Automated Remediation Strategies

Automated Remediation Strategies

Automated remediation transforms vulnerability assessment from a detection activity into active security improvement. Simple misconfigurations often have straightforward fixes that tools can apply automatically. However, automated remediation requires careful design to prevent unintended consequences or service disruptions.

Safe automated fixes focus on adding security controls without modifying core functionality. Enabling encryption on unencrypted resources, adding missing logging configurations, or tightening overly permissive security groups represent low-risk automated remediations. These changes improve security posture without risking application functionality.

# Automated IaC remediation framework
class IaCRemediator:
    def __init__(self):
        self.safe_remediations = {
            'missing_encryption': self._add_encryption,
            'missing_logging': self._enable_logging,
            'missing_versioning': self._enable_versioning,
            'public_access': self._restrict_public_access
        }
        
    def auto_remediate(self, finding: VulnerabilityFinding, 
                      dry_run: bool = True) -> Dict[str, Any]:
        """Attempt automated remediation for a finding."""
        remediation_func = self.safe_remediations.get(finding.issue_type)
        
        if not remediation_func:
            return {
                'status': 'unsupported',
                'message': f'No automated fix for {finding.issue_type}'
            }
            
        if dry_run:
            return {
                'status': 'dry_run',
                'proposed_change': remediation_func(finding, preview=True)
            }
        else:
            result = remediation_func(finding, preview=False)
            return {
                'status': 'applied',
                'change_details': result
            }
            
    def _add_encryption(self, finding: VulnerabilityFinding, 
                       preview: bool = True) -> Dict[str, Any]:
        """Add encryption to unencrypted resources."""
        if finding.resource_type == 'aws_s3_bucket':
            encryption_block = '''
  server_side_encryption_configuration {
    rule {
      apply_server_side_encryption_by_default {
        sse_algorithm = "AES256"
      }
    }
  }'''
            
            if preview:
                return {
                    'action': 'add_block',
                    'content': encryption_block,
                    'location': f'{finding.file_path}:{finding.line_number}'
                }
            else:
                # Apply the change to the file
                self._insert_block_in_resource(
                    finding.file_path,
                    finding.resource_name,
                    encryption_block
                )
                return {'modified_file': finding.file_path}

Semi-automated remediation provides fix suggestions that developers can review and apply. This approach works well for complex issues requiring human judgment or where multiple valid fixes exist. Tools can generate pull requests with proposed fixes, allowing teams to review changes before merging.