MD3X-00-000340 - If passwords are used for authentication, MongoDB must transmit only encrypted representations of passwords - allowInvalidCertificates

Information

The DoD standard for authentication is DoD-approved PKI certificates.

Authentication based on User ID and Password may be used only when it is not possible to employ a PKI certificate, and requires AO approval.

In such cases, passwords need to be protected at all times and encryption is the standard method for protecting passwords during transmission.

DBMS passwords sent in clear text format across the network are vulnerable to discovery by unauthorized users. Disclosure of passwords may easily lead to unauthorized access to the database.

Satisfies: SRG-APP-000172-DB-000075, SRG-APP-000175-DB-000067

Solution

In the MongoDB database configuration file (default location: /etc/mongod.conf) ensure the following parameters are set and configured correctly:

net:
ssl:
mode: requireSSL
PEMKeyFile: /etc/ssl/mongodb.pem
CAFile: /etc/ssl/mongodbca.pem

Remove any occurrence of the 'allowInvalidCertificates' parameter:

net:
ssl:
allowInvalidCertificates: true

Stop/start (restart) the mongod or mongos instance using this configuration.

See Also

https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_MDB_Enterprise_Advanced_3-x_V2R1_STIG.zip

Item Details

Category: IDENTIFICATION AND AUTHENTICATION

References: 800-53|IA-5(1)(c), 800-53|IA-5(2)(a), CAT|I, CCI|CCI-000185, CCI|CCI-000197, Rule-ID|SV-221171r822440_rule, STIG-ID|MD3X-00-000340, STIG-Legacy|SV-96583, STIG-Legacy|V-81869, Vuln-ID|V-221171

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: 9c55a9ee06542d8ac9485062ebcb591f17934abb75c16d45060a70433d5cd3a4