Attack Surface: Broken Authentication via Weak Token Generation
Description: Vulnerabilities in the process of generating authentication tokens (e.g., JWTs) that make them predictable or easily forgeable. Jazzhands Contribution: Jazzhands is responsible for generating and validating authentication tokens for user access. Weaknesses in its token generation logic directly create this attack surface. Example: Jazzhands uses a simple, easily reversible algorithm to generate JWT tokens, or the secret key used for signing tokens is weak or publicly known. An attacker could then generate valid tokens for any user without proper authentication. Impact: Complete bypass of authentication, allowing attackers to impersonate any user, including administrators, and gain full control over the application and its resources. Risk Severity: Critical Mitigation Strategies:
- Use strong cryptographic algorithms for token generation and signing (e.g., HMAC-SHA256, RSA-SHA256).
- Generate cryptographically secure random secrets for token signing.
- Regularly rotate secret keys to limit the impact of key compromise.
- Implement token expiration (TTL) to limit their validity window.
Attack Surface: Privilege Escalation via RBAC Flaws
Description: Vulnerabilities in the Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) implementation that allow users to gain higher privileges than they are intended to have. Jazzhands Contribution: Jazzhands, as an IAM system, implements RBAC to manage user permissions and access. Flaws in its RBAC logic are a direct attack surface. Example: A bug in Jazzhands' role assignment API allows a regular user to assign themselves an administrator role, granting them full system access. Or, a vulnerability in the permission checking logic allows bypassing role-based restrictions. Impact: Unauthorized access to sensitive data and functionalities, potential data breaches, system compromise, and disruption of services. Risk Severity: High Mitigation Strategies:
- Thoroughly review and test RBAC logic through code reviews and penetration testing.
- Implement the principle of least privilege in role assignments.
- Regularly audit role assignments and permissions to ensure appropriateness.
- Enforce separation of duties to prevent excessive privileges for single users.
Attack Surface: SQL Injection in API Endpoints
Description: Vulnerabilities in API endpoints that interact with a database, allowing attackers to inject malicious SQL code through user-supplied input. Jazzhands Contribution: If Jazzhands exposes API endpoints that query or manipulate a database without proper input sanitization, it becomes vulnerable to SQL injection. Example: An API endpoint in Jazzhands takes a username as input to retrieve user details. If this input is not properly sanitized, an attacker could inject SQL code to extract sensitive data, modify data, or gain database server control. Impact: Data breaches, data manipulation, data loss, denial of service, and potential compromise of the database server and underlying system. Risk Severity: High Mitigation Strategies:
- Use parameterized queries or prepared statements to prevent SQL injection.
- Implement robust input validation and sanitization for all user inputs in API endpoints.
- Apply the principle of least privilege for database access granted to Jazzhands API users.
- Conduct regular security scanning and penetration testing to identify SQL injection vulnerabilities.
Attack Surface: Insecure Password Storage
Description: Storing user passwords in a way that is not sufficiently secure, making them vulnerable to compromise in case of a data breach. Jazzhands Contribution: Jazzhands is responsible for managing user credentials, including passwords. Insecure password storage within Jazzhands directly creates this attack surface. Example: Jazzhands stores passwords using weak hashing algorithms (e.g., MD5, SHA1 without salt) or even in plain text. Database compromise would lead to easy retrieval and use of user passwords. Impact: Mass password compromise, allowing attackers to access user accounts across multiple systems. Severe reputational damage and legal liabilities. Risk Severity: Critical Mitigation Strategies:
- Use strong and modern password hashing algorithms like bcrypt, Argon2, or scrypt.
- Salt passwords with unique, randomly generated salts for each user.
- Securely store password hashes with strong access controls and encryption.
- Implement password complexity requirements and enforce regular password rotation policies.
Attack Surface: Insufficient API Rate Limiting
Description: Lack of or inadequate rate limiting on API endpoints, allowing attackers to flood the API with requests and cause denial of service. Jazzhands Contribution: If Jazzhands exposes APIs without proper rate limiting, it becomes vulnerable to DoS attacks targeting these APIs. Example: An attacker floods Jazzhands' authentication API endpoint with login requests, overwhelming the server and making the IAM system unavailable for legitimate users. Impact: Denial of service, impacting the availability of the IAM system and potentially dependent applications. Risk Severity: High Mitigation Strategies:
- Implement API rate limiting on all public and critical API endpoints.
- Consider adaptive rate limiting mechanisms for dynamic adjustments.
- Implement request throttling and queuing to manage incoming request rates.
- Monitor API traffic for anomalies and potential DoS attacks.