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TruffleHogCxQL

README.md

NOTE TruffleHog queries will be native to CxSast v9.4. If you are running v9.4, the CxQL queries found here are no longer required.

TruffleHog CxQL

A port of the original TruffleHog code that executes in Checkmarx SAST as a CxQL customization.

Warning

The queries here will have a tendency to generate many false positives. Before implementing this, consider weighing the value of spending time marking several false positives as "Non-Exploitable" against perhaps finding a few true positives that reveal publicly exposed secrets. Some secrets will be benign; others will have the potential for granting administrative access to your production system.

How to Install

These queries are not specific to any language, therefore it can be used in scans for multilple language types. The downside is that you have to install it under queries each language for which it should be executed.

  1. In CxAudit, make a group under Corp where the query will live. This was tested in Java, but may apply to JavaScript and other languages. Example: Corp/{Company Name}

  2. Under the created group, make a query with a name that corresponds to the name of each .cxql file ncluded with this package. Paste the contents of each file into the corresponding query you created. (e.g. Resolve_Code_And_Comment_Flows)

  3. Set the properties on each query as follows:

    • Potential_Hardcoded_Passwords:

      • Set severity to the level desired
      • Choose categories as needed (likely fits in Sensitive Data Exposure categories)
      • CWE ID 798
      • Executable should be checked

    • TruffleHog_Regex_Matches:

      • Set severity to the level desired
      • Choose categories as needed (likely fits in Sensitive Data Exposure categories)
      • CWE ID 798
      • Executable should be checked

    • TruffleHog_HighEntropy_Strings:

      • Set severity to the level desired
      • Choose categories as needed (likely fits in Sensitive Data Exposure categories)
      • CWE ID 798
      • Executable should be checked

    • Resolve_Code_And_Comment_Flows:

      • Only uncheck the "Executable" checkbox. All other properties are not applicable.

  4. Save the queries and exit CxAudit. Adjust your presets to include your new TruffleHog queries.

  5. (Optional) Execute the SQL script in file "Proc_AddFileExtToLanguage.sql" in the CxDB. This adds the required stored procedure to the SQL server for adding extensions of files that are included in a scan. If there are no additional file types needed for inclusion, then this step is not necessary.

  6. (Optional) Execute the following SQL commands to add supported extentions. Modify as needed to support extensions for your language of choice.

	exec AddFileExtToLanguage 'Java', 'properties', 'JAVA_XML_EXTENSIONS'
	exec AddFileExtToLanguage 'Java', 'yaml', 'JAVA_XML_EXTENSIONS'
	exec AddFileExtToLanguage 'Java', 'yml', 'JAVA_XML_EXTENSIONS'
	exec AddFileExtToLanguage 'Java', 'json', 'JAVA_XML_EXTENSIONS'
	
	exec AddFileExtToLanguage 'JavaScript', 'properties', 'JS_XML_EXTENSIONS'
	exec AddFileExtToLanguage 'JavaScript', 'yaml', 'JS_XML_EXTENSIONS'
	exec AddFileExtToLanguage 'JavaScript', 'yml', 'JS_XML_EXTENSIONS'

	exec AddFileExtToLanguage 'PHP', 'properties', 'PHP_COMMON_EXTENSIONS'
	exec AddFileExtToLanguage 'PHP', 'yaml', 'PHP_COMMON_EXTENSIONS'
	exec AddFileExtToLanguage 'PHP', 'yml', 'PHP_COMMON_EXTENSIONS'
	exec AddFileExtToLanguage 'PHP', 'json', 'PHP_COMMON_EXTENSIONS'
		
	exec AddFileExtToLanguage 'Ruby', 'yaml', 'RUBY_OTHERS_EXTENSIONS'
	exec AddFileExtToLanguage 'Ruby', 'yml', 'RUBY_OTHERS_EXTENSIONS'
	exec AddFileExtToLanguage 'Ruby', 'json', 'RUBY_OTHERS_EXTENSIONS'
		
	exec AddFileExtToLanguage 'Groovy', 'yaml', 'GROOVY_EXTENSIONS'
	exec AddFileExtToLanguage 'Groovy', 'yml', 'GROOVY_EXTENSIONS'
	exec AddFileExtToLanguage 'Groovy', 'json', 'GROOVY_EXTENSIONS'
	
	exec AddFileExtToLanguage 'Scala', 'yaml', 'SCALA_EXTENSIONS'
	exec AddFileExtToLanguage 'Scala', 'yml', 'SCALA_EXTENSIONS'
	exec AddFileExtToLanguage 'Scala', 'json', 'SCALA_EXTENSIONS'
	
	exec AddFileExtToLanguage 'Python', 'yaml', 'PYTHON_CORE_EXTENSIONS'
	exec AddFileExtToLanguage 'Python', 'yml', 'PYTHON_CORE_EXTENSIONS'
	exec AddFileExtToLanguage 'Python', 'json', 'PYTHON_CORE_EXTENSIONS'

These commands will add ".properties", ".yml", ".yaml", and ".json" files to the scan so the queries can execute Regex searches on the contents.

  1. Restart all IIS servers.

  2. Adjust scanning presets on projects to include the new rules added in CxAudit.

  3. Perform scans and inspect vulnerabilities reported with the new queries.

General Comments

Potential_Hardcoded_Passwords

Searching for password fields in files without a specification for the form of the sensitive string will be prone to many false-positive and false-negatives.

The reason for false-positives is that there may be variables names matching search names that aren't actually related to passwords or other sensitive data.

The reason for false-negatives is that it is possible to change config key values or variable names to something that is not recognized as a potential element that is exposing sensitive data.

TruffleHog_Regex_Matches

The results from this query will likey be more accurate because it is searching for concrete patterns that match sensitive data. The only caveat to this is that the Regex specifying the format needs to exist and be accurate.

In at least two cases that are indicated in the list of TruffleHog queries incorporated in the query, the TruffleHog Regexes were not formed to properly recognize general matches. The ability to recognize sensitive data is directly related to the ability of the provided Regex to match the pattern of the sensitive data.

TruffleHog_HighEntropy_Strings

Things to know

  • The TruffleHog project is moving away from using high entropy string detection in favor of using regular expressions.
  • The high entropy detection method implemented in TruffleHog comes from a blog post.
  • There are some constants embedded in the TruffleHog code that are used as entropy thresholds.

What does this mean?

While there is no denying that the TruffleHog implementation can detect some known secrets, it is hard to know which unknown secrets it can't detect. False positives may not be as much of a concern until there are thousands to sift through. It may be necessary to tune some of the different threshold parameters to dial down the amount false positives. If you are implementing this CxQL query as part of your preset, you will have to perform any required tuning to make it work best for your scanned projects.

Test Code

A directory of test code was provided to simulate the examples given for the CxQL queries. This can be opened with CxAudit to evaluate how the CxQL queries recognize sensitive data. The best test is known-vulnerable, real code to validate how the sensitive data is reported as a result.

False Negatives/Positives

A good way to see false negatives/positives is to run TruffleHog itself against the CxPSPowerHacks repository to see what it detects:

docker run  dxa4481/trufflehog --entropy=True https://github.com/checkmarx-ts/CxPsPowerHacks.git

There are a few cases where the shorter passwords are not detected by the high-entropy sub-routines; this is a false negative. Running it with the --regex option can pick up some of the shorter passwords.

docker run  dxa4481/trufflehog --regex --entropy=True https://github.com/checkmarx-ts/CxPsPowerHacks.git

Running TruffleHog against your own branch, then running the TruffleHog CxQL queries during a scan should yield similar results.

Performance

The iterative nature of some of these queries may make them perform poorly.