Jack,

I updated my document with all the security gaps I was able to find and
posted it there:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/13-yu-1a0MMkBiJFPNkYoTd1Hzed9tgKltWi6hFLZbsk/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks,

Oleg

On Thu, Feb 11, 2016 at 4:09 PM, oleg yusim <olegyu...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Jack,
>
> I asked my management, if I can share with community my assessment
> spreadsheet (whole thing, with gaps and desired configurations). Let's wait
> for their answer. I would definitely update the document I shared with the
> rest of gaps, so you, guys, would have it for sure.
>
> Now, in case if my management would say no:
>
> 1) Here: http://iase.disa.mil/stigs/Pages/a-z.aspx the document titled
> vRealize Operations STIG would be published. As part of it, there would be
> Cassandra STIG (Cassadra is part of vRealize Operations VMware product).
> This STIG would contain only suggestions on right (from the security point
> of view) configuration, where it can be configured.
> 2) Community would have a full list of gaps (things which are needed, but
> can't be configured) after I would update my document
> 3) The rest of the assessment are Not Applicable and Applicable -
> Inherently Meet items, which nobody is interested at.
> 4) Also, when STIG for vRealize Operations would be published, look at the
> VMware site for Security Guidelines for vRealize Operations. They would be
> posted open to public and you would be able to download them free of
> charge. Those would include mitigation, which VMware implemented for some
> of the Cassandra gaps.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Oleg
>
> On Thu, Feb 11, 2016 at 2:55 PM, Jack Krupansky <jack.krupan...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Thanks for putting the items together in a list. This allows people to
>> see things with more context. Give people in the user community a little
>> time to respond. A week, maybe. Hopefully some of the senior Cassandra
>> committers will take a look as well.
>>
>> Will the final assessment become a public document or is it strictly
>> internal for your employer? I know there is a database of these
>> assessments, but I don't know who controls what becomes public and when.
>>
>> -- Jack Krupansky
>>
>> On Thu, Feb 11, 2016 at 3:23 PM, oleg yusim <olegyu...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Dani,
>>>
>>> As promised, I sort of put all my questions under the "one roof". I
>>> would really appreciate you opinion on them.
>>>
>>> https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2L9nW4Cyj41YWd1UkI4ZXVPYmM
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Oleg
>>>
>>> On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 3:28 PM, Dani Traphagen <
>>> dani.trapha...@datastax.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> ​Hi Oleg,
>>>>
>>>> Thanks that helped clear things up! This sounds like a daunting task. I
>>>> wish you all the best with it.
>>>>
>>>> Cheers,
>>>> Dani​
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 10:03 AM, oleg yusim <olegyu...@gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Dani,
>>>>>
>>>>> I really appreciate you response. Actually, session timeouts and
>>>>> security labels are two different topics (first is about attack when
>>>>> somebody opened, say, ssh window to DB, left his machine unattended and
>>>>> somebody else stole his session, second - to enable DB to support what
>>>>> called MAC access model - stays for mandatory access control. It is widely
>>>>> used in the government and military, but not outside of it, we all are 
>>>>> used
>>>>> to DAC access control model). However, I think you are right and I should
>>>>> move all my queries under the one big roof and call this thread 
>>>>> "Security".
>>>>> I will do this today.
>>>>>
>>>>> Now, about what you have said, I just answered the same to Jon, in
>>>>> Session Timeout thread, but would quickly re-cap here. I understand that
>>>>> Cassandra's architecture was aimed and tailored for completely different
>>>>> type of scenario. However, unfortunately, that doesn't mean that Cassandra
>>>>> is not vulnerable to the same very set of attacks relational database 
>>>>> would
>>>>> be vulnerable to. It just means Cassandra is not protected against those
>>>>> attacks, because protection against them was not thought of, when database
>>>>> was created. I already gave the AAA and session's timeout example in Jon's
>>>>> thread, and those are just one of many.
>>>>>
>>>>> Now what I'm trying to do, I'm trying to create a STIG - security
>>>>> federal compliance document, which will assess Cassandra against SRG
>>>>> concepts (security federal compliance recommendations for databases
>>>>> overall) and will highlight what is not met, and can't be in current 
>>>>> design
>>>>> (i.e. what system architects should keep in mind and what they need to
>>>>> compensate for with other controls on different layers of system model) 
>>>>> and
>>>>>  what can be met either with configuration or with little enhancement (and
>>>>> how).
>>>>>
>>>>> That document would be of great help for Cassandra as a product
>>>>> because it would allow it to be marketed as a product with existing
>>>>> security assessment and guidelines, performed according to DoD standards.
>>>>> It would also allow to move product in the general direction of improving
>>>>> its security posture. Finally, the document would be posted on DISA site (
>>>>> http://iase.disa.mil/stigs/Pages/a-z.aspx) available for every
>>>>> security architect to utilize, which would greatly reduce the risk for
>>>>> Cassandra product to be hacked in a field.
>>>>>
>>>>> To clear things out - what I ask about are not my expectations. I
>>>>> really do not expect developers of Cassandra to run and start implementing
>>>>> security labels, just because I asked about it. :) My questions are to
>>>>> build my internal knowledge of DB current design, so that I can build my
>>>>> security assessment based of it, not more, not less.
>>>>>
>>>>> I guess, summarizing what I said on top, from what I'm doing Cassandra
>>>>> as a product would end up benefiting quite a bit. That is why I think it
>>>>> would make sense for Cassandra community to help me with my questions even
>>>>> if they sound completely of the traditional "grid".
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks again, I really appreciate your response and conversation
>>>>> overall.
>>>>>
>>>>> Oleg
>>>>>
>>>>> On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 11:20 AM, Dani Traphagen <
>>>>> dani.trapha...@datastax.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Also -- it looks like you're really asking questions about session
>>>>>> timeouts and security labels as they associate, would be more helpful to
>>>>>> keep in one thread. :)
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Friday, January 29, 2016, Dani Traphagen <
>>>>>> dani.trapha...@datastax.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hi Oleg,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I understand your frustration but unfortunately, in the terms of
>>>>>>> your security assessment, you have fallen into a mismatch for 
>>>>>>> Cassandra's
>>>>>>> utility.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The eventuality of having multiple sockets open without the query
>>>>>>> input for long durations of time isn't something that was
>>>>>>> architected...because...Cassnadra was built to take massive quantities
>>>>>>> of queries both in volume and velocity.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Your expectation of the database isn't in line with how our why it
>>>>>>> was designed. Generally, security solutions are architected
>>>>>>> around Cassandra, baked into the data model, many solutions
>>>>>>> are home-brewed, written into the application or provided by using 
>>>>>>> another
>>>>>>> security client.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> DSE has different security aspects rolling out in the next release
>>>>>>> as addressed earlier by Jack, like commit log and hint encryptions, as 
>>>>>>> well
>>>>>>> as, unified authentication...but secuirty labels aren't on anyone's 
>>>>>>> radar
>>>>>>> as a pressing "need." It's not something I've heard about as a
>>>>>>> priority before anyway.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hope this helps!
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>>>> Dani
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Friday, January 29, 2016, oleg yusim <olegyu...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Jack,
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Thanks for your suggestion. I'm familiar with Cassandra
>>>>>>>> documentation, and I'm aware of differences between DSE and Cassandra.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Questions I ask here are those, I found no mention about in
>>>>>>>> documentation. Let's take security labels for instance. Cassandra
>>>>>>>> documentation is completely silent on this regard and so is Google. I
>>>>>>>> assume, based on it, Cassandra doesn't support it. But I can't create
>>>>>>>> federal compliance security document for Cassandra basing it of my
>>>>>>>> assumptions and lack of information solely. That is where my questions 
>>>>>>>> stem
>>>>>>>> from.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Oleg
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 10:17 AM, Jack Krupansky <
>>>>>>>> jack.krupan...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> To answer any future questions along these same lines, I suggest
>>>>>>>>> that you start by simply searching the doc and search the github repo 
>>>>>>>>> for
>>>>>>>>> the source code for the relevant keywords. That will give you the
>>>>>>>>> definitive answers quickly. If something is missing, feel free to 
>>>>>>>>> propose
>>>>>>>>> that it be added (if you really need it). And feel free to confirm 
>>>>>>>>> here if
>>>>>>>>> a quick search doesn't give you a solid answer.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Here's the root page for security in the Cassandra doc:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> https://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.x/cassandra/configuration/secureTOC.html
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Also note that on questions of security, DataStax Enterprise may
>>>>>>>>> have different answers than pure open source Cassandra.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> -- Jack Krupansky
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> On Thu, Jan 28, 2016 at 8:37 PM, oleg yusim <olegyu...@gmail.com>
>>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Patrick,
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Absolutely. Security label is mechanism of access control,
>>>>>>>>>> utilized by MAC (mandatory access control) model, and not utilized 
>>>>>>>>>> by DAC
>>>>>>>>>> (discretionary access control) model, we all are used to. In database
>>>>>>>>>> content it is illustrated for instance here:
>>>>>>>>>> http://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/sql-security-label.html
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Now, as per my goals, I'm making a security assessment for
>>>>>>>>>> Cassandra DB with a goal to produce STIG on this product. That is 
>>>>>>>>>> one of
>>>>>>>>>> the parameters in database SRG I have to assess against.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Oleg
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> On Thu, Jan 28, 2016 at 6:32 PM, Patrick McFadin <
>>>>>>>>>> pmcfa...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Cassandra has support for authentication security, but I'm not
>>>>>>>>>>> familiar with a security label. Can you describe what you want to 
>>>>>>>>>>> do?
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Patrick
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> On Thu, Jan 28, 2016 at 2:26 PM, oleg yusim <olegyu...@gmail.com
>>>>>>>>>>> > wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Greetings,
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Does Cassandra support security label concept? If so, where can
>>>>>>>>>>>> I read on how it should be applied?
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Oleg
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>> Sent from mobile -- apologizes for brevity or errors.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Sent from mobile -- apologizes for brevity or errors.
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> [image: datastax_logo.png] <http://www.datastax.com/>
>>>>
>>>> DANI TRAPHAGEN
>>>>
>>>> Technical Enablement Lead | dani.trapha...@datastax.com
>>>>
>>>> [image: twitter.png] <https://twitter.com/dtrapezoid> [image:
>>>> linkedin.png] <https://www.linkedin.com/pub/dani-traphagen/31/93b/b85>
>>>> <https://github.com/dtrapezoid>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>

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