Apache Cassandra
TMA-CASSANDRA-3.2
Ensure that the default password is changed for the cassandra role
CriticalLevel 1Automatedcassandra
Description
The cassandra role has a default password which must be changed. Attempts a cqlsh login as cassandra/cassandra against CQLSH_HOST/CQLSH_PORT (default 127.0.0.1:9042); passes only when the server rejects the credentials (a login that succeeds, including with authentication disabled, fails; an unreachable node fails).
How it is checked
Audit method: Shell command
shell
command -v cqlsh >/dev/null 2>&1 || exit 1; out=$(cqlsh -u cassandra -p cassandra -e 'SELECT release_version FROM system.local;' 2>&1); rc=$?; if [ $rc -eq 0 ]; then echo default_password_accepted; elif printf '%s' "$out" | grep -qiE 'AuthenticationFailed|Bad credentials|incorrect'; then echo compliant; else exit 1; fi- Expected output
compliant
How it is fixed
Fix method: Guidance or infrastructure patch
Log in as a superuser and run ALTER ROLE cassandra WITH PASSWORD = '<new strong password>'; (or disable the role after creating a replacement superuser, see 3.1).
Properties
- Operating systems
- Any
- Tags
- cassandraauthentication
- Reference
- CIS Apache Cassandra 5.0 Benchmark v1.1.0 - 3.2 Ensure that the default password is changed for the cassandra role
Check this host
Run this on a machine you are allowed to audit. The scan is read-only.
shell
tmaegis scan --target cassandra