Crypto: Add Java cryptographic check queries by unprovable · Pull Request #20568 · github/codeql

unprovable · 2025-10-01T11:58:17Z

These are some example queries that check the cryptography present in output from a java source repo. Again, these build on the existing examples both in java and in other CBOM and cryptographic issue checking codeQL queries:

InsecureNonceGeneration.ql - as before
InsecureNonceSource.ql - as before
KnownWeakKDFIterationCount.ql - as before
NonAESGCMCipher.ql - detects non-AES in GCM mode ciphers. Can be updated to be 'non AES256 in GCM mode' but this gives more alerts on inferred key lengths.
NonceReuse.ql - as before
ReusedNonce.ql - as before
UnknownKDFIterationCount.ql - as before
WeakAsymmetric.ql - finds weak asymmetric RSA ciphers using key lengths < 2048
WeakBlockModes.ql - similar to NonAESGCM, this finds instances of known-bad block modes ECB, CFB, OFB, and CTR
WeakHashing.ql - finds potentially weak hashing instances using the whitelist of SHA256, SHA384, and SHA512 (though this is yet to be checked against SHA3 variants)
WeakKDFIterationCount.ql - as before
WeakKDFKeySize.ql - as before
WeakRSA.ql - an allternative method from WeakAsymmetric.ql, but functionally the same.
WeakSymmetricCiphers.ql - detects known-weak ciphers from a blocklist of DES, TripleDES, DoubleDES, RC2, RC4, IDEA, and Blowfish.

bdrodes · 2025-10-01T13:29:57Z

+ * @description An AES cipher is in use without GCM
+ * @kind problem
+ * @problem.severity error
+ * @security.severity low


Was there a reason for calling this security severity low? I think this might be one of those things that's too org-specific to put in the query general meta-data. This comment applies for all the queries in the PR.

This is in line with ASVSv5. Yes, this is quite specific and of course in the future it might be a 'high' issue for reasons we know not of yet. Removing any @security.severity might be useful.

I'm inclined to remove all security.severity meta-data because of how specific it will be per org. Does that give you heartburn?

Not at all. See next commit in thread. :)

unprovable · 2025-10-01T16:51:38Z

I've sanitised out the @security.severity ratings. We can maybe sub for @severity warning at some point if it's deemed that there needs to be some kind of "how bad is it?" metric. But I agree with @bdrodes that it's too subjective for now.

nicolaswill

Thank you for the contribution! I've left some minor comments mainly regarding name string vs type comparison and tags.

nicolaswill · 2025-10-02T16:58:29Z

+from Crypto::KeyOperationAlgorithmNode alg, string name, string msg
+where
+ name = alg.getAlgorithmName() and
+ name in ["DES", "TripleDES", "DoubleDES", "RC2", "RC4", "IDEA", "Blowfish"] and


Rather than comparing name strings, the standardized types in Crypto::KeyOpAlg should be compared against getAlgorithmType. Here is an example of that syntax: this.getAlgorithmType() = KeyOpAlg::TMac(KeyOpAlg::CMAC()). To avoid redundant typing of the module namespaces, the KeyOpAlg module could optionally also be imported as follows: import Crypto::KeyOpAlg as Alg.

nicolaswill · 2025-10-02T17:03:01Z

+from Crypto::HashAlgorithmNode alg, string name, string msg
+where
+ name = alg.getAlgorithmName() and
+ not name in ["SHA256", "SHA384", "SHA512", "SHA-256", "SHA-384", "SHA-512"] and


Like the comment on symmetric algorithms, the hash family and hash digest size should be used rather than string comparisons. The appropriate predicates/classes to use would be HashType (getHashFamily()) and getDigestLength().
Typing this out also makes me realize we need to standardize those predicate and class names...

nicolaswill · 2025-10-02T17:03:56Z

+class NonAESGCMAlgorithmNode extends Crypto::KeyOperationAlgorithmNode {
+ NonAESGCMAlgorithmNode() {
+ this.getAlgorithmType() = Crypto::KeyOpAlg::TSymmetricCipher(Crypto::KeyOpAlg::AES()) and
+ this.getModeOfOperation().getModeType() != Crypto::KeyOpAlg::GCM()


Suggested change
this.getModeOfOperation().getModeType()!= Crypto::KeyOpAlg::GCM()
notthis.getModeOfOperation().getModeType()= Crypto::KeyOpAlg::GCM()

That's not actually we want we want, chatting with @nicolaswill in a side channel, so disregard.

nicolaswill · 2025-10-02T17:05:08Z

+ * @kind problem
+ * @problem.severity error
+ * @precision high
+ * @tags external/cwe/cwe-327


This needs quantum and experimental tags.

nicolaswill · 2025-10-02T17:05:22Z

+ * @kind problem
+ * @problem.severity error
+ * @precision high
+ * @tags external/cwe/cwe-327


This needs quantum and experimental tags.

Copilot

Pull Request Overview

This PR adds comprehensive Java cryptographic security checks through CodeQL queries that identify various cryptographic vulnerabilities and weak configurations. The queries focus on detecting insecure cryptographic practices in Java codebases.

Adds 11 new CodeQL queries for detecting cryptographic security issues
Implements checks for weak ciphers, key sizes, hashing algorithms, and nonce handling
Covers symmetric/asymmetric encryption, key derivation functions, and block cipher modes

Reviewed Changes

Copilot reviewed 11 out of 11 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
WeakSymmetricCiphers.ql	Detects usage of weak symmetric cipher algorithms like DES, RC4, etc.
WeakRSA.ql	Identifies RSA implementations with key lengths below 2048 bits
WeakKDFKeySize.ql	Finds key derivation functions with output lengths below 256 bits
WeakKDFIterationCount.ql	Detects KDF operations with iteration counts below 100,000
WeakHashing.ql	Identifies non-approved hash algorithms (excludes SHA-256/384/512)
WeakBlockModes.ql	Finds AES usage with insecure block modes (ECB, CFB, OFB, CTR)
WeakAsymmetric.ql	Detects asymmetric ciphers with key sizes below 2048 bits
UnknownKDFIterationCount.ql	Removes severity warning metadata
NonceReuse.ql	Identifies reuse of cryptographic nonces
NonAESGCMCipher.ql	Detects AES usage without GCM mode
InsecureNonceGeneration.ql	Finds nonces generated from insecure sources

Copilot · 2025-10-02T17:07:17Z

+/**
+ * @name Weak known key derivation function output length
+ * @description Detects key derivation operations with a known weak output length
+ * @id java/quantum/weak-kdf-iteration-count


The @id should be 'java/quantum/weak-kdf-key-size' to match the query name and purpose, not 'weak-kdf-iteration-count'.
Suggested change
* @id java/quantum/weak-kdf-iteration-count
* @id java/quantum/weak-kdf-key-size

Copilot · 2025-10-02T17:07:18Z

@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+/**
+ * @name Weak Asymetric Key Size


Corrected spelling of 'Asymetric' to 'Asymmetric'.
Suggested change
* @name Weak Asymetric Key Size
* @name Weak Asymmetric Key Size

Copilot · 2025-10-02T17:07:18Z

+ // Can't be an elliptic curve
+ not Crypto::isEllipticCurveAlgorithmName(algName)
+select op,
+ "Use of weak asymmetric key size (int bits)" + keySize.toString() + " for algorithm " +


The error message formatting is unclear. '(int bits)' should be '(' + keySize.toString() + ' bits)' for proper readability.
Suggested change
"Use of weak asymmetric key size (int bits)"+keySize.toString()+" for algorithm "+
"Use of weak asymmetric key size ("+keySize.toString()+" bits) for algorithm "+

nicolaswill · 2025-10-02T17:07:22Z

There are also duplicate query IDs (potentially, duplicate queries, though I have not verified the contents):

Run python3 misc/scripts/check-query-ids.py
Query ID java/quantum/reused-nonce is used in multiple queries:
- java/ql/src/experimental/quantum/Analysis/NonceReuse.ql
- java/ql/src/experimental/quantum/Analysis/ReusedNonce.ql
Query ID java/quantum/insecure-nonce is used in multiple queries:
- java/ql/src/experimental/quantum/Analysis/InsecureNonceGeneration.ql
- java/ql/src/experimental/quantum/Analysis/InsecureNonceSource.ql
Query ID java/quantum/weak-kdf-iteration-count is used in multiple queries:
- java/ql/src/experimental/quantum/Analysis/WeakKDFKeySize.ql
- java/ql/src/experimental/quantum/Analysis/KnownWeakKDFIterationCount.ql
- java/ql/src/experimental/quantum/Analysis/WeakKDFIterationCount.ql
FAIL: duplicate query IDs found in src folders. Please assign these queries unique IDs.

+
+import experimental.quantum.Language
+
+class WeakRSAAlgorithmNode extends Crypto::KeyOperationAlgorithmNode {


nicolaswill · 2025-10-02T17:10:00Z

Lastly, could you please run codeql query format -i on all of the QL files? All contributions to this repo are validated against the auto-formatter. If you're using VS Code, you can also enable format-on-save for QL in the settings.

bdrodes · 2025-10-08T14:23:34Z

@nicolaswill can you close this PR, I created my own PR based on this PR so we can make fast edits: See #20605

added java cryptographic check queries
c5cf0ff

unprovable requested a review from a team as a code owner October 1, 2025 11:58

github-actionsBot added the Java label Oct 1, 2025

nicolaswill self-requested a review October 1, 2025 12:03

bdrodes reviewed Oct 1, 2025
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removed all @security.severity ratings to keep the main impartial
f38ab45

nicolaswill requested changes Oct 2, 2025
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nicolaswill requested a review from Copilot October 2, 2025 17:06

CopilotAI reviewed Oct 2, 2025
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github-advanced-securityAI found potential problems Oct 2, 2025
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nicolaswill changed the title ~~Added java cryptographic check queries~~Crypto: Add Java cryptographic check queriesOct 2, 2025

bdrodes mentioned this pull request Oct 8, 2025
Crypto: Add Java Cryptographic Analysis Queries #20605
Merged

nicolaswill closed this Oct 9, 2025

	this.getModeOfOperation().getModeType()!= Crypto::KeyOpAlg::GCM()
	notthis.getModeOfOperation().getModeType()= Crypto::KeyOpAlg::GCM()

	* @id java/quantum/weak-kdf-iteration-count
	* @id java/quantum/weak-kdf-key-size

	* @name Weak Asymetric Key Size
	* @name Weak Asymmetric Key Size

	"Use of weak asymmetric key size (int bits)"+keySize.toString()+" for algorithm "+
	"Use of weak asymmetric key size ("+keySize.toString()+" bits) for algorithm "+


		import experimental.quantum.Language

		class WeakRSAAlgorithmNode extends Crypto::KeyOperationAlgorithmNode {

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unprovable commented Oct 1, 2025

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nicolaswill commented Oct 2, 2025

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