Unlocking CICD Security: A Secret Almanack of 20 Essential Controls for 80% Protection

In the ever-evolving world of cybersecurity, malicious actors often exploit human vulnerabilities to infiltrate organizations. OpenAI, a pioneer in AI technology, experienced a compromise in May 2023 because of a vulnerable open source component. Additionally, the IBM X-Force Report revealed that 41% of Ransomware attacks leverage phishing aka social engineering. As seasoned experts in Red Teaming and Pentesting, we've also encountered and leveraged following ten human weaknesses to gain initial access and pivot within the target organizations.?

Human Weaknesses Exploited:

1. Social Engineering/Phishing: An age-old tactic, it remains a potent vector for unauthorized access.
2. Code Leaks on Public Repositories: Sensitive credentials exposed inadvertently on public repositories are a goldmine for attackers.
3. Data Exposure: Vulnerable FTP, open databases, directories, SMB, and cloud buckets lead to many data breaches.
4. Misconfiguration of CI/CD and Environments: Flaws in configuration can provide attackers access to critical systems.
5. Vulnerable Code: Vulnerable code can lead to exploitable vulnerabilities like SQLi, SSRF, and RCE.
6. Alert Fatigue and Neglecting Code Reviews: Ignoring security alerts and lacking code reviews and configuration can lead to oversight.
7. Careless Actions: Unvetted open-source libraries and improper tool installations open doors for attackers.
8. Secrets on Workstations: Storing passwords on desktops can pave the way for attackers to pivot across systems.
9. Excess Privileges: Unused permissions that are never revoked increase the attack surface.
10. Weak/Default Passwords: Simple passwords and the absence of multifactor authentication create security gaps.

Mandate for Strong Security Controls:

After successful Pentest and Red Teaming exercises, CISOs and Security Managers often seek a set of minimal security controls to prevent attacks and minimize the impact of incidents. The following diagram showcases a comprehensive set of controls and security practices that are crucial to mitigating 80% of CICD and Production Environment related attacks. Each control plays a vital role, and their combined implementation significantly reduces risk.

Finally, we suggest picking the top 5 items from the above list and starting to implement them right now. If multiple of the above security controls and practices are already in place, conduct a pentest / red team to validate the security control's effectiveness.

Stay Secure and Keep Sharing Knowledge!!