Cis Cassandra311 2.1

---
name: cis-cassandra311-2.1
description: "Ensure that authentication is enabled for Cassandra databases"
category: cis-cassandra
version: "1.1.0"
author: cyberstrike-official
tags: [cis, cassandra, authentication, authorization]
cis_id: "2.1"
cis_benchmark: "CIS Apache Cassandra 3.11 Benchmark v1.1.0"
tech_stack: [cassandra]
cwe_ids: []
chains_with: []
prerequisites: []
severity_boost: {}
---

# 2.1 Ensure that authentication is enabled for Cassandra databases

## Profile Applicability

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

## Description

Authentication is pluggable in Cassandra and is configured using the authenticator setting in cassandra.yaml. Cassandra ships with two options included in the default distribution, AllowAllAuthenticator and PasswordAuthenticator. The default, AllowAllAuthenticator, performs no authentication checks and therefore requires no credentials. It is used to disable authentication completely. The second option, PasswordAuthenticator, stores encrypted credentials in a system table. This can be used to enable simple username/password authentication.

## Rationale

Authentication is a necessary condition of Cassandra's permissions subsystem, so if authentication is disabled then so are permissions. Failure to authenticate clients, users, and/or servers can allow unauthorized access to the Cassandra database and can prevent tracing actions back to their sources. The authentication mechanism should be implemented before anyone accesses the Cassandra server.

## Audit

Run the following command to verify whether authentication is enabled (authenticator values set to PasswordAuthenticator) on the Cassandra server.
The Cassandra configuration files can be found in the conf directory of tarballs. For packages, the configuration files will be located in /etc/cassandra.

```bash
cat cassandra.yaml | grep -in "authenticator:"
```

If authenticator is set to AllowAllAuthenticator, then this is a finding.

## Remediation

To enable the authentication mechanism:

1. Stop the Cassandra database.
2. Modify cassandra.yaml file to modify/add entry for authenticator: set it to PasswordAuthenticator
3. Start the Cassandra database.

## Default Value

```
authenticator: AllowAllAuthenticator
```

## References

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

## CIS Controls

- v8: 16.11 Leverage Vetted Modules or Services for Application Security Components
- v7: 14.7 Enforce Access Control to Data through Automated Tools

## Profile

- Level 1 | Automated