Why is this an issue?
An LDAP client authenticates to an LDAP server with a "bind request" which provides, among other, a simple authentication method.
Simple authentication in LDAP can be used with three different mechanisms:
- Anonymous Authentication Mechanism by performing a bind request with a username and password value of zero length.
- Unauthenticated Authentication Mechanism by performing a bind request with a password value of zero length.
- Name/Password Authentication Mechanism by performing a bind request with a password value of non-zero length.
Anonymous binds and unauthenticated binds allow access to information in the LDAP directory without providing a password, their use is therefore
strongly discouraged.
Noncompliant code example
This rule raises an issue when an LDAP connection is created with AuthenticationTypes.Anonymous or
AuthenticationTypes.None.
DirectoryEntry myDirectoryEntry = new DirectoryEntry(adPath);
myDirectoryEntry.AuthenticationType = AuthenticationTypes.None; // Noncompliant
DirectoryEntry myDirectoryEntry = new DirectoryEntry(adPath, "u", "p", AuthenticationTypes.None); // Noncompliant
Compliant solution
DirectoryEntry myDirectoryEntry = new DirectoryEntry(myADSPath); // Compliant; default DirectoryEntry.AuthenticationType property value is "Secure" since .NET Framework 2.0
DirectoryEntry myDirectoryEntry = new DirectoryEntry(myADSPath, "u", "p", AuthenticationTypes.Secure);
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