[NIFI-7668] Add configurable PBE AEAD algorithms to flow encryption

• Type: Improvement
• Status: Resolved
• Priority: Major
• Resolution: Fixed
• Affects Version/s: 1.12.0
• Fix Version/s: 1.14.0
• Component/s: Configuration, Core Framework
• Labels: aead configuration encryption pbe security
• Assignee: David Handermann
• Reporter: Andy LoPresto
• Created: 24/Jul/20 02:19
• Updated: 29/Sep/21 15:28
• Resolved: 26/Feb/21 16:12

Description

NIFI-7638 introduced a single custom PBE algorithm (pair for 128/256-bit keys) which provided AEAD semantics using Argon2 for key derivation and AES-G/CM for authenticated encryption. This solution was a stop gap to allow more robust encryption than AES-CBC without modifying the EncryptionMethod, which is a single definition of encryption algorithms and (supposed) KDFs referenced throughout the codebase.

Introducing changes to EncryptionMethod would have required massive regression testing, further support changes to EncryptContent, encrypted repository implementations, multiple documentation changes, etc. This change allows for a single custom algorithm which makes reasonable default decisions around cost parameters and algorithm selection, meeting the user requirements without demanding far-reaching changes.

Instead, this ticket proposes an intentional enhancement to the nifi.properties structure to add a new nifi.sensitive.props.kdf property to complement the existing nifi.sensitive.props.algorithm property. This will allow arbitrary secure KDFs (Argon2, bcrypt, scrypt, PBKDF2) to be specified with custom cost parameters and combined with any keyed encryption algorithm (AES-CBC, AES-G/CM, AES-CTR) to derive a key and encrypt the flow sensitive properties.

For backward compatibility, as this is likely to go in a 1.13.0 release, not a major release, an existing nifi.properties file will work fine. If the nifi.sensitive.props.kdf value is not specified, it will not be used, which is acceptable for all existing EncryptionMethod values which are already supported by the StringEncryptor class. If a new algorithm is specified (e.g. one of the raw keyed algorithms), the KDF will need to be present and will be checked for appropriateness and cost parameter validity. No default value changes will be made. Thus, this will only affect security-conscious users who explicitly change those values to reflect more robust key derivation and data protection algorithm choices.

Issue Links

• fixes: NIFI-7128 Extend StringEncryptor with SecureHasher capability
• fixes: NIFI-7129 Allow StringEncryptor injection in FingerprintFactory
• is related to: NIFI-7638 Add PBE AEAD sensitive flow property protection scheme
• relates to: NIFI-8230 Remove default Sensitive Properties Key
• relates to: NIFI-1465 Upgrade encryption of sensitive properties
• relates to: NIFI-7669 Add flow protection key caching mechanism for derived keys
• relates to: NIFI-7670 Implement flow migration for PBE AEAD algorithms in Encrypt-Config toolkit
• relates to: NIFI-8212 Improve startup times for Stateless
• relates to: NIFI-9252 Remove nifi.sensitive.props.provider Property
• links to: GitHub Pull Request #4809