Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
123 lines (102 loc) · 10.2 KB

threat-modeling.md

File metadata and controls

123 lines (102 loc) · 10.2 KB

Threat Model Analysis for grafana/grafana

Threat: Default Administrator Credentials

  • Description: An attacker attempts to log in to Grafana using default administrator credentials (e.g., admin/admin). If successful, the attacker gains full administrative access to Grafana.
  • Impact: Complete compromise of the Grafana instance, including access to all dashboards, data sources, users, and settings. Potential data breaches, service disruption, and system manipulation.
  • Affected Grafana Component: Authentication Module, User Management
  • Risk Severity: Critical
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Change default administrator password immediately upon installation.
    • Enforce strong password policies for all users.
    • Consider disabling or removing the default administrator account if possible and creating a new administrator account with a unique username.

Threat: Weak Password Brute-Force

  • Description: An attacker attempts to guess user passwords through brute-force attacks or dictionary attacks against the Grafana login page or API.
  • Impact: Unauthorized access to user accounts, potentially including administrator accounts. Data breaches, unauthorized dashboard modifications, and service disruption.
  • Affected Grafana Component: Authentication Module, User Management
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Enforce strong password policies (complexity, length, expiration).
    • Implement account lockout mechanisms after multiple failed login attempts.
    • Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) for all users, especially administrators.
    • Use rate limiting on login endpoints to slow down brute-force attempts.
    • Monitor login attempts for suspicious activity.

Threat: Session Hijacking via Insecure Cookies

  • Description: An attacker intercepts or steals a valid Grafana session cookie, potentially through network sniffing (if HTTPS is not enforced), Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) within Grafana, or malware. The attacker then uses the stolen cookie to impersonate the legitimate user.
  • Impact: Unauthorized access to the user's Grafana session, allowing the attacker to perform actions as that user, including viewing dashboards, modifying settings, and accessing data sources.
  • Affected Grafana Component: Session Management, Authentication Module
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Enforce HTTPS for all Grafana traffic to prevent cookie interception in transit.
    • Configure session cookies with HttpOnly and Secure flags to mitigate XSS and prevent transmission over non-HTTPS connections.
    • Implement session timeouts and regular session invalidation.
    • Consider using short-lived session tokens and refresh tokens.

Threat: Data Source Credential Exposure in Configuration Files

  • Description: An attacker gains access to Grafana's configuration files (e.g., grafana.ini) or database backups that contain data source credentials stored in plaintext or easily reversible formats.
  • Impact: Compromise of data source credentials, leading to unauthorized access to backend data systems. Potential data breaches, data manipulation, and denial of service against backend systems.
  • Affected Grafana Component: Data Source Management, Configuration Management
  • Risk Severity: Critical
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Securely store data source credentials using secrets management solutions (e.g., HashiCorp Vault, Kubernetes Secrets).
    • Avoid storing credentials directly in configuration files. Use environment variables or external secret stores.
    • Encrypt configuration files and database backups at rest.
    • Restrict access to configuration files and backups to authorized personnel only.

Threat: SQL Injection in Data Source Queries (via Grafana)

  • Description: An attacker crafts malicious input within a dashboard panel or through the Grafana API that is used to construct SQL queries to a backend SQL data source. If Grafana's query construction or sanitization is insufficient, the attacker can inject arbitrary SQL commands.
  • Impact: Unauthorized access to the SQL database, data breaches, data manipulation, and potential execution of arbitrary code on the database server.
  • Affected Grafana Component: Data Source Plugins (SQL based), Query Editor, Dashboard Panels
  • Risk Severity: Critical
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Use parameterized queries or prepared statements in data source plugins to prevent SQL injection.
    • Implement strict input validation and sanitization for all user-provided data used in queries within Grafana.
    • Apply least privilege principles to database user accounts used by Grafana, limiting their permissions.
    • Regularly update Grafana and data source plugins to patch known vulnerabilities.

Threat: Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) in Dashboard Panels

  • Description: An attacker injects malicious JavaScript code into a dashboard panel, for example, through a crafted panel title, description, or data source query that is not properly sanitized by Grafana. When other users view the dashboard, the malicious script executes in their browsers.
  • Impact: Session hijacking, credential theft, defacement of dashboards, redirection to malicious websites, and potentially further compromise of user systems.
  • Affected Grafana Component: Dashboard Panels, Rendering Engine, Templating Engine
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Implement robust input sanitization and output encoding for all user-provided data displayed in dashboards within Grafana.
    • Use Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict the sources from which the browser can load resources, mitigating the impact of XSS.
    • Regularly update Grafana to patch known XSS vulnerabilities.
    • Educate users about the risks of running untrusted dashboards.

Threat: Public Dashboard Exposure of Sensitive Information

  • Description: A user unintentionally or maliciously shares a dashboard publicly or with overly broad permissions within Grafana, exposing sensitive information contained within the dashboard visualizations to unauthorized individuals.
  • Impact: Data breaches, privacy violations, reputational damage, and potential regulatory compliance issues.
  • Affected Grafana Component: Dashboard Sharing, Permissions Management
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Implement strict access control policies and RBAC within Grafana to limit dashboard sharing permissions.
    • Educate users about the risks of public dashboard sharing and data sensitivity.
    • Review dashboard sharing settings regularly to ensure appropriate access controls are in place.
    • Consider using data masking or anonymization techniques in dashboards that might be shared externally.

Threat: Vulnerable Third-Party Plugin

  • Description: An attacker exploits a known vulnerability in a third-party Grafana plugin that is installed and enabled. This vulnerability is within the plugin's code and directly affects Grafana functionality.
  • Impact: Range of impacts depending on the vulnerability, including XSS, SQL injection, remote code execution, authentication bypass, and denial of service. Could lead to full compromise of the Grafana instance or backend systems.
  • Affected Grafana Component: Plugin Architecture, Specific Vulnerable Plugin
  • Risk Severity: High to Critical (depending on the vulnerability)
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Only install plugins from trusted sources (Grafana official plugin repository or verified developers).
    • Regularly review installed plugins and remove any unused or untrusted plugins.
    • Keep plugins updated to the latest versions to patch known vulnerabilities.
    • Monitor plugin security advisories and vulnerability databases.
    • Consider performing security audits of third-party plugins before deployment.

Threat: API Authentication Bypass

  • Description: An attacker exploits a vulnerability in Grafana's API authentication mechanism, allowing them to bypass authentication and access API endpoints without proper credentials.
  • Impact: Unauthorized access to Grafana API, enabling attackers to manage users, dashboards, data sources, settings, and potentially exfiltrate data or disrupt service.
  • Affected Grafana Component: API Gateway, Authentication Module, API Endpoints
  • Risk Severity: Critical
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Regularly update Grafana to patch known API security vulnerabilities.
    • Implement robust API authentication and authorization mechanisms (e.g., API keys, OAuth 2.0).
    • Enforce least privilege principles for API access.
    • Monitor API access logs for suspicious activity.

Threat: Lack of Security Updates and Patching (Grafana Application)

  • Description: Grafana application itself is not regularly updated with security patches, leaving the system vulnerable to known exploits within Grafana code.
  • Impact: Exploitation of known Grafana vulnerabilities, leading to a wide range of impacts, including data breaches, system compromise, denial of service, and potentially remote code execution.
  • Affected Grafana Component: All Grafana Core Components
  • Risk Severity: Critical
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Establish a regular patching schedule for Grafana application.
    • Subscribe to Grafana security advisories and vulnerability databases.
    • Implement automated patch management processes where possible.
    • Test patches in a non-production environment before deploying to production.