[CASSANDRA-12318] Use of Dynamic Class Loading, Use of Externally-Controlled Input to Select Classes or Code

• Type: Sub-task
• Status: Open
• Priority: Normal
• Resolution: Unresolved
• Component/s: Legacy/Core
• Assignee: Unassigned
• Reporter: Eduardo Aguinaga
• Created: 27/Jul/16 15:28
• Updated: 16/Apr/19 09:30

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:
Dynamically loaded code has the potential to be malicious. The application uses external input to select which classes or code to use, but it does not sufficiently prevent the input from selecting improper classes or code.

The snippet below shows the issue on lines 144-146 by instantiating an object associated with a class by name.

CacheService.java, lines 135-162:

135 private AutoSavingCache<RowCacheKey, IRowCacheEntry> initRowCache()
136 {
137     logger.info("Initializing row cache with capacity of {} MBs", DatabaseDescriptor.getRowCacheSizeInMB());
138 
139     CacheProvider<RowCacheKey, IRowCacheEntry> cacheProvider;
140     String cacheProviderClassName = DatabaseDescriptor.getRowCacheSizeInMB() > 0
141                                     ? DatabaseDescriptor.getRowCacheClassName() : "org.apache.cassandra.cache.NopCacheProvider";
142     try
143     {
144         Class<CacheProvider<RowCacheKey, IRowCacheEntry>> cacheProviderClass =
145             (Class<CacheProvider<RowCacheKey, IRowCacheEntry>>) Class.forName(cacheProviderClassName);
146         cacheProvider = cacheProviderClass.newInstance();
147     }
148     catch (Exception e)
149     {
150         throw new RuntimeException("Cannot find configured row cache provider class " + DatabaseDescriptor.getRowCacheClassName());
151     }
152 
153     // cache object
154     ICache<RowCacheKey, IRowCacheEntry> rc = cacheProvider.create();
155     AutoSavingCache<RowCacheKey, IRowCacheEntry> rowCache = new AutoSavingCache<>(rc, CacheType.ROW_CACHE, new RowCacheSerializer());
156 
157     int rowCacheKeysToSave = DatabaseDescriptor.getRowCacheKeysToSave();
158 
159     rowCache.scheduleSaving(DatabaseDescriptor.getRowCacheSavePeriod(), rowCacheKeysToSave);
160 
161     return rowCache;
162 }