Top 10 Maven Security Best Practices Cheat Sheet

Securing software systems and applications has never been more important. With massive data breaches occurring weekly, building securely from the ground up is a must. And if you are programming in Java, having Maven installed is a must!

Maven is the most widely used project and dependency management tool in applications written in the language, giving you access to plenty of useful commands and options to help simplify your daily routine. Therefore, developers should be well versed in maven securities. With Maven as part of your arsenal, you'll be ready for whatever challenges lie ahead!

Thus, to help developers stay up-to-date, here's a roundup of the top 10 Maven security best practices cheat sheets. In it, you'll find tips for authentication and authorization, configuration management, secure coding guidelines, and much more to help you ace your game. So, without ado, let's begin.

10 Maven Security Best Practices

1. Encrypt Your Secrets

With the release of Maven 2.1.0, it became possible to protect sensitive credentials stored in the settings.xml file of a shared build machine. When multiple developers share a machine or settings file, putting them behind encryption can help make sure only authorized users can deploy Maven artifacts to repositories rather than everyone having access.

For this, there needs to be a master password created as a settings security.xml file that is secured locally. It should either be within the Maven folder under that user's account or somewhere privately accessible by them. To guarantee security when running builds in shared locations occupied by your team, encrypting any secrets in the settings file should be considered for maximum safety and efficiency.

To create a master password and a server password, follow this command:

mvn --encrypt-master-password

Master password:

{PASSWORD}

Once created, store in your ~/.m2/settings-security.xml file as follows:

{PASSWORD}

Now you're able to create a server password by running the following command:

mvn --encrypt-password

Password:

{SERVERPASSWORD}

Store this in your settings.xml file as follows:

my.server

USERNAME

{SERVERPASSWORD}

Voila! You have now successfully created a password for your master password and a server password.

2. Don't Use Passwords In The CLI

Working with secret configuration data is always a delicate balance. The correct approach ensures your information remains safe, but other options can put your data in harm's way. To underscore this point, there exists an option on the command line for both encryption commands that must be handled with caution.

This legacy offers to provide the password on the command line directly, which could affect any confidential information stored in your config files. We aim to ensure you know all potential pitfalls so you don't inadvertently open yourself up to malicious actors or careless mistakes.

The CLI command, as shown above, provides you with a password on the command line for both encryption commands, like this:

mvn --encrypt-master-password P@ssw0rd

With the promise of encrypted secrets, it may be tempting to type your secrets on a command line. However, this is never advisable.

By doing so, you risk storing those secrets in your console history making them easily accessible to anyone who can retrieve the information. To ensure your secrets stay secret, avoid this way to encrypt and store them securely.

3. Always Use HTTPS

Maven repositories can either be local or remote. Typically, local repositories are cached versions of the downloaded projects and are usually located in your machine's ~/.m2/repository/ directory. Meanwhile, remote repositories may include Maven Central or any repository your organization has established using tools such as artifactory. To determine the repositories included in your build, inspect the element of your pom.xml file.

As with numerous other communication networks nowadays, it is vital to employ HTTPS when linking with external services, including Maven repositories, so that a Man In The Middle attack or Resources Downloaded over Insecure Protocol vulnerability can be minimized.

4. Check Dependency Health

Pulling external libraries and frameworks into applications is now a daily task for many developers, but it's easy to overlook the health of these dependencies. When deciding on a suitable external source, it's wise to consider various pertinent factors. These can include:

Open source projects that rely on expertise from just one or two people to ensure updates and releases can be very precarious. The burden of devoting time and energy to supporting the project falls entirely on a single person's shoulders, making it susceptible to setbacks caused by changes in workload, mobility, and even a mental shift away from the endeavor.

However, this high risk potential can be mitigated through communal effort. When contributors join forces and come together to manage the project, any solitary point of failure is eliminated, thus reducing the risk significantly.

Reporting security issues is hugely important in software development, and projects must provide users with an easy way to do this. Doing so increases the likelihood of potential threats being identified early and stops the escalation of risks and further damage.

It's equally important to ensure users can be notified when potential vulnerabilities are fixed or discovered, this allows them to remain secure while taking on dependencies in their projects. When done properly, these measures minimize the impact of any security issues and may even help developers prevent them from occurring altogether.

When protecting your project, ensuring the other programs you rely on are actively and regularly developed plays an integral role. Making sure that the languages employed in external projects remain current is one part of this; however, it's also important to know security issues will be addressed immediately.

By understanding what is happening with your dependencies, practically and safeguarding wise, you'll get greater peace of mind that your project will remain healthy.

5. Test For Known Vulnerabilities

As part of your risk assessment process, you should consider testing for known vulnerabilities in the dependencies. This is especially true if they are open source projects exposed to public scrutiny. Doing this can help identify certain security issues, which may be addressed more quickly and efficiently.

The OWASP Dependency Check tool is a great example that can be used for this purpose, as it can identify any known vulnerabilities in your dependencies.

Additionally, consider integrating security checks into your existing CI/CD pipeline; doing so will ensure that any new dependencies are automatically scanned for known vulnerabilities and that any issues can be addressed before they reach production.

6. Test Your Checksums

Ensuring the reliability of your data is key, and checksums are the perfect way to ensure errors don't come into play during transmission or storage. Verifying each one of your project dependencies by running a checksum is critical and adds an extra layer of security to detect tampering.

Fortunately, Maven 4 will take on this challenge for you by default. Still, until then, using the -C flag when executing Maven commands will enable it, and be sure to terminate the build in case any discrepancies arise.

$ mvn -C install // fail if checksums don’t match

$ mvn -c install // warn if checksums don’t match

7. Don't Use Properties For Passwords

Properties in Maven can be very handy when constructing a pom.xml file. For example, you can set the value of my.property as seen below:

value

Then, you can call on the value at any point in the pom.xml document through ${my.property}. Although this is immensely useful, people should not use it to store passwords, as they will be visible in plain text and accessible to a group of people. Instead, plugins should advise users to use server entries from their settings.xml files to ensure more secure storage of passwords.

8. Use Maven Developers/Roles

As the State of Open Source Security report showed, it's important to provide people with the information they need should they find a security issue that requires reporting. GitHub repositories containing a security disclosure process are over three times more likely to receive security bug reports than those without a documented disclosure process.

Including a developer security contact in your Maven pom.xml file is a great way to ensure people can get in touch with someone on your team if they find a security issue.

9. Stay Up-To-Date

It has become increasingly important to stay up-to-date with the latest Maven releases to ensure your system remains secure. Newer versions typically contain security updates that can protect you from any unforeseen vulnerabilities.

An example of why staying on top of these releases is so important is Maven 3.0.4, which contains a critical security issue that allows HTTPS connection certificates to be overlooked – making it an essential version to avoid. Don't let yourself fall victim to outdated versions of Maven; stay current with the newest releases and guarantee your peace of mind.

10. Check Security Bulletins

If you use Maven, you must stay aware of any potential security threats. The best way to do this is by checking security bulletins whenever they are released. These bulletins provide users with information on the latest known vulnerabilities in Maven and how to address them. Keeping track of these bulletins and ensuring your system is secure can keep your data safe and ensure your project is not vulnerable to malicious activity.

Try Maven Security with Scantist

Security is a top priority when using Maven and its many functionalities. There are several best practices one should adhere to when utilizing this platform.

To help maximize the security quality assurance, we hope this cheat sheet provides you with step-by-step instructions on securing your environment with key aspects such as authentication, authorization, access control, encryption/privacy, and logging practices.

Scantist sign-up today

book a demo