👉 Overview
👀 What ?
Pentesting Hadoop refers to the process of assessing the security of Hadoop systems by simulating attacks from malicious users. Hadoop is an open-source software used for processing and storage of big data in a distributed computing environment.
🧐 Why ?
Given the vast amounts of data processed and stored in Hadoop systems, they are attractive targets for cybercriminals. Pentesting Hadoop is vital to identify potential security vulnerabilities and fix them before they can be exploited.
⛏️ How ?
Pentesting Hadoop involves several steps. Start by understanding the Hadoop architecture and its fundamental concepts. Then, identify potential attack vectors and plan your penetration testing strategy. Use a combination of manual and automated testing techniques to probe for vulnerabilities. Finally, analyze and report your findings, and propose mitigation strategies.
⏳ When ?
Pentesting Hadoop should be performed regularly, especially after major changes to the Hadoop system or its environment. It's also recommended to conduct pentesting at least once a year.
⚙️ Technical Explanations
Hadoop's distributed computing model is made up of two primary components: the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) and MapReduce. HDFS is used for data storage and is built to handle large data sets by splitting them into smaller blocks that are distributed across multiple nodes in a cluster. This distribution allows for redundancy and increases the system's fault tolerance.
MapReduce, on the other hand, is used for data processing. It works by taking a query over a data set, dividing it, and running it in parallel over the multiple nodes. This method significantly reduces computation time as the data can be processed faster due to the simultaneous computations.
Security within Hadoop involves multiple facets - secure data storage, secure data processing, and secure data transmission. Each of these layers could potentially have vulnerabilities that could be exploited by a malicious party. For example, unauthorized data access could occur if proper authentication mechanisms are not in place. Denial of service attacks could be performed, causing the system to be unavailable to its intended users. Data leakage could also occur if data is not properly encrypted during storage or transmission.
Pentesting Hadoop is a comprehensive task that requires a deep understanding of these components and how they interact. Pentesters need to be proficient in using various tools and techniques for information gathering, vulnerability scanning, exploitation, and post-exploitation activities.
The process starts with information gathering, where the pentester learns as much as possible about the system. This can involve network scanning, identifying live hosts, and uncovering open ports and services.
Next, the vulnerability scanning phase involves identifying potential weaknesses in the system using automated tools. Detected vulnerabilities are then exploited in the exploitation phase to determine their potential impact.
During the post-exploitation phase, pentesters may try to maintain access to the system or escalate their privileges to understand the full extent of what a malicious attacker could achieve.
Lastly, all findings from the pentest, including identified vulnerabilities, their potential impacts, and recommended remediation steps, should be thoroughly documented and communicated to the relevant parties so that measures can be put in place to secure the system.
For example, suppose the system being pentested is a Hadoop cluster consisting of multiple nodes.
The first step, information gathering, can involve using a tool like Nmap for network scanning. This could look something like:
nmap -sn 192.168.1.0/24
This command performs a ping scan (-sn) on the network (192.168.1.0/24), identifying live hosts.
Next, for vulnerability scanning, a tool like Nessus can be used. This tool can scan for known vulnerabilities in the system and provide a report.
During the exploitation phase, suppose a vulnerability was found in the Hadoop YARN (Yet Another Resource Negotiator) component, which is a known issue in certain versions of Hadoop (e.g., CVE-2016-6811). A pentester might use a Python script to exploit this vulnerability and run arbitrary commands.
In the post-exploitation phase, if the exploit is successful, the pentester might try to escalate privileges or maintain access. For example, they might add a new user to the Hadoop admin group:
sudo useradd -G hadoop admin2
This command creates a new user (admin2) and adds them to the hadoop group.
Finally, all findings, including the detected YARN vulnerability, its potential impacts (e.g., unauthorized access or data manipulation), and recommended remediation steps (like patching Hadoop to a version that fixes the vulnerability), would be documented and reported to the responsible parties.
This is a simplified example for educational purposes and real-life pentesting scenarios would likely involve additional steps and complexities.