Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
52 lines (43 loc) · 5.35 KB

threat-modeling.md

File metadata and controls

52 lines (43 loc) · 5.35 KB

Threat Model Analysis for square/workflow-kotlin

Threat: State Tampering

  • Description: An attacker gains unauthorized access to the persistent storage used by workflow-kotlin for workflow state. They directly modify this stored state data, potentially altering variables, workflow progress, or injecting malicious data.
    • Impact: Workflow logic is bypassed, leading to unauthorized actions, data corruption, privilege escalation, or disruption of critical business processes. Sensitive data within the workflow state could be compromised.
    • Affected Workflow-Kotlin Component: State Persistence Mechanism (database, file system, custom persistence).
    • Risk Severity: Critical
    • Mitigation Strategies:
      • Implement robust access control lists (ACLs) and permissions on the state persistence storage.
      • Enforce encryption at rest for sensitive workflow state data.
      • Conduct regular security audits of access to the state persistence storage.
      • Implement integrity checks (checksums, digital signatures) for stored state data to detect tampering.

Threat: State Deserialization Vulnerabilities

  • Description: If workflow-kotlin uses serialization (especially insecure mechanisms like Java serialization) for state persistence or communication, an attacker can exploit deserialization vulnerabilities. They craft malicious serialized data that, when deserialized, executes arbitrary code on the application server.
    • Impact: Remote Code Execution (RCE), leading to complete system compromise, data breaches, and denial of service. This is a highly critical vulnerability.
    • Affected Workflow-Kotlin Component: State Persistence Mechanism (serialization/deserialization process), potentially Workflow Runtime if it handles serialization.
    • Risk Severity: Critical
    • Mitigation Strategies:
      • Absolutely avoid using insecure serialization mechanisms like Java serialization.
      • Prefer safer, well-vetted serialization formats such as JSON or Protocol Buffers.
      • If Java serialization is unavoidable (due to legacy constraints), isolate deserialization processes in secure sandboxes and apply all relevant security patches to serialization libraries.
      • Implement strict input validation and integrity checks on serialized data before deserialization, even with safer formats.

Threat: Worker Code Vulnerabilities

  • Description: Vulnerabilities exist within the code implemented in workflow-kotlin Workers. An attacker can trigger the execution of vulnerable worker code through normal workflow operation, leading to Remote Code Execution (RCE), data breaches, or denial of service. This could be due to injection flaws, buffer overflows, or other common code vulnerabilities within worker implementations.
    • Impact: Remote Code Execution (RCE), data breaches, denial of service, or other severe impacts depending on the specific vulnerability in the worker code.
    • Affected Workflow-Kotlin Component: Workers (implementation code).
    • Risk Severity: High to Critical (Critical if RCE is achievable, High for significant data breach or DoS potential).
    • Mitigation Strategies:
      • Apply rigorous secure coding practices during worker development.
      • Conduct mandatory security code reviews and static analysis of all worker code.
      • Perform dynamic vulnerability scanning and penetration testing of worker implementations and the overall application.
      • Implement robust input validation and output encoding within workers to prevent injection vulnerabilities.
      • Adhere to the principle of least privilege for worker processes, limiting their access to system resources and sensitive data.

Threat: Dependency Vulnerabilities in Workers

  • Description: Workers rely on third-party libraries and dependencies that contain known security vulnerabilities. An attacker can exploit these vulnerabilities indirectly through workflow execution, by triggering worker functionality that utilizes the vulnerable dependency.
    • Impact: Similar to worker code vulnerabilities, this can lead to Remote Code Execution (RCE), data breaches, denial of service, or other impacts depending on the nature and severity of the dependency vulnerability.
    • Affected Workflow-Kotlin Component: Workers (dependencies).
    • Risk Severity: High (depending on the severity of the vulnerabilities in dependencies and their exploitability within the worker context).
    • Mitigation Strategies:
      • Maintain a comprehensive Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) for all worker dependencies.
      • Implement automated dependency scanning using tools like OWASP Dependency-Check or Snyk to regularly check for known vulnerabilities.
      • Prioritize and promptly apply patches and updates to vulnerable dependencies.
      • Utilize dependency management tools to ensure dependencies are kept up-to-date and secure.
      • Consider dependency isolation techniques (e.g., containerization, virtual environments) to limit the potential blast radius of dependency vulnerabilities.