mitigations.md

Mitigation Strategies Analysis for bkeepers/dotenv

Mitigation Strategy: Strict .gitignore for .env Files

1. Mitigation Strategy: Strict .gitignore for .env Files

• Description:

  1. Open the .gitignore file in the root directory of your project. If it doesn't exist, create one.
  2. Add the following lines to the .gitignore file:

     .env
     .env.*
     *.env
     

  3. Save the .gitignore file.
  4. Run git status in your terminal to verify that .env files are now listed as ignored.
  5. Ensure that no .env files are currently tracked in your Git repository. If they are, remove them from the repository using git rm --cached .env (and similar for other variations) and commit the changes.
  6. Educate all developers on the team to always check .gitignore and ensure .env exclusions are in place for every project.

• Threats Mitigated:

  • Accidental Exposure of Secrets in Version Control (High Severity): Developers unintentionally committing .env files containing sensitive credentials to public or private repositories. This can lead to immediate compromise of application security and data.

• Impact:

  • High Impact: Effectively prevents accidental commits of .env files, drastically reducing the risk of secrets being exposed in version control.

• Currently Implemented:

  • Implemented in the project's .gitignore file in the root directory of the repository.

• Missing Implementation:

  • Ongoing vigilance is needed to ensure developers consistently check and maintain .gitignore rules, especially when creating new projects or branches. Automated checks in CI/CD pipelines could further reinforce this.

Mitigation Strategy: Restrict File System Permissions on .env Files

2. Mitigation Strategy: Restrict File System Permissions on .env Files

• Description:

  1. Locate the .env file on your development machine or server.
  2. Use the chmod command in your terminal to modify file permissions.
  3. For development environments, use chmod 600 .env. This sets read and write permissions only for the file owner (typically the developer).
  4. For server environments (if .env is used, which is discouraged), ensure the user running the application is the owner and use chmod 600 .env or more restrictive permissions if appropriate for your server setup.
  5. Verify permissions using ls -l .env to confirm they are set correctly (e.g., -rw-------).
  6. Document the required file permissions in deployment guides and security documentation.

• Threats Mitigated:

  • Unauthorized Access to Secrets on Development/Server Machines (Medium Severity): If a development machine or server is compromised (e.g., through malware or misconfiguration), restricting file permissions limits the ability of attackers or unauthorized users to read the .env file and access secrets.

• Impact:

  • Medium Impact: Reduces the risk of unauthorized access if a system is compromised, but doesn't prevent access by the legitimate user or root user.

• Currently Implemented:

  • Implemented on development workstations as part of developer environment setup instructions.

• Missing Implementation:

  • Not consistently enforced on all development machines. Server environments are currently configured to use system environment variables, so .env files are not present in production. However, if .env usage were to be considered for staging or other server-like environments, this would need to be implemented and automated in deployment scripts.

Mitigation Strategy: Secret Scanning and Pre-commit Hooks (for .env files)

3. Mitigation Strategy: Secret Scanning and Pre-commit Hooks (for .env files)

• Description:

  1. Secret Scanning: Integrate a secret scanning tool into your CI/CD pipeline (e.g., using GitHub Advanced Security, GitLab Secret Detection, or dedicated tools like detect-secrets). Configure the tool to specifically scan for .env files being added or modified in commits.
  2. Pre-commit Hooks: Install a pre-commit hook framework (e.g., pre-commit).
  3. Configure a pre-commit hook to check for the presence of .env files in staged changes.
  4. If a .env file is detected, the pre-commit hook should prevent the commit and provide a message to the developer to remove the file from staging and ensure it's in .gitignore.
  5. Commit the pre-commit hook configuration to the repository so it's automatically used by all developers.

• Threats Mitigated:

  • Accidental Exposure of Secrets in Version Control (High Severity): Provides an additional layer of defense against accidental commits of .env files, even if .gitignore is missed.

• Impact:

  • High Impact: Pre-commit hooks effectively block commits containing .env files. Secret scanning provides an additional safety net in CI/CD.

• Currently Implemented:

  • Pre-commit hooks are implemented in the project using pre-commit and configured to check for .env files.
  • Basic secret scanning is enabled in the CI/CD pipeline using GitHub Advanced Security's default secret scanning, which includes file content scanning.

• Missing Implementation:

  • Enhance secret scanning to be more specifically tuned to detect .env files and potentially their contents. Regularly review and update pre-commit hook configurations to ensure effectiveness.

Mitigation Strategy: Prefer System Environment Variables over .env in Production

4. Mitigation Strategy: Prefer System Environment Variables over .env in Production

• Description:

  1. Eliminate .env Usage in Production: Completely remove the dependency on .env files in production environments.
  2. Configure System Environment Variables: Utilize the operating system's environment variable mechanisms or the environment variable configuration provided by your deployment platform (e.g., container orchestration, cloud provider services).
  3. Set all required environment variables directly in the production environment configuration. This might involve using configuration management tools, deployment scripts, or platform-specific settings.
  4. Update application code to read environment variables directly from process.env (or equivalent in your language) without relying on dotenv in production.
  5. Document the process of setting environment variables in production deployment guides, explicitly stating to avoid .env files.

• Threats Mitigated:

  • Exposure of .env Files in Production (Critical Severity): Eliminates the risk of accidentally exposing .env files in production environments, which is a major security vulnerability.

• Impact:

  • Critical Impact: Completely removes the primary risk associated with using .env in production.

• Currently Implemented:

  • Fully implemented in production environments. Applications are configured to read system environment variables, and .env files are not used in production deployments.

• Missing Implementation:

  • Ensure all deployment scripts and documentation consistently reflect the use of system environment variables in production and explicitly discourage .env usage. Reinforce this guidance in developer onboarding and training materials.