risk of using a backdoored version of migrate if you verify against official sources.)
• Impact:
  • Supply Chain Attacks: Medium (Reduces the risk of using compromised tools.)
  • Malware Injection: Medium (Reduces the risk of executing malicious binaries.)
  • Backdoored migrate Tool: Medium (Reduces the risk of using backdoored software.)
• Currently Implemented:
  • Developers generally download migrate from the official GitHub repository. However, checksum verification is not consistently performed as a standard practice.
• Missing Implementation:
  • Automate checksum verification for migrate binaries within the CI/CD pipeline to ensure consistent integrity checks. Document a clear process for verifying the integrity of the migrate tool and train developers and operations teams on this verification procedure.

Mitigation Strategy: Sanitize migrate Logs for Sensitive Data

• Description:
  • Step 1: Review the logs generated by migrate during migration execution to identify if any sensitive information (like database credentials, application secrets, or Personally Identifiable Information - PII) is being inadvertently logged by migrate or your migration scripts.
  • Step 2: Configure your logging settings and potentially modify your migration scripts to prevent the logging of sensitive data by migrate. This might involve adjusting log levels for migrate, filtering sensitive data from log messages generated by migrate, or using placeholders instead of actual sensitive values in your migration scripts that might get logged by migrate.
  • Step 3: Implement log rotation and retention policies for migrate logs to manage log files securely and prevent the long-term storage of potentially sensitive information that might have been unintentionally logged by migrate.
  • Step 4: Secure access to the logs generated by migrate. Restrict access to these logs to only authorized personnel who need to monitor migration processes and troubleshoot issues.
• Threats Mitigated:
  • Information Disclosure via migrate Logs - Severity: Medium (Prevents sensitive data from being exposed in logs generated by migrate.)
  • Database Credential Exposure in Logs - Severity: Medium (Specifically prevents database credentials used by migrate from being leaked in logs.)
  • Compliance Violations (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA) - Severity: Medium (Reduces the risk of logging PII in migrate logs, which could lead to violations of data privacy regulations.)
• Impact:
  • Information Disclosure via migrate Logs: Medium (Reduces the risk of unintended data leaks.)
  • Database Credential Exposure in Logs: Medium (Reduces the risk of credential compromise via logs.)
  • Compliance Violations (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA): Medium (Reduces the risk of regulatory breaches.)
• Currently Implemented:
  • Basic log rotation is in place for application logs, which may include migrate logs. However, no specific sanitization of migrate logs for sensitive data is currently implemented.
• Missing Implementation:
  • Implement specific log sanitization for migrate logs to actively prevent the logging of sensitive information. Conduct a review of existing migrate logs for potential sensitive data exposure and implement redaction or anonymization if necessary. Define and enforce log retention policies specifically for migrate logs, considering security and compliance requirements.