Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
62 lines (53 loc) · 5.26 KB

attack-surface.md

File metadata and controls

62 lines (53 loc) · 5.26 KB

Attack Surface Analysis for mozilla/sops

Attack Surface: Compromised Master Keys

  • Description: An attacker gains unauthorized access to the master keys used by SOPS to encrypt/decrypt secrets (e.g., KMS keys, GPG private keys, Azure Key Vault keys, HashiCorp Vault keys).
  • How SOPS Contributes: SOPS relies entirely on the security of these external master keys. SOPS itself does not manage the keys, but its functionality is completely dependent on their secrecy.
  • Example: An attacker compromises an AWS IAM role with overly permissive kms:Decrypt permissions, allowing them to use the KMS key associated with SOPS to decrypt all secrets.
  • Impact: Complete compromise of all secrets managed by SOPS under that key configuration. Attacker can read all encrypted data.
  • Risk Severity: Critical
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Developers/Users:
      • Implement the principle of least privilege for key access. Grant only the necessary permissions to specific services/users.
      • Use strong, unique passwords/passphrases for GPG keys.
      • Regularly rotate master keys according to a defined schedule and security policy.
      • Use Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) to protect master keys whenever feasible.
      • Enable and monitor audit logs for key usage (e.g., AWS CloudTrail for KMS).
      • Never store master keys in source code repositories or environment variables.
      • Use key aliases or ARNs instead of key IDs directly in configurations.

Attack Surface: Misconfigured .sops.yaml

  • Description: Errors in the .sops.yaml configuration file lead to incorrect encryption/decryption behavior, potentially exposing secrets.
  • How SOPS Contributes: The .sops.yaml file is the central configuration file for SOPS, defining how encryption and decryption are performed. SOPS directly interprets this file.
  • Example: A typo in the .sops.yaml file specifies the wrong KMS key ARN, causing secrets to be encrypted with a key that the application cannot access, or worse, a key accessible to an attacker. Another example: an incorrect regex in creation_rules fails to encrypt a sensitive file.
  • Impact: Secrets may be unencrypted, encrypted with the wrong key, or inaccessible to authorized applications. Data breaches or application failures.
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Developers/Users:
      • Thoroughly review and test all changes to the .sops.yaml file.
      • Use a version control system (e.g., Git) to track changes and allow for rollbacks.
      • Implement a peer review process for .sops.yaml modifications.
      • Validate the .sops.yaml file against a schema, if available, to catch syntax errors.
      • Use comments in the .sops.yaml file to clearly document the purpose of each rule.
      • Test encryption and decryption with representative data after any configuration change.

Attack Surface: SOPS Code Vulnerabilities

  • Description: Bugs or vulnerabilities within the SOPS codebase itself could be exploited to bypass security mechanisms.
  • How SOPS Contributes: This is a direct risk stemming from the SOPS implementation.
  • Example: A buffer overflow vulnerability in SOPS's parsing of encrypted data could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code or gain access to decrypted secrets.
  • Impact: Potential for complete compromise of secrets, arbitrary code execution, or denial of service.
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Developers/Users:
      • Keep SOPS updated to the latest released version to receive security patches.
      • Monitor security advisories and mailing lists related to SOPS.
      • Consider contributing to SOPS security audits or code reviews (if feasible).
      • Use a software composition analysis (SCA) tool to identify and track vulnerabilities in SOPS and its dependencies.

Attack Surface: Dependency Vulnerabilities

  • Description: Vulnerabilities in libraries that SOPS depends on (e.g., cryptographic libraries, KMS client libraries) could be exploited.
  • How SOPS Contributes: SOPS relies on external libraries for core functionality. SOPS's security is indirectly affected by the security of these dependencies.
  • Example: A vulnerability in the AWS SDK used by SOPS to interact with KMS could allow an attacker to intercept or modify communication with KMS, potentially leading to key compromise or unauthorized decryption.
  • Impact: Similar to SOPS code vulnerabilities – potential for secret compromise, code execution, or denial of service.
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Developers/Users:
      • Regularly update SOPS, which will often include updates to its dependencies.
      • Use a software composition analysis (SCA) tool to identify and track vulnerabilities in SOPS's dependencies.
      • Consider using a dependency management system that allows for pinning specific versions of dependencies known to be secure.