Cis Cassandra40 V110 3.3

---
name: cis-cassandra40-v110-3.3
description: "Ensure there are no unnecessary roles or excessive privileges"
category: cis-cassandra
version: "1.1.0"
author: cyberstrike-official
tags: [cis, cassandra, access-control, roles, privileges, least-privilege]
cis_id: "3.3"
cis_benchmark: "CIS Apache Cassandra 4.0 Benchmark v1.1.0"
tech_stack: [cassandra]
cwe_ids: []
chains_with: []
prerequisites: []
severity_boost: {}
---

# 3.3 Ensure there are no unnecessary roles or excessive privileges

## Profile Applicability

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

## Description

Verify each role is require and has only the privileges needed to do its job.

## Rationale

Roles which are unneeded, have super user or other potentially excessive privileges may be an avenue for a hacker to gain access to or modify data in the database.

## Audit

As a superuser, retrieve all roles:

```sql
list roles;
```

Retrieve all permissions for all roles:

```sql
select * from system_auth.role_permissions;
```

If there are any unnecessary roles or roles with excessive privileges this is a finding.

## Remediation

Remove any unnecessary roles and/or permissions in accordance with organizational needs.

## Default Value

By default, only cassandra role exists with superuser privileges.

## References

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

## CIS Controls

**v8:**

- 6.8 Define and Maintain Role-Based Access Control - Define and maintain role-based access control, through determining and documenting the access rights necessary for each role within the enterprise to successfully carry out its assigned duties. Perform access control reviews of enterprise assets to validate that all privileges are authorized, on a recurring schedule at a minimum annually, or more frequently.

**v7:**

- 14.6 Protect Information through Access Control Lists - Protect all information stored on systems with file system, network share, claims, application, or database specific access control lists. These controls will enforce the principle that only authorized individuals should have access to the information based on their need to access the information as a part of their responsibilities.

## Profile

- Level 1 | Manual