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Threat Model Analysis for google/guava

Threat: Cache Poisoning/Exhaustion DoS

  • Description: An attacker sends crafted requests designed to either fill the Guava cache with useless or malicious data (poisoning) or to consume excessive memory by forcing the cache to grow beyond its intended limits (exhaustion). This could involve manipulating cache keys, exploiting weak eviction policies, or sending a large number of requests for unique, non-cacheable resources.
  • Impact: Denial of service (DoS) due to application instability, resource exhaustion (memory, CPU), or slow response times. Potentially, execution of malicious code if poisoned cache entries are not properly validated upon retrieval.
  • Affected Guava Component: com.google.common.cache.Cache, com.google.common.cache.CacheBuilder, com.google.common.cache.CacheLoader, and related caching APIs.
  • Risk Severity: High (Potentially Critical if the cache is used for security-sensitive operations).
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Implement strict cache size limits: Use CacheBuilder.maximumSize() or CacheBuilder.maximumWeight() to limit the cache's memory footprint.
    • Use robust cache key generation: Avoid using user-supplied data directly as cache keys. Hash or otherwise transform user input to create unpredictable keys.
    • Implement appropriate eviction policies: Use CacheBuilder.expireAfterWrite() or CacheBuilder.expireAfterAccess() to remove stale entries. Consider using CacheBuilder.weakKeys() or CacheBuilder.softValues() for entries that can be safely discarded under memory pressure.
    • Validate data before and after caching: Ensure that data retrieved from the cache is still valid and has not been tampered with.
    • Rate-limit cache operations: Prevent attackers from flooding the cache with requests.
    • Monitor cache statistics: Track hit rates, eviction rates, and load times to detect potential attacks.
    • Avoid caching sensitive data if possible: If caching is necessary, minimize the data stored and the duration of storage.

Threat: Unbounded Collection Growth DoS

  • Description: An attacker provides a large amount of data to an application that uses Guava collections (e.g., ArrayList, HashSet, HashMap) without proper size limits. The application blindly adds this data to the collections, leading to excessive memory consumption.
  • Impact: Denial of service (DoS) due to memory exhaustion, application crashes, or severe performance degradation.
  • Affected Guava Component: com.google.common.collect package, including classes like Lists, Sets, Maps, and their implementations (e.g., ArrayList, HashSet, HashMap).
  • Risk Severity: High.
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Validate input size: Always check the size of user-supplied data before adding it to collections.
    • Implement size limits: Enforce maximum sizes for collections, either through custom logic or by using bounded collection implementations (e.g., Guava's EvictingQueue).
    • Use appropriate data structures: Choose data structures that are suitable for the expected data size and usage patterns.
    • Consider streaming data: If dealing with potentially very large datasets, consider processing the data in a streaming fashion rather than loading it all into memory at once.

Threat: Dependency Vulnerabilities

  • Description: An attacker exploits a known vulnerability in Guava itself or one of its transitive dependencies. This could involve remote code execution, denial of service, or other attacks.
  • Impact: Varies depending on the specific vulnerability, but could range from information disclosure to complete system compromise.
  • Affected Guava Component: Any part of Guava or its dependencies.
  • Risk Severity: Varies (High to Critical) depending on the specific vulnerability.
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Keep Guava updated: Regularly update to the latest stable version of Guava.
    • Use dependency management tools: Employ tools like Maven or Gradle to manage dependencies and track versions.
    • Perform vulnerability scanning: Use tools like OWASP Dependency-Check, Snyk, or other SCA tools to identify known vulnerabilities.
    • Monitor security advisories: Stay informed about security updates and vulnerabilities related to Guava and its dependencies.
    • Consider dependency minimization: If possible, reduce the number of dependencies to minimize the attack surface.

Threat: Use of Deprecated APIs (with known vulnerabilities)

  • Description: Developers continue to use deprecated Guava APIs, specifically those with documented, exploitable security flaws. Attackers may exploit these known vulnerabilities.
  • Impact: Exploitation of known vulnerabilities, leading to various potential consequences depending on the specific flaw.
  • Affected Guava Component: Any deprecated Guava API with a known, exploitable security vulnerability.
  • Risk Severity: High (Potentially Critical depending on the vulnerability).
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Regularly review code: Identify and refactor any uses of deprecated Guava APIs, prioritizing those with known security issues.
    • Enable compiler warnings: Configure the compiler to flag deprecated API usage.
    • Follow Guava's documentation: Use the recommended replacements for deprecated APIs.
    • Consult security advisories: Check for any security advisories related to the deprecated APIs being used.
    • Test thoroughly: After refactoring, ensure that the application functions correctly and that no new vulnerabilities have been introduced.