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https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/CASSANDRA-12297?page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:comment-tabpanel&focusedCommentId=16638816#comment-16638816
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Ariel Weisberg commented on CASSANDRA-12297:
--------------------------------------------
Unfortunately not a lot of eyes on this issue yet.
bcrypt accepts a {{String}} parameter for password so we are already in the
situation where we can't zero out this material in at least once instance. If
we were aiming to do that then we would also need to zero out the network
buffer we used to read this value.
The wire protocol sends the password over the wire in plaintext. Ideally we
would hash or salt and hash it before it ever leaves the client. That won't
help prevent the material from used to log into Cassandra, but it will help
with password reuse with other systems.
If heap inspection is a part of our threat model it seems like we need to do a
more thorough review review of how we handle key and password material.
> Privacy Violation - Heap Inspection
> -----------------------------------
>
> Key: CASSANDRA-12297
> URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/CASSANDRA-12297
> Project: Cassandra
> Issue Type: Sub-task
> Reporter: Eduardo Aguinaga
> Assignee: Ariel Weisberg
> Priority: Major
>
> Overview:
> In May through June of 2016 a static analysis was performed on version 3.0.5
> of the Cassandra source code. The analysis included
> an automated analysis using HP Fortify v4.21 SCA and a manual analysis
> utilizing SciTools Understand v4. The results of that
> analysis includes the issue below.
> Issue:
> In the file PasswordAuthenticator.java on line 129, 164 and 222 a string
> object is used to store sensitive data. String objects are immutable and
> should not be used to store sensitive data. Sensitive data should be stored
> in char or byte arrays and the contents of those arrays should be cleared
> ASAP. Operations performed on string objects will require that the original
> object be copied and the operation be applied in the new copy of the string
> object. This results in the likelihood that multiple copies of sensitive data
> being present in the heap until garbage collection takes place.
> The snippet below shows the issue on line 129:
> PasswordAuthenticator.java, lines 123-134:
> {code:java}
> 123 public AuthenticatedUser legacyAuthenticate(Map<String, String>
> credentials) throws AuthenticationException
> 124 {
> 125 String username = credentials.get(USERNAME_KEY);
> 126 if (username == null)
> 127 throw new AuthenticationException(String.format("Required key
> '%s' is missing", USERNAME_KEY));
> 128
> 129 String password = credentials.get(PASSWORD_KEY);
> 130 if (password == null)
> 131 throw new AuthenticationException(String.format("Required key
> '%s' is missing", PASSWORD_KEY));
> 132
> 133 return authenticate(username, password);
> 134 }
> {code}
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