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Mitigation Strategies Analysis for robb/cartography

Mitigation Strategy: Principle of Least Privilege for Cartography Credentials

  • Description:
    1. Identify Required Data: Determine the specific cloud resources and data points that your application actually needs from Cartography.
    2. Create Dedicated IAM Roles/Service Principals: For each cloud provider (AWS, Azure, GCP), create dedicated IAM roles or service principals specifically for Cartography.
    3. Grant Minimal Permissions: Within these roles/service principals, grant only the necessary permissions to read the identified data. Avoid wildcard permissions or broad access. Focus on ReadOnly or List actions for relevant services (e.g., ec2:DescribeInstances, s3:ListBuckets, iam:GetRole).
    4. Regularly Review Permissions: Periodically review the granted permissions to ensure they remain minimal and aligned with actual needs. Adjust as requirements change.
    5. Automate Permission Management: Ideally, use Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) tools (like Terraform, CloudFormation, Azure Resource Manager templates, GCP Deployment Manager) to define and manage Cartography's permissions, ensuring consistency and auditability.
  • List of Threats Mitigated:
    • Unauthorized Data Access (High Severity): If Cartography credentials are compromised, an attacker with overly permissive credentials could gain access to sensitive data beyond what Cartography needs, potentially leading to data breaches or unauthorized modifications.
    • Lateral Movement (Medium Severity): Overly permissive credentials could be used by an attacker to pivot from the Cartography execution environment to other cloud resources, expanding the attack surface.
  • Impact: Significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized data access and lateral movement by limiting the potential damage from compromised Cartography credentials.
  • Currently Implemented: Partially implemented. Dedicated IAM roles are used for AWS, but initial roles might be slightly too broad. Configuration is done manually through the AWS console.
  • Missing Implementation:
    • Refine existing AWS IAM roles to be more granular and strictly adhere to least privilege.
    • Implement least privilege for Azure and GCP credentials.
    • Automate IAM role creation and management using Terraform or similar IaC tools.
    • Establish a process for regular review and adjustment of Cartography permissions.

Mitigation Strategy: Secure Credential Management for Cartography

  • Description:
    1. Choose a Secrets Management Solution: Select a robust secrets management solution like HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault, or GCP Secret Manager.
    2. Store Cartography Credentials Securely: Store all Cartography cloud provider credentials (API keys, access keys, service principal secrets) within the chosen secrets management solution.
    3. Configure Cartography to Retrieve Credentials: Configure Cartography to dynamically retrieve credentials from the secrets management solution at runtime, instead of storing them in configuration files or environment variables. Utilize the secrets management solution's API or SDK.
    4. Implement Access Control for Secrets Management: Restrict access to the secrets management system itself, ensuring only authorized processes (like the Cartography execution environment) and personnel can retrieve Cartography credentials.
    5. Rotate Credentials Regularly: Implement a process for regular rotation of Cartography credentials stored in the secrets management solution to limit the lifespan of compromised credentials.
  • List of Threats Mitigated:
    • Credential Exposure in Configuration Files/Code (High Severity): Hardcoding credentials in configuration files or scripts makes them easily discoverable and increases the risk of accidental exposure (e.g., committing to version control, leaving files on unprotected systems).
    • Credential Theft from Compromised Systems (High Severity): If the system running Cartography is compromised, attackers could potentially extract hardcoded credentials.
    • Unauthorized Access to Cloud Resources (High Severity): Exposed or stolen credentials can be used by unauthorized parties to access and potentially misuse cloud resources.
  • Impact: Significantly reduces the risk of credential exposure and theft, making it much harder for attackers to obtain valid Cartography credentials.
  • Currently Implemented: No. Currently, AWS access keys are stored as environment variables on the Cartography execution server.
  • Missing Implementation:
    • Implement a secrets management solution (e.g., AWS Secrets Manager).
    • Migrate all Cartography credentials to the chosen secrets management solution.
    • Configure Cartography to retrieve credentials from the secrets management solution.
    • Remove hardcoded credentials and environment variable-based credentials.
    • Implement access control for the secrets management solution.
    • Establish a credential rotation policy.

Mitigation Strategy: Data Minimization in Cartography Configuration

  • Description:
    1. Review Default Cartography Modules: Examine the default modules enabled in Cartography's configuration (e.g., cartography.conf).
    2. Disable Unnecessary Modules: Disable any Cartography modules that collect data not directly required for your application's use case. For example, if you don't need Kubernetes data, disable the Kubernetes module.
    3. Refine Queries: For enabled modules, review the default queries and customize them to collect only the essential attributes and relationships. Use WHERE clauses and specific property selections to limit data collection.
    4. Exclude Resources: Utilize Cartography's configuration options to exclude specific regions, resource types, or accounts from data collection if they are not relevant.
    5. Regularly Re-evaluate Data Needs: Periodically review your application's data requirements and adjust Cartography's configuration to ensure you are still collecting only the minimum necessary data.
  • List of Threats Mitigated:
    • Sensitive Data Exposure (Medium Severity): Collecting unnecessary data increases the surface area for potential sensitive data exposure. If Cartography data is compromised, more sensitive information might be at risk.
    • Data Breach Impact (Medium Severity): In case of a data breach involving Cartography data, minimizing the collected data reduces the potential impact and scope of the breach.
    • Performance and Storage Overhead (Low Severity): Collecting unnecessary data can lead to increased storage requirements for the Cartography database and potentially impact performance due to larger datasets.
  • Impact: Moderately reduces the risk of sensitive data exposure and the potential impact of a data breach by limiting the amount of data collected and stored by Cartography.
  • Currently Implemented: Partially implemented. Some modules like Kubernetes are disabled as they are not currently needed. Default queries are used for other modules.
  • Missing Implementation:
    • Conduct a thorough review of enabled Cartography modules and disable any unnecessary ones.
    • Refine default queries for remaining modules to collect only essential attributes.
    • Implement resource exclusion configurations (regions, resource types, accounts).
    • Document the rationale behind data minimization choices.
    • Establish a schedule for periodic review of data collection needs and Cartography configuration.

Mitigation Strategy: Secure Storage and Access Control for Cartography Output Data

  • Description:
    1. Choose Secure Storage: Select a secure storage solution for Cartography's output data (e.g., Neo4j database, JSON/CSV files). For databases, ensure it's properly hardened and patched. For files, use encrypted storage.
    2. Implement Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Configure RBAC on the storage solution to restrict access to Cartography data to only authorized users and applications. Define roles with minimal necessary permissions (e.g., read-only access for applications, read-write for administrators).
    3. Authentication and Authorization: Enforce strong authentication mechanisms for accessing the storage solution (e.g., strong passwords, multi-factor authentication). Implement robust authorization policies based on RBAC.
    4. Encryption at Rest and in Transit: Enable encryption at rest for the storage solution to protect data confidentiality if the storage media is compromised. Enforce encryption in transit (e.g., HTTPS for database connections, TLS for file transfers) to protect data during transmission.
    5. Regular Auditing of Access: Implement logging and auditing of access to Cartography data to track who is accessing what data and when. Regularly review audit logs for suspicious activity.
  • List of Threats Mitigated:
    • Unauthorized Access to Cartography Data (High Severity): Without proper access controls, unauthorized users or applications could gain access to Cartography data, potentially leading to data breaches or misuse of information.
    • Data Breach due to Storage Compromise (High Severity): If the storage solution is compromised (e.g., physical theft, security vulnerability), unencrypted data could be exposed.
    • Data Interception in Transit (Medium Severity): Unencrypted data transmitted between Cartography and the storage solution could be intercepted by attackers.
  • Impact: Significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized access and data breaches by securing the storage and access to Cartography's output data.
  • Currently Implemented: Partially implemented. Neo4j is used as the database, and basic password authentication is enabled. Neo4j is running on a server with firewall rules.
  • Missing Implementation:
    • Implement RBAC within Neo4j to control access to Cartography data based on roles.
    • Enforce strong password policies and consider multi-factor authentication for Neo4j access.
    • Enable encryption at rest for the Neo4j database.
    • Ensure HTTPS is enforced for all connections to the Neo4j database.
    • Implement comprehensive logging and auditing of Neo4j access.
    • Document access control policies and procedures.

Mitigation Strategy: Dependency Scanning and Management

  • Description:
    1. Choose a Dependency Scanning Tool: Select a suitable dependency scanning tool for Python projects (e.g., pip-audit, Safety, Snyk, OWASP Dependency-Check).
    2. Integrate Scanning into CI/CD Pipeline: Integrate the chosen dependency scanning tool into your CI/CD pipeline to automatically scan Cartography's dependencies during builds and deployments.
    3. Regularly Scan Dependencies: Run dependency scans regularly, even outside of CI/CD, to catch newly discovered vulnerabilities.
    4. Vulnerability Remediation Process: Establish a process for reviewing and remediating vulnerabilities identified by the scanning tool. Prioritize high and critical severity vulnerabilities.
    5. Dependency Updates: Keep Cartography's dependencies updated to the latest stable versions to benefit from security patches and bug fixes.
    6. Dependency Inventory: Maintain an inventory of Cartography's dependencies and their versions for tracking and vulnerability management.
  • List of Threats Mitigated:
    • Vulnerabilities in Third-Party Libraries (High Severity): Cartography relies on numerous third-party Python libraries. Vulnerabilities in these libraries could be exploited to compromise the Cartography application or the systems it runs on.
    • Supply Chain Attacks (Medium Severity): Compromised dependencies could introduce malicious code into the Cartography application, potentially leading to data breaches or system compromise.
  • Impact: Significantly reduces the risk of vulnerabilities in third-party libraries by proactively identifying and addressing them.
  • Currently Implemented: No. Dependency scanning is not currently integrated into the project for Cartography.
  • Missing Implementation:
    • Select and configure a Python dependency scanning tool (e.g., pip-audit).
    • Integrate the dependency scanning tool into the CI/CD pipeline.
    • Establish a process for reviewing and remediating identified vulnerabilities.
    • Set up automated dependency updates or alerts for new vulnerability disclosures.
    • Create and maintain a dependency inventory for Cartography.

Mitigation Strategy: Keep Cartography and its Dependencies Updated

  • Description:
    1. Monitor Cartography Releases: Subscribe to Cartography's GitHub repository releases, security mailing lists (if available), or other channels to stay informed about new versions and security updates.
    2. Regularly Update Cartography: Plan and execute regular updates of Cartography to the latest stable version. Follow the project's upgrade instructions carefully.
    3. Monitor Dependency Updates: Use dependency scanning tools or automated dependency update services to monitor for updates to Cartography's dependencies.
    4. Proactively Update Dependencies: Proactively update dependencies to address known vulnerabilities and benefit from bug fixes and performance improvements.
    5. Testing After Updates: Thoroughly test Cartography after updates (both Cartography itself and its dependencies) to ensure functionality remains intact and no regressions are introduced.
  • List of Threats Mitigated:
    • Exploitation of Known Vulnerabilities (High Severity): Running outdated versions of Cartography or its dependencies exposes the application to known vulnerabilities that have been publicly disclosed and potentially have available exploits.
    • Zero-Day Vulnerabilities (Medium Severity): While updates don't directly prevent zero-day vulnerabilities, staying up-to-date reduces the window of exposure and allows for quicker patching when vulnerabilities are discovered and fixed.
  • Impact: Significantly reduces the risk of exploitation of known vulnerabilities by ensuring Cartography and its dependencies are patched and up-to-date.
  • Currently Implemented: Partially implemented. Cartography is updated manually when new versions are noticed, but it's not a regular, scheduled process. Dependency updates are not actively managed.
  • Missing Implementation:
    • Establish a scheduled process for regularly checking for and applying Cartography updates.
    • Implement automated dependency update monitoring and alerts.
    • Create a testing plan for Cartography updates to ensure stability and functionality.
    • Document the update process and schedule.

Mitigation Strategy: Resource Limits and Rate Limiting for Cartography

  • Description:
    1. Configure Cartography Rate Limiting: Utilize Cartography's configuration options to implement rate limiting for API calls to cloud providers. Adjust rate limits based on cloud provider recommendations and your application's needs.
    2. Set Resource Limits (CPU, Memory): Implement resource limits (CPU, memory) for the Cartography process or container to prevent resource exhaustion on the execution environment. This can be done through container orchestration tools (Kubernetes, Docker Compose) or operating system-level resource controls.
    3. Schedule Cartography Runs: Schedule Cartography runs during off-peak hours or implement throttling mechanisms to minimize the impact on cloud provider APIs and application performance, especially if Cartography runs frequently.
    4. Monitor Resource Usage: Monitor Cartography's resource consumption (CPU, memory, API call rates) to identify potential issues and adjust resource limits or rate limiting configurations as needed.
  • List of Threats Mitigated:
    • Cloud Provider API Throttling/Service Disruption (Low to Medium Severity): Excessive API calls from Cartography without rate limiting can lead to cloud provider API throttling or even temporary service disruptions, impacting application functionality.
    • Resource Exhaustion on Execution Environment (Low Severity): Uncontrolled resource usage by Cartography could lead to resource exhaustion on the execution environment, potentially affecting other applications or system stability.
    • Denial of Service (DoS) (Low Severity): In extreme cases, uncontrolled API calls could be interpreted as a denial-of-service attack by cloud providers.
  • Impact: Minimally to Moderately reduces the risk of cloud provider API throttling, service disruptions, and resource exhaustion by controlling Cartography's resource usage and API call rates.
  • Currently Implemented: No. Rate limiting and resource limits are not explicitly configured for Cartography. Runs are scheduled during off-peak hours, but this is not a robust mitigation.
  • Missing Implementation:
    • Configure rate limiting within Cartography's configuration files.
    • Implement resource limits (CPU, memory) for the Cartography execution environment (e.g., using Docker resource constraints).
    • Establish monitoring for Cartography's resource usage and API call rates.
    • Document rate limiting and resource limit configurations.

Mitigation Strategy: Configuration Management and Version Control for Cartography

  • Description:
    1. Version Control for Configuration: Store all Cartography configuration files (e.g., cartography.conf, custom queries, scripts) in a version control system (e.g., Git).
    2. Configuration as Code: Treat Cartography configuration as code and follow software development best practices, including code reviews, testing, and versioning.
    3. Centralized Configuration Management: Use a centralized configuration management system (e.g., Ansible, Puppet, Chef) to manage and deploy Cartography configurations across different environments (development, staging, production).
    4. Automated Configuration Deployment: Automate the deployment of Cartography configurations through CI/CD pipelines to ensure consistency and reduce manual errors.
    5. Configuration Auditing: Track changes to Cartography configurations through version control history and audit logs to maintain accountability and facilitate troubleshooting.
  • List of Threats Mitigated:
    • Misconfiguration Leading to Security Vulnerabilities (Medium Severity): Manual configuration and lack of version control can lead to misconfigurations that introduce security vulnerabilities, such as overly permissive permissions or insecure settings.
    • Configuration Drift and Inconsistency (Low Severity): Without configuration management, configurations can drift across environments, leading to inconsistencies and potential operational issues.
    • Accidental Configuration Changes (Low Severity): Manual configuration changes without version control can lead to accidental errors or unintended consequences.
  • Impact: Moderately reduces the risk of misconfigurations and configuration drift by ensuring consistent, auditable, and version-controlled Cartography configurations.
  • Currently Implemented: Partially implemented. Configuration files are stored in a Git repository, but configuration management and automated deployment are not yet in place.
  • Missing Implementation:
    • Implement a centralized configuration management system (e.g., Ansible).
    • Automate the deployment of Cartography configurations through the CI/CD pipeline.
    • Establish a code review process for configuration changes.
    • Document configuration management procedures.

Mitigation Strategy: Regular Auditing and Monitoring of Cartography Operations

  • Description:
    1. Enable Logging: Configure Cartography to generate comprehensive logs of its operations, including data collection activities, API calls, errors, and any security-related events.
    2. Centralized Logging: Send Cartography logs to a centralized logging system (e.g., ELK stack, Splunk, cloud provider logging services) for aggregation, analysis, and long-term retention.
    3. Implement Monitoring: Set up monitoring dashboards and alerts to track Cartography's performance, resource usage, API call rates, and error rates.
    4. Security Monitoring and Alerting: Implement security monitoring rules and alerts to detect suspicious activity related to Cartography, such as unauthorized access attempts, unusual API call patterns, or errors indicative of security issues.
    5. Regular Audit Reviews: Conduct regular reviews of Cartography logs and monitoring data to identify potential security incidents, misconfigurations, or performance bottlenecks.
  • List of Threats Mitigated:
    • Undetected Security Incidents (Medium Severity): Without proper logging and monitoring, security incidents related to Cartography might go undetected, allowing attackers to persist or escalate their attacks.
    • Operational Issues and Performance Degradation (Low Severity): Lack of monitoring can lead to undetected operational issues and performance degradation in Cartography, potentially impacting data collection and application functionality.
    • Compliance Violations (Low Severity): Inadequate logging and auditing can make it difficult to demonstrate compliance with security and regulatory requirements.
  • Impact: Moderately reduces the risk of undetected security incidents and operational issues by providing visibility into Cartography's operations and enabling timely detection and response.
  • Currently Implemented: Basic logging to files is enabled for Cartography. Logs are not centralized or actively monitored.
  • Missing Implementation:
    • Implement centralized logging for Cartography using a suitable logging system.
    • Set up monitoring dashboards and alerts for Cartography's performance and resource usage.
    • Implement security monitoring rules and alerts for suspicious activity.
    • Establish a schedule for regular review of Cartography logs and monitoring data.
    • Document logging and monitoring configurations and procedures.