attack-tree.md

Attack Tree Analysis for chroma-core/chroma

Objective: Exfiltrate Data or Cause Denial of Service

Attack Tree Visualization

                                      +-------------------------------------------------+
                                      |  Attacker Goal: Exfiltrate Data or Cause DoS  |
                                      +-------------------------------------------------+
                                                       |
          +---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
          |                                                                                 |
+-------------------------+                                                 +-------------------------+
|  1. Data Exfiltration   |                                                 |  2. Denial of Service   |
+-------------------------+                                                 +-------------------------+
          |                                                                                 |
+---------+---------+                                                         +---------+
| **1.1** | 1.2     |                                                         | **2.1** |
|**Unauth| |Exploit  |                                                         |**Resour|
|**API**  |Chroma   |                                                         |**ce**   |
|**Access| |Server   |                                                         |**Exhau|
|         |Vuln.    |                                                         |**st.**  |
+---------+---------+                                                         +---------+
    |         |                                                                   |
+---+---+ +---+---+                                                         +---+---+
|1.1.1| |1.2.2|                                                         |2.1.1|
|**Weak| |=====|                                                         |**Embe|
|**API | |=====|                                                         |**d**  |
|**Keys| |=====|                                                         |**Floo|
+-----+ +-----+                                                         +-----+

Attack Tree Path: Unauthorized API Access (1.1) -> Weak API Keys/Secrets (1.1.1)

• Description: The attacker gains unauthorized access to the Chroma API by exploiting weak or compromised API keys.
• Attack Steps:
  1. Reconnaissance: The attacker attempts to discover API keys through various means.
  2. Credential Acquisition:
     • Guessing: Attempting to guess weak or default API keys.
     • Theft: Stealing keys from exposed locations (e.g., .env files, Git history, misconfigured cloud storage, source code).
     • Phishing/Social Engineering: Tricking developers or administrators into revealing their keys.
  3. API Exploitation: Using the acquired keys to directly access the Chroma API and retrieve data.
• Likelihood: Medium
• Impact: High
• Effort: Very Low
• Skill Level: Very Low
• Detection Difficulty: Medium

Attack Tree Path: Resource Exhaustion (2.1) -> Embedding Flood (2.1.1)

• Description: The attacker overwhelms the Chroma server with a large number of embedding requests, causing a denial of service.
• Attack Steps:
  1. Script Preparation: The attacker creates a script or uses a tool to generate a large volume of embedding requests.
  2. Request Flood: The script sends a continuous stream of requests to the Chroma API, targeting the embedding endpoints.
  3. Resource Depletion: The server's resources (CPU, memory, network bandwidth) are exhausted, leading to slow response times or complete unavailability.
• Likelihood: Medium
• Impact: Medium
• Effort: Low
• Skill Level: Low
• Detection Difficulty: Low

Attack Tree Path: Exploit Chroma Server Vulnerabilities (1.2) -> Deserialization Vulnerabilities (1.2.2)

• Description: The attacker exploits a vulnerability in Chroma's deserialization process to execute arbitrary code on the server.
• Attack Steps:
  1. Vulnerability Identification: The attacker identifies a Chroma endpoint that uses unsafe deserialization (e.g., Python's pickle).
  2. Payload Crafting: The attacker crafts a malicious serialized object that, when deserialized, will execute their desired code. This often involves using known "gadget chains" for the specific serialization library.
  3. Payload Delivery: The attacker sends the malicious payload to the vulnerable endpoint.
  4. Code Execution: When Chroma deserializes the payload, the attacker's code is executed, potentially leading to data exfiltration, system compromise, or other malicious actions.
• Likelihood: Low
• Impact: Very High
• Effort: High
• Skill Level: High
• Detection Difficulty: High