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Mitigation Strategies Analysis for elastic/elasticsearch

Mitigation Strategy: Enable Elasticsearch Security Features

  • Description:

    1. Verify Security Plugin Installation: Ensure the Elasticsearch Security plugin is installed and enabled.
    2. Enable Security in Configuration: Set xpack.security.enabled: true in elasticsearch.yml on each node.
    3. Set Initial Passwords: Use elasticsearch-setup-passwords to set strong passwords for built-in users (elastic, kibana_system, etc.).
    4. Restart Elasticsearch Nodes: Restart nodes for changes to apply.
    5. Configure Authentication Realms (Optional but Recommended): Integrate with LDAP, Active Directory, SAML, or OIDC in elasticsearch.yml for external authentication.
    6. Define Roles and Permissions: Use Security API or Kibana UI to create roles with granular permissions for indices, documents, and cluster actions.
    7. Assign Users to Roles: Assign roles to users or API keys.

    • List of Threats Mitigated:

      • Unauthorized Access (High Severity)
      • Data Breaches (High Severity)
      • Data Manipulation (Medium Severity)
      • Denial of Service (DoS) (Medium Severity - related to unauthorized actions)

    • Impact:

      • Unauthorized Access: High reduction
      • Data Breaches: High reduction
      • Data Manipulation: Medium reduction
      • Denial of Service (DoS): Medium reduction

    • Currently Implemented: Yes, enabled in production and staging. Native realm authentication with initial passwords and basic roles are configured. Implemented in elasticsearch.yml and Security API calls.

    • Missing Implementation: LDAP integration, MFA, and more granular roles based on application features are missing.

Mitigation Strategy: Implement Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) within Elasticsearch

  • Description:

    1. Identify Elasticsearch Roles: Define roles based on required access to Elasticsearch resources (e.g., read-only-logs, index-metrics, admin).
    2. Define Roles in Elasticsearch: Create roles using Security API or Kibana UI.
    3. Grant Granular Elasticsearch Permissions: Assign permissions to roles, including:
      • Indices Permissions: Control access to specific indices (read, write, create_index).
      • Document Permissions (Field & Document Level Security): Restrict access to fields or documents within indices (advanced).
      • Cluster Permissions: Grant cluster-level permissions sparingly (e.g., monitor, manage_index_templates).
    4. Assign Roles to Elasticsearch Users/API Keys: Assign roles to users or API keys for controlled access.
    5. Regularly Review Elasticsearch Roles: Periodically review and update roles and permissions.

    • List of Threats Mitigated:

      • Privilege Escalation (High Severity)
      • Unauthorized Data Access (High Severity)
      • Accidental Data Modification/Deletion (Medium Severity)
      • Lateral Movement (Medium Severity - within Elasticsearch)

    • Impact:

      • Privilege Escalation: High reduction
      • Unauthorized Data Access: High reduction
      • Accidental Data Modification/Deletion: Medium reduction
      • Lateral Movement: Medium reduction

    • Currently Implemented: Partially implemented. Basic roles (application-read, application-write, admin) are defined and assigned to API keys. Implemented via Security API and role management scripts.

    • Missing Implementation: More granular roles for application modules, field-level and document-level security for sensitive indices, and a formal role review process are needed.

Mitigation Strategy: Bind Elasticsearch to Specific Interfaces

  • Description:

    1. Identify Internal Network Interface: Determine the network interface intended for internal Elasticsearch communication (e.g., private network IP).
    2. Configure network.host in elasticsearch.yml: On each Elasticsearch node, set network.host to the specific internal network interface IP address instead of 0.0.0.0 or a public IP.
    3. Verify Binding: After restarting Elasticsearch, verify that it is only listening on the configured interface using netstat or similar tools.

    • List of Threats Mitigated:

      • Unauthorized External Access (Medium Severity): Reduces the attack surface by limiting network interfaces Elasticsearch listens on, making it less directly accessible from external networks.
      • Accidental Public Exposure (Medium Severity): Prevents accidental exposure of Elasticsearch services to the public internet if misconfigured.

    • Impact:

      • Unauthorized External Access: Medium reduction
      • Accidental Public Exposure: Medium reduction

    • Currently Implemented: Yes, Elasticsearch is configured to bind to internal network interfaces in production and staging. Configured in elasticsearch.yml.

    • Missing Implementation: No specific missing implementation for this strategy. Regularly verify the configuration remains correct.

Mitigation Strategy: Use TLS/HTTPS for Elasticsearch Communication

  • Description:

    1. Generate/Obtain TLS Certificates: Get TLS certificates for Elasticsearch nodes (CA signed or self-signed for non-production).
    2. Configure TLS in elasticsearch.yml: In elasticsearch.yml on each node, configure xpack.security.transport.ssl and xpack.security.http.ssl sections with certificate paths, key, and CA certificate (if applicable).
    3. Enable TLS for Transport Layer: Set xpack.security.transport.ssl.enabled: true.
    4. Enable TLS for HTTP Layer: Set xpack.security.http.ssl.enabled: true.
    5. Enforce HTTPS (Optional): Configure xpack.security.http.ssl.client_authentication: required (or optional) for client certificate authentication.
    6. Restart Elasticsearch Nodes: Restart nodes for TLS to be active.

    • List of Threats Mitigated:

      • Eavesdropping/Sniffing (High Severity)
      • Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) Attacks (High Severity)
      • Data Exposure in Transit (High Severity)

    • Impact:

      • Eavesdropping/Sniffing: High reduction
      • Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) Attacks: High reduction
      • Data Exposure in Transit: High reduction

    • Currently Implemented: Yes, TLS/HTTPS is enabled for transport and HTTP layers in production and staging. Certificates are managed internally. Configured in elasticsearch.yml and certificate management scripts.

    • Missing Implementation: Client certificate authentication is not enforced. Certificate rotation and expiry monitoring need improvement and automation.

Mitigation Strategy: Disable or Restrict Elasticsearch Scripting

  • Description:

    1. Assess Scripting Needs: Determine if scripting (Painless, etc.) is necessary for application functionality.
    2. Disable Scripting (If Not Needed): If scripting is not required, disable it entirely by setting script.allowed_types: none and script.allowed_contexts: [] in elasticsearch.yml.
    3. Restrict Scripting (If Needed): If scripting is necessary:
      • Limit Allowed Languages: Only allow Painless (script.painless.enabled: true) and disable other scripting languages.
      • Disable Inline Scripting: Disable inline scripting (script.inline: false) to prevent execution of arbitrary scripts directly in queries.
      • Use Stored Scripts: Use stored scripts and carefully control who can create and modify them.
    4. Restart Elasticsearch Nodes: Restart nodes for scripting changes to take effect.

    • List of Threats Mitigated:

      • Remote Code Execution (RCE) (Critical Severity): Prevents attackers from executing arbitrary code on Elasticsearch servers through scripting vulnerabilities.
      • Information Disclosure (High Severity): Mitigates potential information leaks through malicious scripts.
      • Denial of Service (DoS) (Medium Severity): Reduces the risk of DoS attacks via resource-intensive or infinite loop scripts.

    • Impact:

      • Remote Code Execution (RCE): High reduction (if disabled) / Medium reduction (if restricted)
      • Information Disclosure: Medium reduction
      • Denial of Service (DoS): Medium reduction

    • Currently Implemented: Scripting is restricted to Painless only and inline scripting is disabled in production and staging. Configured in elasticsearch.yml.

    • Missing Implementation: Stored scripts are not yet fully utilized. Review and hardening of existing stored scripts (if any) is needed. Consider disabling scripting entirely if application functionality allows.

Mitigation Strategy: Implement Elasticsearch Query Size and Complexity Limits

  • Description:

    1. Configure indices.query.bool.max_clause_count: Set a reasonable limit for the maximum number of clauses in boolean queries in elasticsearch.yml to prevent overly complex queries.
    2. Configure Circuit Breakers: Elasticsearch has circuit breakers to prevent out-of-memory errors. Review and adjust circuit breaker settings (e.g., indices.breaker.query.limit, indices.breaker.request.limit) in elasticsearch.yml to protect against resource exhaustion from large queries.
    3. Application-Level Query Limits (Optional): Implement query size and complexity limits in the application code as an additional layer of defense.

    • List of Threats Mitigated:

      • Denial of Service (DoS) (High Severity): Prevents DoS attacks caused by sending excessively large or complex queries that overload Elasticsearch resources.
      • Resource Exhaustion (High Severity): Protects Elasticsearch nodes from crashing due to memory exhaustion or CPU overload from resource-intensive queries.

    • Impact:

      • Denial of Service (DoS): High reduction
      • Resource Exhaustion: High reduction

    • Currently Implemented: Default circuit breaker settings are in place. indices.query.bool.max_clause_count is set to a non-default value in production and staging. Configured in elasticsearch.yml.

    • Missing Implementation: Review and fine-tune circuit breaker settings based on observed resource usage. Application-level query limits are not implemented.

Mitigation Strategy: Utilize Elasticsearch Data Security Features (Field & Document Level Security, Encryption at Rest)

  • Description:

    1. Identify Sensitive Data: Determine which data indexed in Elasticsearch is considered sensitive and requires extra protection.
    2. Implement Field-Level Security (If Needed): For sensitive fields, configure field-level security using Elasticsearch roles to restrict read access to authorized roles only. Define field permissions in role definitions.
    3. Implement Document-Level Security (If Needed): For sensitive documents, configure document-level security using Elasticsearch queries within role definitions to control access based on document content or attributes.
    4. Enable Encryption at Rest: Enable encryption at rest in elasticsearch.yml by configuring xpack.security.encryption.encrypt: true and setting up encryption keys. This encrypts data stored on disk.
    5. Restart Elasticsearch Nodes: Restart nodes for data security feature changes to apply.

    • List of Threats Mitigated:

      • Unauthorized Data Access (High Severity): Further restricts access to sensitive data beyond index-level security.
      • Data Breaches (High Severity): Reduces the impact of a storage compromise by encrypting data at rest.
      • Data Exposure (Medium Severity): Prevents unauthorized viewing of sensitive fields or documents by users with broader index access.

    • Impact:

      • Unauthorized Data Access: High reduction (for targeted data)
      • Data Breaches: Medium reduction (at-rest encryption)
      • Data Exposure: Medium reduction (field/document level security)

    • Currently Implemented: Encryption at rest is enabled in production and staging. Configured in elasticsearch.yml. Field-level and document-level security are not yet implemented.

    • Missing Implementation: Field-level and document-level security need to be implemented for indices containing sensitive data. Key management for encryption at rest needs to be reviewed and potentially improved.

Mitigation Strategy: Enable Elasticsearch Audit Logging

  • Description:

    1. Enable Audit Logging in elasticsearch.yml: Set xpack.security.audit.enabled: true in elasticsearch.yml on each node.
    2. Configure Audit Log Output: Configure audit log output settings in elasticsearch.yml (e.g., log file path, format). Consider logging to a dedicated security index in Elasticsearch or an external SIEM system.
    3. Define Audit Event Categories (Optional): Customize audit event categories to log specific types of events (e.g., authentication, authorization, index operations) in elasticsearch.yml under xpack.security.audit.logfile.events.include.
    4. Restart Elasticsearch Nodes: Restart nodes for audit logging to be enabled.
    5. Regularly Review Audit Logs: Implement a process for regularly reviewing and analyzing Elasticsearch audit logs for security monitoring and incident response.

    • List of Threats Mitigated:

      • Security Misconfiguration (Medium Severity): Helps identify misconfigurations through audit trails.
      • Unauthorized Activity Detection (High Severity): Enables detection of suspicious or malicious activities within Elasticsearch.
      • Incident Response and Forensics (High Severity): Provides valuable logs for investigating security incidents and performing forensics analysis.
      • Compliance Violations (Medium Severity): Supports compliance requirements related to audit logging and security monitoring.

    • Impact:

      • Security Misconfiguration: Medium reduction
      • Unauthorized Activity Detection: High reduction
      • Incident Response and Forensics: High reduction
      • Compliance Violations: Medium reduction

    • Currently Implemented: Audit logging is enabled in production and staging. Logs are currently written to log files. Configured in elasticsearch.yml.

    • Missing Implementation: Audit logs are not yet integrated with a SIEM system for centralized monitoring and alerting. Automated analysis and alerting rules for audit logs are missing.

Mitigation Strategy: Regularly Patch and Update Elasticsearch and Plugins

  • Description:

    1. Monitor Security Announcements: Subscribe to Elasticsearch security mailing lists, release notes, and security advisories to stay informed about vulnerabilities and updates.
    2. Regularly Check for Updates: Periodically check for new Elasticsearch versions and plugin updates.
    3. Plan and Schedule Updates: Plan and schedule regular updates for Elasticsearch and installed plugins, prioritizing security patches.
    4. Test Updates in Staging: Thoroughly test updates in a staging environment before applying them to production.
    5. Apply Updates to Production: Apply updates to the production Elasticsearch cluster following a tested and safe update procedure.
    6. Verify Update Success: After updates, verify that Elasticsearch and plugins are running correctly and that security settings are still in place.

    • List of Threats Mitigated:

      • Exploitation of Known Vulnerabilities (Critical to High Severity): Prevents attackers from exploiting publicly known vulnerabilities in outdated Elasticsearch versions or plugins.
      • Zero-Day Vulnerabilities (Medium Severity - reduced by staying current): While not directly preventing zero-days, staying updated reduces the window of exposure and increases the likelihood of timely patches.

    • Impact:

      • Exploitation of Known Vulnerabilities: High reduction
      • Zero-Day Vulnerabilities: Medium reduction (indirectly)

    • Currently Implemented: There is a process for monitoring Elasticsearch releases and security announcements. Updates are planned and tested in staging before production deployment.

    • Missing Implementation: The update process could be more automated. A formal schedule for regular updates and security patch application is needed. Plugin security audits and update tracking need to be formalized.