mitigations.md

Mitigation Strategies Analysis for thoughtbot/factory_bot

Mitigation Strategy: Anonymize and Sanitize Factory Data in Factory Definitions

• Description:

  1. Identify Sensitive Fields in Models: Review your application's data models and pinpoint attributes that handle sensitive information (e.g., email addresses, phone numbers, personal names, addresses, financial details).
  2. Modify FactoryBot Definitions: For each factory definition that creates objects with sensitive fields:
     • Replace hardcoded, real-looking data directly within the factory definition with dynamically generated, anonymized, or synthetic data.
     • Leverage libraries like Faker (Ruby), faker.js (JavaScript), or ForgeryPy (Python) directly within your factory_bot definitions to generate realistic but fake data.
     • Example in Ruby FactoryBot: Instead of email { "[email protected]" }, use email { Faker::Internet.email }.
     • Example in Ruby FactoryBot: For names, use name { Faker::Name.name } instead of name { "John Doe" }.
  3. Regularly Review FactoryBot Definitions: Schedule periodic reviews of your factory_bot definitions to ensure anonymization is consistently applied and kept up-to-date as your data models evolve.

  • Threats Mitigated:

    • Data Leakage through Test Data (High Severity): Accidental exposure of real sensitive data if test databases populated by factory_bot or the factory definitions themselves are compromised or inadvertently shared.
    • Compliance Violations (Medium Severity): Breach of data privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA) if factory_bot generates test data containing real Personally Identifiable Information (PII).

  • Impact:

    • Data Leakage: Significantly reduces the risk by ensuring factory_bot generates and uses anonymized data, eliminating real sensitive data from test environments.
    • Compliance Violations: Significantly reduces the risk of compliance breaches related to test data generated by factory_bot.

  • Currently Implemented:

    • Partially implemented in the project. We are using Faker for email addresses and some names in user factories defined in spec/factories/users.rb.

  • Missing Implementation:

    • Need to expand Faker usage to all relevant factories and all sensitive fields within factory definitions (e.g., addresses in spec/factories/addresses.rb, phone numbers in spec/factories/contacts.rb if applicable).
    • No systematic review process is in place to ensure consistent anonymization across all factory_bot definitions.

Mitigation Strategy: Define Secure Default Object States in FactoryBot Factories

• Description:

  1. Identify Security-Relevant Attributes in Models: Determine attributes in your data models that directly control security aspects (e.g., role, is_admin, permissions, status, active).
  2. Set Secure Default Values in FactoryBot: Within factory_bot definitions, explicitly set these security-relevant attributes to the most restrictive or secure default values that still allow for basic testing.
     • Example in Ruby FactoryBot: A default user factory should set role { 'user' } and not implicitly or explicitly set it to 'admin' unless specifically required for an admin user trait.
     • Example in Ruby FactoryBot: Default status should be status { 'inactive' } or status { 'pending' } if applicable, rather than status { 'active' } if active status implies higher privileges, unless an 'active' trait is used.
  3. Utilize FactoryBot Traits for Security Variations: Employ factory_bot traits to create variations of objects with different security contexts (e.g., trait :admin_user, trait :active_user). These traits should modify the default factory to create objects with elevated privileges or specific security settings only when explicitly needed for testing.

  • Threats Mitigated:

    • Insecure Default Object States (Medium Severity): Tests might pass even if security configurations are flawed because factory_bot default objects are created with overly permissive settings, masking potential issues.
    • Privilege Escalation Vulnerabilities (Low to Medium Severity): If factory_bot default objects are created with excessive privileges, it might obscure potential privilege escalation vulnerabilities in the application logic during testing.

  • Impact:

    • Insecure Default Object States: Moderately reduces the risk by ensuring tests are run against more realistic and secure default configurations generated by factory_bot.
    • Privilege Escalation Vulnerabilities: Minimally to moderately reduces the risk by encouraging more explicit testing of different privilege levels through factory_bot traits, rather than relying on potentially insecure defaults.

  • Currently Implemented:

    • Partially implemented. User factories in spec/factories/users.rb generally default to non-admin roles, but this needs to be verified and consistently applied across all factories.

  • Missing Implementation:

    • Need to review all factory_bot definitions for security-relevant attributes and ensure secure defaults are consistently applied across all factories.
    • Lack of clear documentation for developers on the intended security context of default factory_bot factories and when to utilize traits for different security scenarios.

Mitigation Strategy: Utilize FactoryBot Traits for Specific Security Contexts in Tests

• Description:

  1. Identify Security Scenarios for Testing: Analyze your application's security requirements and identify the different security contexts that must be explicitly tested (e.g., users with varying roles, permissions, or access levels).
  2. Define FactoryBot Traits for Each Security Context: Create dedicated factory_bot traits for each identified security context. Each trait should modify the base factory definition to generate objects with the precise security attributes required for that specific context.
     • Example in Ruby FactoryBot within spec/factories/users.rb: trait :admin do after_create { |user| user.update(role: 'admin') } end
     • Example in Ruby FactoryBot within spec/factories/roles.rb: trait :with_permission_x do after_create { |role| role.permissions << 'permission_x' } end
  3. Explicitly Use Traits in Security-Focused Tests: In your tests, especially those focused on security functionalities, explicitly use the appropriate factory_bot trait to create objects with the precise security context needed for that test case. Avoid relying on default factories when testing security-sensitive functionalities to ensure you are testing the intended security configuration.

  • Threats Mitigated:

    • Overly Permissive Object Creation by Default Factories (Medium Severity): Tests might not adequately cover scenarios with restricted access or limited privileges if default factory_bot factories are too permissive and create objects with excessive privileges by default.
    • Insufficient Security Testing Coverage (Medium Severity): Lack of explicit testing for different security roles and permissions using factory_bot can lead to gaps in security validation and untested security scenarios.

  • Impact:

    • Overly Permissive Object Creation: Moderately reduces the risk by enforcing explicit creation of objects with specific security contexts using factory_bot traits, rather than relying on potentially overly permissive defaults.
    • Insufficient Security Testing Coverage: Moderately increases security testing coverage by making it easier and more structured to test different security scenarios through the use of factory_bot traits.

  • Currently Implemented:

    • Traits are used in some user factories in spec/factories/users.rb to create admin users, demonstrating basic trait usage.

  • Missing Implementation:

    • Need to systematically identify all critical security contexts across the application and create corresponding factory_bot traits for relevant factories to cover these contexts in tests.
    • Need to promote and enforce the consistent use of traits for security testing throughout the test suite and discourage reliance on default factory_bot factories for security-sensitive tests.

Mitigation Strategy: Apply Principle of Least Privilege in FactoryBot Factories

• Description:

  1. Design Factories with Minimal Privileges: When designing factory_bot factories, configure them to create objects with the absolute minimum necessary privileges and permissions required for the core functionality being tested by default.
  2. Avoid Default "Admin" or "Superuser" Factories: Refrain from creating default factories that automatically generate "admin" or "superuser" objects unless explicitly and demonstrably needed for testing administrative functionalities.
  3. Granular Role and Permission Management with Traits: Utilize factory_bot traits to precisely control roles and permissions assigned to objects. Traits should be used to grant elevated privileges or specific permissions only when the test explicitly requires those elevated privileges for a particular scenario.
  4. Avoid Blanket Permission Assignments in Factories: Do not create factory_bot factories that automatically assign broad or unrestricted permissions to objects. Instead, explicitly define and assign only the necessary permissions within factory definitions or, preferably, through traits, based on the specific testing requirements.

  • Threats Mitigated:

    • Overly Permissive Object Creation (Medium Severity): Creating objects with excessive privileges by default in factory_bot can mask authorization and access control issues in the application.
    • Accidental Privilege Escalation in Tests (Low Severity): While less direct, overly permissive factories could potentially contribute to accidental privilege escalation issues in tests if not carefully managed.

  • Impact:

    • Overly Permissive Object Creation: Moderately reduces the risk by ensuring factory_bot factories promote the creation of objects with minimal necessary privileges by default, encouraging more secure testing practices.
    • Accidental Privilege Escalation in Tests: Minimally reduces the risk by promoting a more security-conscious approach to object creation in tests using factory_bot.

  • Currently Implemented:

    • Partially implemented. User factories in spec/factories/users.rb generally default to non-admin roles, reflecting a basic application of least privilege.

  • Missing Implementation:

    • Need to systematically review all factory_bot factories to ensure they adhere to the principle of least privilege.
    • Need to reinforce the practice of using traits for granting elevated privileges only when explicitly required for testing specific scenarios, and avoid default factories with broad permissions.