[DERBY-5968] A failed connection attempt may nevertheless manage to boot the database.

• Type: Bug
• Status: Open
• Priority: Major
• Resolution: Unresolved
• Affects Version/s: 10.10.1.1
• Component/s: Services
• Labels: derby_triage10_11
• Urgency: Normal
• Issue & fix info: Repro attached
• Bug behavior facts: Security
• Assignee: Unassigned
• Reporter: Richard N. Hillegas
• Created: 29/Oct/12 17:32
• Updated: 20/Jun/13 20:10

Description

A connection attempt may fail but still manage to boot the database. If possible, we should try to bring down the database after the connection failure.

1) Here is an example of this problem: If you use bad credentials to connect to a database, you will fail to get a connection. That's correct behavior. However, Derby must boot the database in order to discover its authentication mechanism. The database remains booted after this check.

2) There are other examples of this problem. For instance, if a user with good credentials tries to change the boot password on an encrypted database, then the connection attempt will fail, but the database will remain booted. This can cause silent failures on later attempts to re-encrypt or un-encrypt a database after the low-privilege or nonexistent user manages to boot the database. The connection attempt will succeed, leading the DBO to think that the re-encryption worked. But actually re-encryption did not take place because the database was already booted.

I regard this silent failure as a security vulnerability.

The following script shows problem (1):

connect 'jdbc:derby:db;create=true;user=test_dbo';

call syscs_util.syscs_create_user( 'test_dbo', 'test_dbopassword' );

– shutdown the database
connect 'jdbc:derby:db;shutdown=true';

– need credentials in order to get a connection
connect 'jdbc:derby:db';
connect 'jdbc:derby:db;user=test_dbo;password=test_dbopassword';
select count from sys.systables;

– shutdown the database
connect 'jdbc:derby:db;shutdown=true;user=test_dbo;password=test_dbopassword';

– try to shutdown the database again. since it is already shutdown, you will get a message saying it can't be found.
connect 'jdbc:derby:db;shutdown=true;user=test_dbo;password=test_dbopassword';

– now try to boot with bad credentials. you don't get a connection but the database boots.
connect 'jdbc:derby:db;user=alice;password=alicepassword;bootPassword=foobarwibblewombat';
select count from sys.systables;

– the shutdown command succeeds because alice managed to boot the database
– even though she isn't a legal user.
connect 'jdbc:derby:db;shutdown=true;user=test_dbo;password=test_dbopassword';

Issue Links

• is related to: DERBY-2736 Connecting with an invalid user identifier performs authentication before rejecting the connection.
• is related to: DERBY-5969 Encryption, re-encryption, and un-encryption silently fail if the database is already booted.
• relates to: DERBY-5792 Make it possible to turn off encryption on an already encrypted database.
• relates to: DERBY-2407 A connection attempt by an unauthorized user leaves a previously non-booted database booted
• relates to: DERBY-4447 Add internal block mechanism to reject new database connections