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Security Policy

Kifa is a crash-proof logging system designed for POS terminals and mobile money systems. Data integrity and durability are core to its purpose. Security reports are taken seriously.

VersionSupported
Latest on masterYes
Older releasesNo

Do NOT open a public GitHub issue for security vulnerabilities.

Report through one of these channels, in order of preference:

  1. GitHub Private Vulnerability Reporting: Use the “Report a vulnerability” button under the Security tab.
  2. Email: Send a report to xosnrdev@gmail.com with the subject line “Kifa Security Report”. Include a description, reproduction steps, affected versions, and impact assessment.
StageTarget
AcknowledgmentWithin 7 days
Assessment and initial responseWithin 30 days
ResolutionWithin 90 days
CreditIn the security advisory, unless you request otherwise

Kifa is solo-maintained. These timelines are targets, not guarantees.

In scope:

  • The kifa binary crate and lib-kifa library crate
  • Storage engine integrity (WAL, SSTables, manifest, compaction)
  • Data corruption or loss scenarios
  • Unauthorized data access through TCP/UDP listeners
  • Denial of service through crafted input

Out of scope:

  • Third-party dependencies (report upstream, then notify Kifa)
  • Theoretical attacks requiring physical access to the host
  • Vulnerabilities in development tooling
  • Kifa does not encrypt data at rest. Apply filesystem-level encryption for sensitive transaction logs.
  • Restrict file permissions on the data directory to the service user.
  • TCP/UDP listeners bind to the address specified at startup. Bind to 127.0.0.1 unless remote ingestion is explicitly needed.
  • Review flush mode selection for the deployment’s durability requirements.

Kifa follows coordinated disclosure. Vulnerabilities are disclosed publicly only after a fix is available or 90 days have elapsed, whichever comes first. Advisories are published through GitHub Security Advisories.