cis-cassandra311-5-1

name	cis-cassandra311-5.1
description	Inter-node Encryption
category	cis-cassandra
version	1.1.0
author	cyberstrike-official
tags	["cis","cassandra","encryption","tls","ssl"]
cis_id	5.1
cis_benchmark	CIS Apache Cassandra 3.11 Benchmark v1.1.0
tech_stack	["cassandra"]
cwe_ids	[]
chains_with	[]
prerequisites	[]
severity_boost	{}

5.1 Inter-node Encryption

Profile Applicability

• Level 1 - Cassandra on Linux
• Level 2 - Cassandra on Linux

Description

Cassandra offers the option to encrypt data in transit between nodes on the cluster. By default, inter-node encryption is turned off.

Rationale

Data being transferred on the wire should be encrypted to avoid network snooping, whether legitimate or not.

Audit

Run the following command to verify whether inter-node encryption is enabled.

cat cassandra.yaml | grep -in "internode_encryption:"

Acceptable values are all, dc or rack. If the internode_encryption is set to none, this is a finding.

Note: The Cassandra configuration files can be found in the conf directory of tarballs. For packages, the configuration files will be located in /etc/cassandra.

Remediation

The inter-node encryption should be implemented before anyone accesses the Cassandra server. To enable the inter-node encryption mechanism:

1. Stop the Cassandra database.
2. If not done so already, build out your keystore and truststore.
3. Modify cassandra.yaml file to modify/add entry for internode_encryption: set it to all
4. Start the Cassandra database.

Default Value

internode_encryption: none

References

1. http://cassandra.apache.org/doc/latest/operating/security.html

CIS Controls

• v8: 3.10 Encrypt Sensitive Data in Transit
• v7: 14.4 Encrypt All Sensitive Information in Transit

Profile

• Level 1 | Automated