- Description: An attacker might gain access to feature files (e.g., through repository access, accidental sharing) and discover hardcoded credentials, API keys, or sensitive business logic used in tests. This information could be used to compromise production or staging environments or gain unauthorized access to systems.
- Impact: Information disclosure, unauthorized access, potential system compromise.
- Affected Component: Feature Files (Gherkin)
- Risk Severity: High
- Mitigation Strategies:
- Regularly review feature files for sensitive information.
- Utilize environment variables or configuration files for sensitive test data instead of hardcoding.
- Implement secrets scanning in CI/CD pipelines to prevent accidental commits of secrets.
- Use data masking or anonymization in feature files where appropriate.
- Control access to repositories containing feature files using proper permissions.
- Description: An attacker could exploit vulnerabilities (e.g., injection flaws, logic errors) present in step definition code. This could be achieved if step definitions interact with external systems or process user-controlled input during testing. Exploitation could lead to data breaches, system compromise, or denial of service.
- Impact: Data breach, system compromise, denial of service, privilege escalation.
- Affected Component: Step Definitions (Ruby Code)
- Risk Severity: High
- Mitigation Strategies:
- Apply secure coding practices in step definitions, treating them as production code.
- Conduct code reviews of step definitions focusing on security vulnerabilities.
- Perform static and dynamic analysis of step definition code to identify potential issues.
- Treat step definitions with the same level of security rigor as production application code.
- Apply the principle of least privilege to step definitions, limiting their access to resources.
- Description: A malicious or compromised step definition could be designed to exfiltrate sensitive data during test execution. An attacker could insert code into step definitions to send data to an external server or log sensitive information insecurely, leading to unauthorized data transfer.
- Impact: Data breach, loss of confidential information, violation of privacy regulations.
- Affected Component: Step Definitions (Ruby Code)
- Risk Severity: High
- Mitigation Strategies:
- Monitor network activity during test execution for unexpected outbound connections.
- Restrict network access from test environments to only necessary resources, preventing unauthorized external communication.
- Implement thorough code review and security analysis for step definitions to detect malicious or unintended data exfiltration attempts.
- Use secure logging practices and strictly avoid logging sensitive data within step definitions or test execution logs.
- Consider implementing Data Loss Prevention (DLP) measures to monitor and prevent data exfiltration from test environments.