Friday 14 October 2016

NoSQL Databases Still Have Risks






NoSQL, which stands for Not Only SQL, is a common term for nonrelational databases. Among popular NoSQL databases you will find the MongoDB, Cassandra, CouchDB, Redis and more. NoSQL databases have become increasingly popular thanks to their benefits in particular use cases, especially in big data and real-time Web usages where performance, scalability and flexibility are key.

Database security has been and will continue to be one of the more critical aspects of application security. Access to the database grants an attacker a dangerous amount of control over the most critical information. Although the number of SQL injection vulnerabilities has been declining since 2008 due to use of secure frameworks and improved awareness, it has remained a high-impact risk.

With the emergence of new databases and query techniques, the old attack methods become obsolete and new ones emerge. For example, most NoSQL databases do not use SQL and instead use the JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) query language and an HTTP API. This makes old techniques like SQL injection obsolete. However, NoSQL definitely does not imply zero risk. In fact, NoSQL databases are vulnerable to injection attacks, cross-site request forgery (CSRF) and other vulnerabilities.

In a paper titled “No SQL, No Injection? Examining NoSQL Security,” in Web 2.0 Security and Privacy conference it has been demonstrated that a number of techniques for injections in different runtimes using MongoDB are possible. Additionally, the paper discusses Web APIs and their risks, such as CSRF, and some deployment recommendations.

Knowing the risks is key for protecting against them. Having automated security testing is also significant for achieving consistent results. Web application scanners, for instance, can use rules for finding vulnerabilities in NoSQL databases to help you protect against the new exploitation techniques.

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