[RADIATOR] Password/certificate security seems next to none on Radiator server

[Nadav Hod]

Hi,

The password doesn't need to be in plaintext in the configuration, it can simply use an alias system so that if I send the argument "router123" then router123's password will be copied to memory securely, where it can then be used. Same goes for any passphrases for accessing certificate stores. This is how kpcli works, you supply string1 and  you get back password1.

I think there is merit in changing the existing configuration files from using "router123,mypassword" to something like GetPassword(%UserName). It seems more secure to me and not because of obfuscation but because the interface with Radiator itself is more secure. It also doesn't expose credentials nearly as much as the status quo. At no point in any of the configuration files and databases should credentials be left in unguarded cleartext, it's just not technical limitation these days. 

I'm unsure why there isn't any interest from anyone in this mailing list other than myself to secure these credentials. Let's look at other solutions. I heard a suggestion to use TPM, but that's hardware-specific and also depends on how the encryption software supports its use. 

Would using Microsoft EFS on the Radiator folder (which contains all NAS credentials) and limiting access be a stronger solution than using an encrypted database? Would this cause a noticeable performance hit for an SMB?

________________________________________
From: Christian Kratzer [ck-lists at cksoft.de]
Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 4:06 PM
To: Nadav Hod
Cc: Tuure Vartiainen; radiator at open.com.au
Subject: Re: [RADIATOR] Password/certificate security seems next to none        on Radiator server

Hi,

On Fri, 2 Oct 2015, Nadav Hod wrote:
> Hi Tuure,
>
> Moving the secrets from one cleartext file to another isn't secure, it's just a way to break the code between more files.

you still clearly do not understand that there is no way to solve this in software.

Not in radiator or in any other software.

Radiator or any other radius server needs to keep in plaintext:
- credentials it needs to connect to backend databases
- possible certificate private keys or passphrases to unlock those when needed
- radius secrets
- ...

> I'm interested in a secure way to access credentials which are kept both encrypted and only accessed when authenticated by a keyfile or something equally strong.

If credentials are kept encrypted and are decrypted on demand that is equally just obfuscation.

You asked for it and were shown a way how to accomplish this but rejected it.

> As far as I can tell this doesn't exist today in Radiator, I'm asking this members in this mailing list whether or not they think there is added value in implementing some form of sustainable security for these credentials.

Radiator is following best practices already.

Greetings
Christian



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