[CASSANDRA-12299] Privacy Violation - Heap Inspection

• Type: Sub-task
• Status: Open
• Priority: Normal
• Resolution: Unresolved
• Component/s: Feature/Authorization
• Assignee: Unassigned Assign to me
• Reporter: Eduardo Aguinaga
• Created: 26/Jul/16 19:39
• Updated: 16/Apr/19 12:30

Description

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 CqlConfigHelper.java on lines 508, 533, 534 and 592 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 will be present in the heap until garbage collection takes place.

The snippet below shows the issue on line 508:
CqlConfigHelper.java, lines 505-518:

505 private static Optional<AuthProvider> getDefaultAuthProvider(Configuration conf)
506 {
507     Optional<String> username = getStringSetting(USERNAME, conf);
508     Optional<String> password = getStringSetting(PASSWORD, conf);
509 
510     if (username.isPresent() && password.isPresent())
511     {
512         return Optional.of(new PlainTextAuthProvider(username.get(), password.get()));
513     }
514     else
515     {
516         return Optional.absent();
517     }
518 }