mirror of
https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-security.git
synced 2025-07-05 02:02:15 +00:00
42 lines
2.4 KiB
Plaintext
42 lines
2.4 KiB
Plaintext
|
== Password Erasure
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
After successful authentication, it's a security best practice to erase credentials from memory to prevent them from being exposed to potential memory dump attacks. `ProviderManager` and most `AuthenticationProvider` implementations in Spring Security support this practice through the `eraseCredentials` method, which should be invoked after the authentication process completes.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
=== Best Practices
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
. *Immediate Erasure*: Credentials should be erased immediately after they are no longer needed. This minimizes the window during which the credentials are exposed in memory.
|
||
|
|
. *Automatic Erasure*: Configure `ProviderManager` to automatically erase credentials post-authentication by setting `eraseCredentialsAfterAuthentication` to `true`.
|
||
|
|
. *Custom Erasure Strategies*: Implement custom erasure strategies in custom `AuthenticationProvider` implementations if the default erasure behavior does not meet specific security requirements.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
=== Risk Assessment
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Failure to properly erase credentials can lead to several risks:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
. *Memory Access Attacks*: Attackers can access raw credentials from memory through exploits like buffer overflow attacks or memory dumps.
|
||
|
|
. *Insider Threats*: Malicious insiders with access to systems could potentially extract credentials from application memory.
|
||
|
|
. *Accidental Exposure*: In multi-tenant environments, lingering credentials in memory could accidentally be exposed to other tenants.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
=== Implementation
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
[source,java]
|
||
|
|
----
|
||
|
|
public class CustomAuthenticationProvider extends AbstractUserDetailsAuthenticationProvider {
|
||
|
|
@Override
|
||
|
|
protected void additionalAuthenticationChecks(UserDetails userDetails,
|
||
|
|
UsernamePasswordAuthenticationToken authentication)
|
||
|
|
throws AuthenticationException {
|
||
|
|
// Perform authentication checks
|
||
|
|
if (!passwordEncoder.matches(authentication.getCredentials().toString(), userDetails.getPassword())) {
|
||
|
|
throw new BadCredentialsException(messages.getMessage(
|
||
|
|
"AbstractUserDetailsAuthenticationProvider.badCredentials",
|
||
|
|
"Bad credentials"));
|
||
|
|
}
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
// Erase credentials post-check
|
||
|
|
authentication.eraseCredentials();
|
||
|
|
}
|
||
|
|
}
|
||
|
|
----
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
By implementing these practices, organizations can significantly enhance the security of their authentication systems by ensuring that credentials are not left exposed in system memory.
|