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Threat Model Analysis for paper-trail-gem/paper_trail

Threat: Exposure of sensitive data in version history.

  • Description: An attacker gains unauthorized access to PaperTrail's version history (e.g., through application vulnerabilities or direct database access) and retrieves sensitive data that was previously stored in tracked attributes, even if removed from current records. This could be achieved by exploiting vulnerabilities in application endpoints that expose version data or by directly accessing the database.
  • Impact: Data breach, privacy violations, compliance failures (GDPR, HIPAA, etc.), reputational damage, potential legal repercussions due to exposure of sensitive information like PII, financial data, or credentials.
  • PaperTrail Component Affected: Version storage (database tables), versions association, version_at method.
  • Risk Severity: Critical
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Data Minimization: Avoid tracking sensitive attributes with PaperTrail if possible.
    • Attribute Filtering: Use PaperTrail's configuration options (e.g., :ignore, :only) to carefully select which attributes are tracked, excluding sensitive ones.
    • Data Sanitization (Pre-Storage): Sanitize or encrypt sensitive data before it is saved to the database and tracked by PaperTrail. This ensures historical versions also contain sanitized/encrypted data.
    • Access Control: Implement robust authentication and authorization mechanisms to strictly control access to version history data within the application.
    • Regular Audits: Periodically review tracked attributes and version history to identify and remove any inadvertently tracked sensitive data.
    • Data Retention Policies: Implement data retention policies to purge old version history data that is no longer needed, reducing the window of exposure for sensitive information.

Threat: Leaking version history through insecure access controls.

  • Description: An attacker exploits vulnerabilities in application endpoints that expose PaperTrail's version access methods (e.g., versions, version_at) without proper authorization checks. This allows them to bypass intended access restrictions and view version data of other users or resources, potentially revealing sensitive information or application logic.
  • Impact: Information disclosure, unauthorized viewing of sensitive data, potential exposure of application logic and past vulnerabilities, leading to further exploitation or data breaches.
  • PaperTrail Component Affected: versions association, version_at method, application integration with PaperTrail.
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Authorization Checks: Implement strict authorization checks in application code before exposing any PaperTrail version access methods through API endpoints or user interfaces. Ensure checks are performed on every access.
    • Principle of Least Privilege: Grant access to version history only to users who absolutely need it for their roles. Avoid broad access permissions.
    • Secure API Design: Design APIs that access version history with security in mind, avoiding direct exposure of PaperTrail methods without proper access control layers. Use secure coding practices.
    • Input Validation: Validate and sanitize any input parameters used when accessing version history to prevent injection attacks that could bypass authorization or manipulate queries.

Threat: Manipulation or deletion of version history data.

  • Description: An attacker gains write access to the database (e.g., through SQL injection or compromised database credentials) and directly modifies or deletes records in PaperTrail's versions table. This action is intended to cover their malicious activities, disrupt auditing capabilities, or plant false audit trails.
  • Impact: Loss of audit trail integrity, inability to detect and investigate security incidents, compromised compliance, potential for attackers to hide malicious activities, leading to further undetected breaches or internal fraud.
  • PaperTrail Component Affected: Version storage (database tables), database interaction.
  • Risk Severity: Critical
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Database Security Hardening: Implement strong database security measures, including strong passwords, access control lists, network segmentation, and regular security patching. Regularly audit database security configurations.
    • SQL Injection Prevention: Thoroughly sanitize all user inputs and use parameterized queries or ORM features to prevent SQL injection vulnerabilities that could allow database manipulation. Conduct regular security code reviews.
    • Principle of Least Privilege (Database): Restrict database user permissions, granting only necessary privileges to application users and services. Limit write access to the versions table to the absolute minimum required.
    • Database Auditing: Enable database auditing to monitor and log database access and modifications, including changes to the versions table. Set up alerts for suspicious activity on audit logs.
    • Regular Backups: Implement regular database backups to allow for restoration in case of data corruption or malicious deletion. Test backup and restore procedures regularly.
    • Immutable Audit Logs (Advanced): For highly sensitive environments, consider using external, immutable audit logging systems for critical audit trails, although this is beyond PaperTrail's core functionality and would require additional infrastructure.

Threat: Unauthorized reversion to a previous version.

  • Description: An attacker, or unauthorized user, gains access to PaperTrail's reversion functionality (e.g., through application vulnerabilities or misconfigured permissions) and reverts models to older, potentially vulnerable or undesirable states. This could be used to reinstate vulnerabilities, delete recent legitimate changes, or disrupt system operations.
  • Impact: Data loss, application instability, reintroduction of vulnerabilities that were previously patched, disruption of business processes, potential data integrity issues, and rollback of security improvements.
  • PaperTrail Component Affected: reify method, version.reify method, application integration with PaperTrail's reversion features.
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Authorization for Reversion: Implement strict authorization checks before allowing users to revert models to previous versions. Ensure authorization is role-based and granular.
    • Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Use RBAC to control which users or roles are permitted to perform reversion operations. Regularly review and update RBAC policies.
    • Audit Logging of Reversions: Log all reversion actions, including who performed the reversion, when, and the version reverted to. Include details about the context of the reversion.
    • Confirmation Steps: Implement confirmation steps or multi-factor authentication for critical reversion operations to prevent accidental or unauthorized reversions. For sensitive data or critical systems, require multi-factor authentication.
    • Testing Reversion Functionality: Thoroughly test reversion functionality to ensure it behaves as expected and does not introduce unintended side effects or vulnerabilities. Include security testing in reversion functionality testing.