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Mitigation Strategies Analysis for apache/cassandra

Mitigation Strategy: Disable Remote JMX if Unnecessary (Cassandra Configuration)

  • Mitigation Strategy: Disable Remote JMX if Unnecessary (Cassandra Configuration)

    • Description:

      1. Assess JMX Needs: Determine if remote JMX access is absolutely required. If local access (via nodetool) is sufficient, disable remote JMX.
      2. Modify cassandra-env.sh: Locate the cassandra-env.sh file (usually in Cassandra's conf directory).
      3. Set LOCAL_JMX=yes: Add or modify the line LOCAL_JMX=yes. This restricts JMX to the local machine.
      4. Remove -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.* options: Remove any JVM options enabling remote JMX (e.g., -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.port, -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.authenticate).
      5. Restart Cassandra Nodes: Restart each node.
      6. Verify: Attempt to connect to JMX remotely; it should be refused.

    • Threats Mitigated:

      • Unauthorized Remote Access via JMX (Severity: Critical): Prevents remote JMX connections.
      • Arbitrary Code Execution (Severity: Critical): Eliminates remote code execution via JMX.
      • Data Breach/Modification (Severity: Critical): Prevents unauthorized data access via JMX.
      • Denial of Service (Severity: High): Reduces the JMX-related DoS attack surface.

    • Impact:

      • Unauthorized Remote Access via JMX: Risk near zero.
      • Arbitrary Code Execution: Risk near zero.
      • Data Breach/Modification: Risk significantly reduced.
      • Denial of Service: Risk moderately reduced.

    • Currently Implemented: Partially. Implemented on nodes A, B, and C.

    • Missing Implementation: Node D. cassandra-env.sh on Node D needs updating.

Mitigation Strategy: Require Authentication and Authorization for JMX (Cassandra Configuration)

  • Mitigation Strategy: Require Authentication and Authorization for JMX (Cassandra Configuration)

    • Description:

      1. Enable Authentication:
        • Create/edit jmxremote.password (usually in conf).
        • Add entries: username password (use strong passwords).
        • Set file permissions (e.g., chmod 600 jmxremote.password).
      2. Enable Authorization:
        • Create/edit jmxremote.access.
        • Define roles and permissions (e.g., monitorRole readonly, adminRole readwrite).
      3. Configure cassandra-env.sh:
        • Set JVM options:
          • -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.authenticate=true
          • -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.access.file=/path/to/jmxremote.access
          • -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.password.file=/path/to/jmxremote.password
      4. Restart Cassandra Nodes: Restart each node.
      5. Verify: Test connections with/without credentials and verify role-based permissions.

    • Threats Mitigated:

      • Unauthorized Remote Access via JMX (Severity: Critical): Requires authentication.
      • Arbitrary Code Execution (Severity: Critical): Limits actions based on roles.
      • Data Breach/Modification (Severity: Critical): Restricts data access by role.
      • Denial of Service (Severity: High): Makes JMX-based DoS harder.

    • Impact:

      • Unauthorized Remote Access via JMX: Risk significantly reduced.
      • Arbitrary Code Execution: Risk significantly reduced.
      • Data Breach/Modification: Risk significantly reduced.
      • Denial of Service: Risk moderately reduced.

    • Currently Implemented: No. JMX authentication/authorization are not enabled.

    • Missing Implementation: All nodes. This is a critical missing control.

Mitigation Strategy: Enable Client-to-Node and Node-to-Node Encryption (Cassandra Configuration)

  • Mitigation Strategy: Enable Client-to-Node and Node-to-Node Encryption (Cassandra Configuration)

    • Description:

      1. Generate Keystores/Truststores: Use keytool to generate keystores (private keys/certificates) and truststores (public certificates) for each node.
      2. Configure cassandra.yaml (Client-to-Node):
        • client_encryption_options:
          • enabled: true
          • keystore: /path/to/client_keystore.jks
          • keystore_password: your_password
          • truststore: /path/to/client_truststore.jks
          • truststore_password: your_password
          • require_client_auth: true (optional, for mutual TLS)
          • cipher_suites: [TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA, ...] (strong ciphers)
      3. Configure cassandra.yaml (Node-to-Node):
        • server_encryption_options:
          • internode_encryption: all (or dc/rack)
          • keystore: /path/to/server_keystore.jks
          • keystore_password: your_password
          • truststore: /path/to/server_truststore.jks
          • truststore_password: your_password
          • cipher_suites: [TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA, ...] (strong ciphers)
      4. Restart Cassandra Nodes: Restart each node.
      5. Verify: Use a network sniffer to confirm encryption.

    • Threats Mitigated:

      • Data Eavesdropping (Client-to-Node) (Severity: High): Encrypts client-server traffic.
      • Data Eavesdropping (Node-to-Node) (Severity: High): Encrypts inter-node traffic.
      • Man-in-the-Middle Attacks (Severity: High): Makes MITM attacks much harder.

    • Impact:

      • Data Eavesdropping (Client-to-Node/Node-to-Node): Risk near zero.
      • Man-in-the-Middle Attacks: Risk significantly reduced.

    • Currently Implemented: Partially. Node-to-node encryption is enabled (internode_encryption: all). Client-to-node encryption is not enabled.

    • Missing Implementation: Client-to-node encryption settings in cassandra.yaml on all nodes.

Mitigation Strategy: Change Default Ports (Cassandra Configuration)

  • Mitigation Strategy: Change Default Ports (Cassandra Configuration)

    • Description:

      1. Identify Default Ports: Note Cassandra's default ports (9042 for CQL, 7000 for internode, 7199 for JMX).
      2. Choose New Ports: Select alternative, non-standard ports.
      3. Update cassandra.yaml: Modify cassandra.yaml on each node:
        • native_transport_port: 9142 (example)
        • storage_port: 7001 (example)
        • Update JMX port in cassandra-env.sh (if JMX is enabled)
      4. Restart Cassandra Nodes: Restart each node.
      5. Verify: Test connections and inter-node communication on the new ports.

    • Threats Mitigated:

      • Automated Scans and Exploits (Severity: Low): Makes discovery slightly harder.

    • Impact:

      • Automated Scans and Exploits: Risk slightly reduced ("security through obscurity").

    • Currently Implemented: No. Cassandra is using default ports.

    • Missing Implementation: All nodes. cassandra.yaml needs updating.

Mitigation Strategy: Regularly Update Cassandra (Cassandra Maintenance)

  • Mitigation Strategy: Regularly Update Cassandra (Cassandra Maintenance)

    • Description:

      1. Establish an Update Schedule: Define a regular update schedule (e.g., monthly).
      2. Monitor for Updates: Subscribe to Cassandra security advisories. Check for new releases.
      3. Test Updates (Non-Production): Always test updates in a staging environment first.
      4. Roll Out Updates (Production): Deploy tested updates to production (e.g., rolling upgrade).
      5. Document Updates: Keep records of all updates.

    • Threats Mitigated:

      • Exploitation of Known Vulnerabilities (Severity: Variable, potentially Critical): Patches known security flaws.

    • Impact:

      • Exploitation of Known Vulnerabilities: Risk significantly reduced (depends on update frequency).

    • Currently Implemented: Partially. Updates are sporadic, without a defined schedule or testing process.

    • Missing Implementation: A formal update schedule and a dedicated testing environment are needed.

Mitigation Strategy: Configure Cassandra Authentication and Authorization (Cassandra Configuration)

  • Mitigation Strategy: Configure Cassandra Authentication and Authorization (Cassandra Configuration)

    • Description:

      1. Enable Authentication: In cassandra.yaml, set authenticator to a suitable option (e.g., PasswordAuthenticator for password-based authentication, or configure integration with LDAP or Kerberos).
      2. Enable Authorization: In cassandra.yaml, set authorizer (e.g., CassandraAuthorizer).
      3. Create Roles and Permissions: Use CQL commands (e.g., CREATE ROLE, GRANT PERMISSION) to define roles with specific permissions (e.g., SELECT, INSERT, MODIFY) on specific resources (keyspaces, tables).
      4. Create Users and Assign Roles: Use CQL commands (e.g., CREATE USER, GRANT ROLE) to create user accounts and assign them to the appropriate roles.
      5. Restart Cassandra Nodes: Restart each node for the changes to take effect.
      6. Verify: Test connections with different users and verify that permissions are enforced correctly.

    • Threats Mitigated:

      • Unauthorized Access (Severity: Critical): Prevents unauthorized users from connecting to the cluster.
      • Data Breach/Modification (Severity: Critical): Limits the actions that authenticated users can perform based on their roles.
      • Privilege Escalation (Severity: High): Prevents users from gaining unauthorized privileges.

    • Impact:

      • Unauthorized Access: Risk significantly reduced.
      • Data Breach/Modification: Risk significantly reduced.
      • Privilege Escalation: Risk significantly reduced.

    • Currently Implemented: No. Authentication and authorization are not currently enabled.

    • Missing Implementation: All nodes. cassandra.yaml needs to be configured, and roles/users need to be created using CQL. This is a critical missing security control.

Mitigation Strategy: Configure Resource Limits (Cassandra Configuration)

  • Mitigation Strategy: Configure Resource Limits (Cassandra Configuration)

    • Description:

      1. Review cassandra.yaml: Examine the cassandra.yaml file for settings related to resource limits.
      2. Adjust Settings: Modify settings as needed to limit resource consumption. Key settings include:
        • concurrent_reads, concurrent_writes, concurrent_compactors: Limit the number of concurrent operations.
        • memtable_allocation_type: Control memory allocation for memtables.
        • file_cache_size_in_mb: Limit the size of the file cache.
        • commitlog_total_space_in_mb: Limit the total size of the commit log.
        • native_transport_max_threads: Limit the number of threads for client connections.
        • request_timeout_in_ms, read_request_timeout_in_ms, write_request_timeout_in_ms, range_request_timeout_in_ms: Set timeouts for various types of requests.
      3. Restart Cassandra Nodes: Restart each node for the changes to take effect.
      4. Monitor Performance: Monitor resource usage and performance after making changes to ensure that the limits are appropriate.

    • Threats Mitigated:

      • Denial of Service (DoS) (Severity: High): Helps prevent resource exhaustion caused by excessive requests or malicious clients.

    • Impact:

      • Denial of Service (DoS): Risk moderately reduced. This is one layer of defense against DoS.

    • Currently Implemented: Partially. Some default resource limits are in place, but they haven't been specifically tuned for the current workload.

    • Missing Implementation: A thorough review and tuning of resource limits based on the expected workload and cluster capacity are needed.