Security Checklist

Enable access control and specify the authentication mechanism. You can use MongoDB's SCRAM or x.509 authentication mechanism or integrate with your existing Kerberos/LDAP infrastructure. Authentication requires that all clients and servers provide valid credentials before they can connect to the system.

See also:

• Authentication

• Enable Access Control

Create a user administrator first, then create additional users. Create a unique MongoDB user for each person/application that accesses the system.

Follow the principle of least privilege. Create roles that define the exact access rights required by a set of users. Then create users and assign them only the roles they need to perform their operations. A user can be a person or a client application.

See also:

• Role-Based Access Control

• Manage Users and Roles

Configure MongoDB to use TLS/SSL for all incoming and outgoing connections. Use TLS/SSL to encrypt communication between mongod and mongos components of a MongoDB deployment as well as between all applications and MongoDB.

Starting in version 4.0, MongoDB uses the native TLS/SSL OS libraries:

See also: Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL.

Starting with MongoDB Enterprise 3.2, you can encrypt data in the storage layer with the WiredTiger storage engine's native Encryption at Rest.

If you are not using WiredTiger's encryption at rest, MongoDB data should be encrypted on each host using file-system, device, or physical encryption (e.g. dm-crypt). Protect MongoDB data using file-system permissions. MongoDB data includes data files, configuration files, auditing logs, and key files.

Collect logs to a central log store. These logs contain DB authentication attempts including source IP address.

Ensure that MongoDB runs in a trusted network environment and configure firewall or security groups to control inbound and outbound traffic for your MongoDB instances.

Disable direct SSH root access.

Allow only trusted clients to access the network interfaces and ports on which MongoDB instances are available.

See also:

• Network and Configuration Hardening

• the net.bindIp configuration setting

• the security.clusterIpSourceWhitelist configuration setting

• the authenticationRestrictions field to the db.createUser() command to specify a per-user IP whitelist.

Track access and changes to database configurations and data. MongoDB Enterprise includes a system auditing facility that can record system events (e.g. user operations, connection events) on a MongoDB instance. These audit records permit forensic analysis and allow administrators to verify proper controls. You can set up filters to record specific events, such as authentication events.

See also:

• Auditing

• Configure Auditing

Run MongoDB processes with a dedicated operating system user account. Ensure that the account has permissions to access data but no unnecessary permissions.

See also: Install MongoDB

MongoDB supports the execution of JavaScript code for certain server-side operations: mapReduce, $where, $accumulator, and $function. If you do not use these operations, disable server-side scripting by using the --noscripting option on the command line.

Keep input validation enabled. MongoDB enables input validation by default through the net.wireObjectCheck setting. This ensures that all documents stored by the mongod instance are valid BSON.

See also: Network and Configuration Hardening

The Security Technical Implementation Guide (STIG) contains security guidelines for deployments within the United States Department of Defense. MongoDB Inc. provides its STIG, upon request, for situations where it is required. Please request a copy for more information.

For applications requiring HIPAA or PCI-DSS compliance, please refer to the MongoDB Security Reference Architecture to learn more about how you can use the key security capabilities to build compliant application infrastructure.