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Attack Tree Analysis for elastic/elasticsearch

Objective: Exfiltrate Data AND/OR Disrupt Availability

Attack Tree Visualization

                                     +-------------------------------------------------+
                                     |  Exfiltrate Data AND/OR Disrupt Availability     |
                                     +-------------------------------------------------+
                                                  /                 |                 \
                                                 /                  |                  \
          +--------------------------------+     +---------------------+     +--------------------------------+
          |   Data Exfiltration (Goal 1)   |     |  Disrupt Availability  |     |  Gain Unauthorized Control    |
          +--------------------------------+     +---------------------+     +--------------------------------+
                 /          |          \                                     /          |
                /           |           \                                   /           |
+-------------+  +----------+  +----------+                           +-------------+  +----------+
|  Unauth.   |  |          |  |          |                           |             |  |  Brute   |
|  Access    |  |          |  |          |                           |             |  |  Force   |
+-------------+  +----------+  +----------+                           +-------------+  +----------+
   /     \                                                                             /
  /       \                                                                            /
[MA]     [LA]                                                                         [GA]
          [EA]
          [IA]

Legend:
[MA] Missing Authentication/Authorization  <-- CRITICAL NODE, HIGH-RISK PATH
[LA] Weak Authentication                 <-- HIGH-RISK PATH
[EA] Misconfigured Network Security       <-- CRITICAL NODE, HIGH-RISK PATH
[IA] Leaked Credentials                   <-- HIGH-RISK PATH
[GA] Dictionary/Brute-Force Attacks      <-- HIGH-RISK PATH
[RA] Resource Exhaustion (DoS/DDoS)      <-- HIGH-RISK PATH (Shown separately below)

Separate High-Risk Path for Disrupt Availability:

+---------------------+
|  Disrupt Availability  |
+---------------------+
         |
         |
+-------------+
|   DoS/DDoS  |
+-------------+
         |
         |
       [RA]

Legend:
[RA] Resource Exhaustion (DoS/DDoS)      <-- HIGH-RISK PATH

Attack Tree Path: Data Exfiltration (Goal 1) - High-Risk Paths

  • [MA] Missing Authentication/Authorization:

    • Description: The Elasticsearch cluster is deployed without any authentication mechanisms enabled. This allows anyone with network access to the cluster to freely access and modify data.
    • Attack Vectors:
      • Directly accessing the Elasticsearch API (default port 9200) without providing any credentials.
      • Using default credentials (if they haven't been changed).
    • Likelihood: Medium
    • Impact: Very High
    • Effort: Very Low
    • Skill Level: Very Low
    • Detection Difficulty: Medium

  • [LA] Weak Authentication:

    • Description: The Elasticsearch cluster uses weak or easily guessable passwords, or relies solely on basic authentication without multi-factor authentication (MFA).
    • Attack Vectors:
      • Dictionary attacks using lists of common passwords.
      • Brute-force attacks trying various password combinations.
    • Likelihood: High
    • Impact: Very High
    • Effort: Low
    • Skill Level: Low
    • Detection Difficulty: Medium

  • [EA] Misconfigured Network Security (Public Exposure):

    • Description: The Elasticsearch API port (default 9200) is exposed to the public internet without proper firewall rules or network segmentation.
    • Attack Vectors:
      • Port scanning to identify exposed Elasticsearch instances.
      • Directly accessing the API from anywhere on the internet.
    • Likelihood: Medium
    • Impact: Very High
    • Effort: Very Low
    • Skill Level: Very Low
    • Detection Difficulty: Low

  • [IA] Leaked Credentials:

    • Description: Elasticsearch credentials (usernames and passwords) are exposed in insecure locations.
    • Attack Vectors:
      • Credentials hardcoded in application code.
      • Credentials exposed in Git repositories (e.g., GitHub, GitLab).
      • Credentials stored in unencrypted configuration files.
      • Credentials shared via insecure channels (e.g., email, chat).
    • Likelihood: Medium
    • Impact: Very High
    • Effort: Varies
    • Skill Level: Varies
    • Detection Difficulty: High

Attack Tree Path: Disrupt Availability (Goal 2) - High-Risk Path

  • [RA] Resource Exhaustion (DoS/DDoS):
    • Description: Overwhelming the Elasticsearch cluster with requests, consuming excessive CPU, memory, or disk I/O, making it unavailable to legitimate users.
    • Attack Vectors:
      • Sending a large number of complex search queries.
      • Sending a large number of indexing requests.
      • Exploiting any feature that can consume significant resources.
      • Using botnets to amplify the attack (DDoS).
    • Likelihood: Medium
    • Impact: High
    • Effort: Low to Medium
    • Skill Level: Low to Medium
    • Detection Difficulty: Medium

Attack Tree Path: Gain Unauthorized Control (Goal 3) - High-Risk Path

  • [GA] Dictionary/Brute-Force Attacks:
    • Description: Systematically trying different username and password combinations to gain access to the Elasticsearch cluster.
    • Attack Vectors:
      • Using lists of common usernames and passwords (dictionary attacks).
      • Trying all possible combinations of characters (brute-force attacks).
      • Using leaked credentials from other breaches.
    • Likelihood: Medium
    • Impact: Very High
    • Effort: Low to Medium
    • Skill Level: Low
    • Detection Difficulty: Medium