Re: secure storage of sensitive data in J2EE [Virus Checked]

[graham.coles () retail-logic com]

That doesn't necessarily work anyway; the JVM can always disregard it -
note the phrasing in the api for System.gc():

"Calling the gc method suggests that the Java Virtual Machine expend effort
toward recycling unused objects"

runFinalization() similarly only "suggests" it calls the finalize method of
collected objects, the JVM may still decide it's not worth doing at the
time.

However, if the key is held in an array and you've already overwritten it,
why bother - the contents have already been destroyed and collection will
gain you nothing.

If you've used a string for some reason, you should recode it using an
array rather than praying to the garbage collector and hoping it doesn't
ignore you ...




                                                                                                                        
               
                      Kevin Conaway                                                                                     
               
                      <kevin.conaway@gm        To:       apopli () gmail com                                            
                  
                      ail.com>                 cc:       webappsec () securityfocus com, secprog () securityfocus com   
                     
                                               Subject:  Re: secure storage of sensitive data in J2EE [Virus Checked]   
               
                      09/02/2005 14:36                                                                                  
               
                      Please respond to                                                                                 
               
                      Kevin Conaway                                                                                     
               
                                                                                                                        
               




Forcing the garbage collector to run in Java is considered bad practice


On Tue, 08 Feb 2005 22:49:30 -0500, Ashish Popli <apopli () gmail com> wrote:
> Cant we simply force garbage collection when you are done using the
object?
> Here is a link.
> http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/essential/system/garbage.html
>
> Kevin Conaway wrote:
>
> > A followup question:
> >
> > Once the data (be it a password or a key) has been read into memory,
> > what is an effective and secure way of minimizing the window that the
> > plaintext key or password is in memory?
> >
> > If the data is read into a char [] and then overwritten with junk
> > data, would that work?
> >
> > Kevin
> >
> > On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 09:18:15 +0000, chaim moshe <xor256 () hotmail com>
wrote:
> > > Hello list,
> > >
> > > where can I  store sensitive data like encryption keys, passwords, etc.
in
> > > J2EE?
> > > surely, you can save it in the keystore, but the catch is where do you
store
> > > the keystore password to protect it from external access?
> > > storing the keystore password in code or in config files is not secured
> > > enough.
> > >
> > > In the .NET environment you have DPAPI that was designed exactly for
this
> > > kind of problem, the sensitive data is encrypted at the OS level with
the
> > > user/machine password and is decrypted at runtime.
> > > What is the solution in the J2EE environment ?
> > >
> > > Thanks!
> > >
> > > _________________________________________________________________
> > > Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today it's
FREE!
> > > http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/